Blogger’s Blog: Miscellaneous Thoughts

July 29th, 2005 by Laurie Barak

Hello, my dear blog readers. I know it’s been some time since I posted a Blogger’s Blog. So here’s one now.

How is my mom? I talked to her last week and she was doing OK after her chemo treatment, but now is not doing so well. The oncologist did find that one of the drugs in her “chemo cocktail” was making her very sick so he was able to remove it from the mix. She did a little better at first when she had her last session, but the next day was extremely tired and weak. She has not been feeling well at all. She has had trouble eating and since she has IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) it’s not making it any easier. She has been drinking Ensure to supplement some of the vitamins and minerals that the chemo is leaching out of her body, which has helped a little bit.

My dad is doing his best to take care of her and working at the same time. He arranged with his boss to have Thursdays off (for mom’s chemo treatments) and Fridays so he can be with her in case she has any problems (like passing out as she did before). Because she isn’t eating much he has resorted to eating sandwiches and such and isn’t getting proper nutrition, either. I recommended he drink an Ensure at least once a day and that they both take multivitamins.

One thing my mom said was that people aren’t coming over or calling as much anymore and that has really depressed them both. Of course it’s not helping that I am unable to visit. It is very hard on me, too. I wish I could be there to help them. I didn’t tell my mom but I’ve been very homesick lately and I wish I could be there to get a hug from her. I miss her hugs.

We’ve officially lived in California for a year now. I still don’t know where anything is. I get lost trying to find things and don’t know all the freeways or which directions they go. It’s difficult to really get out and do any traveling to figure it out since I work all week and we don’t have much time on the weekends to do anything. I don’t have any family here (my closest family member is a cousin in Las Vegas) and we haven’t met any friends through work or in our apartment complex. I feel very lonely and isolated sometimes, as well as homesick for familiar things and for my parents. My husband and my three cats are a great comfort to me when I am feeling sad.

And so, dear readers, that is all I have time for right now. Thank you all for your kind thoughts for my mom. I always pass them along and she enjoys reading them. Thank you for reading my blog. I hope you all keep coming back