I Have a Great Talk with Niece Lynne

Monday January 25, 1993

I slept real well. I took Tylenol every 3 hours for the shoulder pain. I awake with indigestion, probably from too much Tylenol. I manage some cereal and orange juice. I lay around until 11 a.m. Finally I shower and have a tuna sandwich for lunch. I feel a little better but I still have a terrible backache so keep taking Tylenol and Digel for the indigestion. I spend the day relaxing on the couch.

At 6 p.m. we go out for spaghetti and pizza. I don't feel well after I eat it. I have a stomach ache and indigestion persists. My arm is aching. It's Tylenol time.

Frank goes square dancing. I feel a little better about 8:00. I have a great talk with niece Lynne when she calls.

So glad to hear that Frank went square dancing when Mom was not up to it. I think Mom's visit with her niece Lynne, pictured above at my baby shower in 1992 with Mom, lifted her spirits. Lynne was very close to Mom, and even spoke at her funeral. Mom was the kind of woman that people turned to for advice because she was very wise. After Mom passed away, there was a bit of a role reversal. Lynne's mother, my Aunt Cathy, became my surrogate Mom and we have become quite close, just like Lynne and Mom were.

It doesn't seem like spaghetti and pizza was a good choice when Mom already has indigestion and upset stomach. Too spicy!

I Feel Terrible All Day

Thursday January 21, 1993

I sleep better with the help of Ultrasom, but awake with the pain in my shoulder that radiates up my neck and down my arm. The pain of indigestion is bad. I don't think I can eat. I don't feel well enough to get up so stay in bed all day. Frank is so sweet. He keeps bringing me something to eat. I eat some toast and yogurt. I feel terrible all day. I don't sleep at all and wake up about 4 a.m. feeling nauseous. I wake Frank to get me some yogurt but after a spoonful I throw up. After awhile I do eat the yogurt and feel better.

I am in awe of Mom that even on a day when she is in so much pain, so nauseous and so sleep-deprived, she still finds the motivation to make an entry in her journal. She has not missed one single day. I wonder if making a daily entry in her journal gives her a purpose to keep going no matter how hard it is.

More Chest Pain

Wednesday January 20, 1993

I'm awake from 4:30 on. I get up at 7:30 and get ready to go to the doctor. I eat some cereal. At Kaiser my blood checks out well and I get more medication. I don't feel very well. My chest hurts low like indigestion.

We stop at In & Out Burger for lunch with fries and shake. It goes down well and I feel better for about 45 minutes. Then my chest hurts again and I have gas. I have to take a pain pill about 2 p.m. It helps some. I lay on the couch all day. After another pain pill at 7:30 I eat a salad at 8 with crackers.

Not a good day for Mom. No matter what she eats she seems to have chest pain.

Indigestion

Monday January 18, 1993

Awake at 3 a.m. and unable to fully fall asleep after that. I get up at 8. I am sweating alot this morning and don't feel real well. At 10:45 I have my nails done and bring home a Cupid hot dog for Frank and I. We both get indigestion. Mine lasts all day. I feel ill at dinnertime. I eat a yogurt pushup. About 8 p.m. I eat a frozen cannelloni dinner and tangerine and 1/2 banana. I feel better. I can't stay awake after 10 p.m. I go to bed at 11.

I had night sweats last night too, and sometimes have indigestion if I eat too close to bedtime. It seems Mom is having a continuing problem with sweating. I would attribute most of it to menopausal symptoms, but undergoing chemotherapy is certainly making her symptoms even worse. Mom and I always went to Cupid's hot dogs in Van Nuys when we visited Grandma Johnson, pictured in yesterday's post. There was also a Cupid's across the street from CSU Northridge where I attended college from 1972-74. Their hot dogs were great with a thick juicy skin that squirted juice when you would bite into it. Add chili and onions and it would certainly cause indigestion.

A Day with Mother

Thursday November 21, 1991

Slept til 6, up and hurried to leave for mother's in Desert Hot Springs by 8 a.m. My bowl of cereal doesn't set well and indigestion and malaise set in. I manage to nap in the truck some and we arrive at Mom's in 2-1/2 hours.

She seems to be pretty much the same. Her complaints are fatigue and joint pains. Not too bad for 83 years old.

I spend most of the day lying on the couch talking with mom while Frank removes the kitchen cupboard so he can push her new stacked washer/dryer back against the wall. He does a bunch of other little fix-its for her.

Mother gives me Riopan Liquid for my gas. I eat very little this day. I feel worse and worse.

Wow, Frank is so thoughtful to drive all the way to his mother-in-law's trailer in Desert Hot Springs to do handyman chores. And in spite of feeling so awful Mom is determined to drive with him. She never did have any trouble sleeping in the car. Often when driving in the car she would be talking and then it would get real quiet. I would look over her shoulder and see she was sound asleep. To visit with her mother and have to hear about her aches and pains could not have been a pleasant day when she was feeling rotten herself.

Indigestion

Wednesday November 20, 1991

Tired today. Didn't do much. Didn't sleep well last night. Still, we did manage to go to our square dance workshop and then out to dinner with all our friends. Tonight we went to Jesse Cates. I ate the salad I made at the salad bar and 1/2 my poppy seed roll and a glass of wine for a treat. I ate 2 bites of my potato and 4 bites of chicken. Took 95% home.

I think eating like this at 9:00 is too late for me. I didn't feel well and didn't sleep well at all.

My guess is that Mom didn't sleep well because she had chemotherapy the day before, but certainly eating late at night could give her indigestion and cause her to not sleep well. Digestion requires gravity to keep the stomach acids in the stomach where they are supposed to be. When I eat too late at night I often get heartburn and burp acid into my throat. Mom is eating late at night almost every time they go square dancing. How can she keep up this pace while battling a life-threatening illness?

Kemo #3

Tuesday November 19, 1991

Awake at 7:12 after 8 hours of pretty good sleep. Only 2 trips to the bathroom. I still have diarrhea but my terrible indigestion is better thanks to lots of Mylanta liquid.

By 10:30 we're off to Kaiser for Kemo #3. the waiting room has few in it today but it is still 1:30 when we leave. We go to Sizzler for a nice trout lunch. We make a few stops and end up at Costco where we spend alot of money and buy a few Christmas presents. I last a couple of hours but have to go to the car and let Frank finish and check out. I'm so tired from this darn diarrhea.

At home I hear from Chris. She is sick in bed (2 days) nauseated from her 3-week pregnancy. I wonder who will really fix the Thanksgiving dinner for 20? I hope she feels better soon. So far not so good.

It sounds like the kemo treatments didn't affect her too badly, since she went out to lunch and then shopping afterwards. I wonder if they had Prilosec in 1991. That's the only thing that works for me when I have indigestion.

Yikes, Thanksgiving for 20? I don't remember who was supposed to come, but that's a pretty big crowd. My nausea started very early in my pregnancy, almost the same day I took the pregnancy test, and continued until I gave birth. I couldn't even work much less make a Thanksgiving feast. In fact, just the sight of food would make me vomit.