Okay,
well,
mr Dillon we know each other for quite a while.
I'm dr Hillman.
Yes.
You for quite a while.
Glad we could do this today.
What I'd like to do maybe the start is for you to
tell me in your own words,
what your illnesses.
Well I don't know in
1969
I wasn't feeling well.
I wasn't feeling too badly but I was cooking dinner for my
husband and I went to get up out of a chair
and I just became dizzy and
I couldn't finish cooking the dinner.
I had to go lay down.
My husband called the doctor and
he said well put it down for an hour
and see if she'll come out of it,
you know?
And I just,
but rather than telling me all the details
of how you first got sick,
what have the doctors told you?
You have?
They told me that I had
a benign leukemia,
a chronic leukemia.
Uh But they said I don't know
what what what
do you understand that?
That means?
Well,
I believe it's something that you can live
with for a long time has properly taken care of.
And that seems to what the doctors told you.
This is quite a while ago,
1959.
And she's coming down here to the clinic.
They told me more or less the same thing.
How has this affected your life?
What difference is it made in your lifestyle?
Well,
it slowed me down a lot,
you know,
with my activities and things.
It's like I say,
I'm I'll learn that and I don't
spend the time outside that I used to,
I used to fish.
No,
I feel that I'm not able to do it
because I don't have a breast through with
mm.
And anything.
What other sort of things has it affected things,
affected your activities and doing things like
fishing.
What other things?
Well my housework I've worked hard all my
life you know I just love to work
and
work in the yard.
Keep my house my home real nice
and I find that I'm not even sure
do all that like I used to do.
I know I can't keep up my yard like I used to I
do keep up my house fairly well.
Has this affected the family?
Oh I think it's affected my husband.
Yes.
Well he's used to
me being able to go with him whenever he wants
and three times when I just can't
do it I feel I'm
tired you know
and we've always gone and replaced and done so many things
together and
no he when I can't go well he won't go
either.
He just stays along with me.
Does this make you both unhappy or?
No?
I keep telling him to go You know he
shouldn't stay home with me because he needs
to get out and get
away from you.
But he says no he won't do
it.
You'd rather be there with me.
What do you think about that boy?
It's real nice
that he would be that way you know?
Sounds like you rely on him.
What I do.
Is he the key strengths do you think?
Yeah.
Oh I have two married daughters but then they have families
and they were
I don't have too much time.
You know it can help in the
can right.
I do most of my own work
except for the times that I'm in the hospital or
something.
You know.
How did your daughter's react to the the illness?
They done anything special or different?
No I don't think they've accepted it
that they have it.
You know?
How can you tell that?
Well just the way they act and I
guess they think that mothers never get
sick.
Little too scary to think about.
Too scary to think about.
It might be mm he
just might be that.
But
mother so I had been there you know when they needed her.
They still expect me to be there.
That relationship still the same
where they come to you with their problems.
Yes they ever turn that around now.
Do they ask you to come to them with your problems?
No my hero and my Euro one doesn't
want to hear about it.
Oh my older one and
talk to her you know she's
quite reasonable and accept things but the younger
one is I want to hear about it.
How does she keep from talking about?
Just she
knows it.
You try to bring the subject up with her.
No I don't because I think
well she
doesn't want to listen.
Why should I bother her?
I think she's just put it in the back of your mind
that I'm not sick.
How about your husband?
Can you talk well with him about?
Yes,
he's very understanding
chris I try not to talk too much about it because I just
feel that it's not good for the
rest of the family for me to be talking about all the time.
You know,
it doesn't
help there outlook on life either.
If I would keep talking about it,
where do you think you get your major strength in dealing with
something like this?
What do you rely on?
Well,
it's just myself.
I'm determined.
I'm gonna stick around a while.
I think I don't think I really do
leave it.
At least I want to.
Has religion helped at all?
Do you find that at all useful?
Anybody other friends or anything that you find helpful
in this sort of thing?
Mhm.
All my friends say,
well just
don't give up,
you know
and I think if you give up while you're just done for
and I keep fighting every day,
I try to keep busy around the hospice as much as I can.
You know.
I think you're winning the fight.
Well,
I would hope so.
I won't admit defeat yet.
I don't think I should anyway.
Is there any time that you get really feeling blue?
Oh yes.
Once in a while I do,
especially when I'm there alone at night.
Your husband's away along he what does
he important?
He's employed by american melon.
And that job keeps him out a lot,
occupied a lot.
We had a nice comfortable life.
So he went to work for them.
You know he worked for Alaska steamship company
and
he didn't have to work all these weekends and things.
We had our weekends free and we used to travel a
lot.
We build a cabin
hot now by Darrington
and we spent a lot of time out there.
But no that is curtailed to you know
with his working if he has to send
you off it seems like I'm
don't feel like going so they don't get
their much.
