Recovering

Wednesday November 11, 1992

Slept pretty well considering. The pain in my chest is better. After we do the saline flush the connection is leaking. I panic. Frank is in Newbury Park. When he returns we attach a new tube and the leaking stops. I still have no energy but have my hair and makeup on by noon.

Oh for heaven's sake, Mom. You are recovering from surgery. Do you really need to fix your hair and put on makeup to lie in bed?

Back Exercises

Thursday September 17, 1992

Frank has walked to his carving class so I say my prayers, do visualization and back exercises, then take off for my 20 minute walk. It takes me awhile to get cleaned up. The weather has warmed up and I'm over-reacting to the heat. It's so hard to put on makeup when the sweat keeps running off it. And hard to curl my hair when it's wet with sweat. After lunch I go shopping for clothes to wear to dinner on the cruise.

We go out to dinner at Vistas at the Radisson Hotel. It's nice. I have alot of tumor pain this evening.

According to Wikipedia: "In the U.S., acute low back pain is the fifth most common reason for physician visits. About nine out of ten adults experience back pain at some point in their life, and five out of ten working adults have back pain every year." I remember Mom teaching me some stretching exercises in the tent while we were camping at Lake Don Pedro. I was only in my 30s then and had not yet experienced back pain. Over the last decade however, I have experienced more than my share, especially after suffering from a herniated disc in 2008, followed by back surgery. I have done some of the exercises Mom showed me as well as some given to me by physical therapists over the years, several from the examples shown above. For the last 4 years since my back surgery I get the most relief from back pain by taking aqua aerobics 4X/week.

Ugh! All that sweating sounds miserable. Maybe the reason she's sweating is because she's using a hot curling iron around her face! What women go through to be attractive!

Hot Rollers

Monday August 24, 1992

I had alot of trouble getting my motor started this morning. I awake at 8:15 and come down for a french toast breakfast I made for us. After that I was sleepy and lethargic until noon. It was 12:30 by the time I was finally dressed, had my make-up on and hair done.

We had lunch and I sat and read most of the afternoon between doing the wash. I called and ordered the book "Fighting Cancer" for Joan and Francis.

At 7:30 we went square dancing til 9:30. Did fine, but did sit out 2 tips.

No matter whether Mom was going out or staying in, sick or healthy, camping in the dirt at Lake Don Pedro or staying in a 5-star hotel, she spent more than an hour every morning drying her hair after her shower, then curling it with hot rollers or with a curling iron (this part she could not do at the lake due to no electricity), and then backcombing her hair to give it more body and applying massive amounts of hairspray to keep her creation from drooping. I often wondered if breathing in all that hairspray every day is what caused her cancer. After the cloud of hairspray dissipated, she applied foundation, powder, eyebrow pencil, eye shadow, eyeliner, mascara, and rouge. Mom spent all this time on her appearance not so much to impress other people but because it made her feel better about herself. Some of my best memories of visiting with her were of her sitting on a stool in front of her make-up mirror applying her make-up while I sat on the edge of the huge tub in their master bathroom. She loved to work on my hair too from the time I was a little girl until I was in my 40s. I always had a perm and curls even though my natural style is stick straight and baby fine.

Losing The Battle?

Wednesday July 1, 1992

Awake at 7:30 feeling pretty good considering I awoke every hour during the night so got up to pee. By the time I had finished breakfast I was coughing and exhausted and lying on the couch. I seemed to get weaker and weaker through the day and spent most of it back in bed. Somehow, I managed to shower and makeup and even curled my hair. At 4:30 determination drove me out of bed and downstairs. I've been cold all day, but no fever. Should I continue taking the vitamins? Are they to blame somehow? I take them and the amoxicillin the doctor prescribed. Today I feel like I'm slipping away and losing the battle, but I must not think that way or I will for sure.

I have never heard of vitamins causing a nasty cough. I think it must be a virus. Since she has been on chemotherapy, her immune system is weakened and any little bug can wreck havoc. Notice how Mom is still determined to shower, put on make-up and curl her hair no matter how sick she feels? For her that was a one-hour chore, but if it made her feel better, I guess, whatever! I only put on makeup when I'm going to church and I almost never curl my hair!