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.