We don't have we don't get there too much.
No,
I'd like to get there every weekend if I could
the baby yard
and just lots of work to be
done up here keeps you busy occupied.
You did something more power to.
Mhm.
You don't know.
Such as this tends to be very expensive.
Has this been a problem?
Not yet.
But
we have our insurances.
What kind of insurance do you Well
we have our own coverage that would pay for individually and then he
has one with his union
which is currently quite well as an
outpatient.
But once a year maybe I have to
pay
quite a large amount because
then they'll start to fiscal year over again.
No,
no.
Catch it up against this
reunion insurances union insurance
and they pay for outpatient.
They pay for outpatient than inpatient course.
They pay more for an impatient
80%.
Take care pretty much of everything that you've been
accumulating here at the university.
But it pays up to 15,000 a year.
And then and
Anything that's it just pays
15,000 a year.
Then when years up they go back and start over
another 15,000.
That's good.
So that helps now the other one doesn't pay
for anything but being a patient hospital.
What's the other 1?
Head red american.
That's a special policy.
Yes
so that special hospital insurance and that takes
care of the costs here at the university.
Okay.
Uh huh.
But if my husband now he would like to retire when
he's 62 years old.
But he's just hesitating a kind of medical
won't please continue after that time.
Well the one that we hear ourself will and his
his union insurance we can
cover it I think for a
year or two years
after he retired period ourselves.
You know hard then you have to give it up.
But then
we keep thinking maybe by then we'll be on Medicare
which would be some help.
Yeah.
Good.
It should shouldn't it?
Yes it should take care of it should be as good as the
union policy.
Unless they change it again.
I tried to collect some disability and
you know,
they just turned me down flat.
You were collecting disability.
You were working then before this off again.
Oh yes.
I've worked for years.
Do we want I was
head banker,
waitress downtown when the big hotels.
Mm.
And they turned me down flat because
I guess I wasn't down flat in bed.
And this to me as soon as they found
out that I could do a little bit of housework,
they wouldn't give you the disability and give me my
disability.
And I know so many people are expecting that
non child would.
Mhm.
Yeah.
This which is just thought about going back to
work at all.
No,
I don't think I could.
I really don't because
I must say have more energy to have
not.
And that's been true ever since the diagnosis.
No.
You know,
the first couple of years I didn't have much trouble.
Did you work then?
No,
I had quit work.
So,
See last year I worked with in
1966,
why did you quit?
Go ahead and stayed home to keep house for so
long.
I thought it'd be fun to stay home and keep my house,
you know?
And I worked for worked a long time.
And we had a home paid for Oh,
I thought,
boy,
we're on Easy Street.
You mingle.
They had been home for so long.
I just wanted to him keep house for
enjoy the thing to have.
I mean,
that's stage work better off.
Who knows?
How do you feel about the care you get
from the doctors?
You meant?
Do you think you're getting?
Oh,
I think they're wonderful here.
Mm.
Do you think they tell you enough about what's going on?
Well,
I think so.
I'm not.
Yeah.
Or else should tell you too much.
I don't know which maybe they don't have it all straight in your
mind.
Do you think they told you enough?
So you understand what's going on?
Oh yeah I understand.
How do you feel about this President admission once,
pardon?
Well how do you feel about the president admission?
Does it frighten you go to frighten you or
does it frighten you being in the
hospital?
No.
No it doesn't frighten me.
It's just something that I
had to expect.
Have you spent more time in the hospital lately than the
last year or two before that
I believe so has been
excuse me.
I was trying to think when I first contacted this
disease I had no problems whatsoever whether
everything was under control.
My
right cons for down and
I didn't even know I had it.
Of course they didn't tell me I had,
you know,
I just told me I had an elevated white cock person.
Maybe that helps.
And then I I think that was a good idea not to tell you
what you had.
I don't know if whether or not my husband didn't think it was.
He found it out through an insurance company
and he was quite disturbed at the doctor because he hadn't told him.
Because he said he had,
he known we could probably would have arranged our
lives file a little differently.
You know,
And I really felt good till I've had my
first case of herpes
and
what happened then I don't know whether it was medication of what
elevated my white count way
high and then the
doubled my dosage of medication.
And
first thing I knew I knew my platelets were all
on the way and from then on it seems like I've
been having trouble.
Mm Well
anything else that we haven't talked about that do you
think?
Well you think I've enlightened you
enough?
Yes.
Very much.
I appreciate you coming down.
I don't know what I've said.
That's any different than anybody else.
But well
we we we lead a fairly normal life,
you know,
Except that we just don't travel
around the country.
Like we used to we had trip in Vegas this month.
Here I am because
you're been sick
you well so well thank you again
for spending the time.
You're welcome doctor.
And I hope I make that Vegas trip yet.