Got an email from an on-line friend of mine a couple of days ago. She was very apologetic that she didn’t know that I was going through this crap again (a/k/a Round Seven of the GCB - Great Cancer Battle). I told her not to worry about it and I know its difficult for people to keep up with this.

I pretty much started writing this Wednesday blog in an effort to keep people informed of what is going on with respect to my treatments, etc. I also thought that … in my own little way … I could be of help to those who are going through this shit for the first time. It’s scary stuff. Just hearing your doctor mention the “C” word automatically puts all sorts of “I’m gonna die” thoughts in your head. It’s understandable. However, not necessarily true. I’ve been at the GCB for nearly thirteen years. I was initially diagnosed with breast cancer in 1996 and I’m here to say … I’m still alive and kickin’. I have absolutely no intention of dying of cancer. Hit by a bus, maybe, but not cancer.

I have a SIL who has been in this game for nearly twenty years and a MIL who was diagnosed over fifty years ago. Edie will tell you that she was diagnosed years ago … sorry Edie, don’t recall how long ago … and she’s doing perfectly fine.

It’s important to keep family and friends informed of what’s going on with respect to your treatment and progress. They worry, but are sometimes hesitant to ask. You can do what I’m doing … keeping a blog. Dee also keeps a blog going in an effort to keep people informed. Hmmm, I was going to put Dee’s link on here, but for some reason can’t find it. Dee, if you respond to this post, can you post your link so people can check out your blog?

Anyhoo, if you don’t mind talking about it, I would recommend having a blog. In my opinion, its very therapeutic.

And Repeat After Me …“YOU ARE A CANCER WINNER”

Just had a book signing over at Waldenbooks this past Saturday here in Wisconsin. I gotta say, I really enjoy doing these. I know there’s a majority of writers who’d rather have root canal than participate in a signing, but I ain’t one of them. I get a rush out of doing them. Plus, Waldenbooks apparently enjoys having me. I was talking with one of the staff, Cindy (who happens to be in charge of the romance selection and does a hellava job at it), and she said that normally they don’t care to do author signings. She mentioned that with a good number of signings, an author is lucky if they sell 4 or 5 books. However, with me, they’re all for it. You see, I take an active role in setting up these signings. I send out announcements, invitations, call family and friends to make sure they’re going to show up. I badger people into attending. As a result, Waldenbooks ordered over 60 of my books, had me positioned in a prominent spot in the store and even provided cookies to lure people to my table. No, I didn’t sell all 60 books, but I did manage to push nearly 30 of them.

Yes, a great number of the people who bought my books were family and friends. But I also sold to a couple of people who’d wandered in. It was such fun. I was talking to Cindy today and suggested setting up another signing closer to Christmas. It’s a busy time for them and they may not want to deal with the hassle of an author signing. We’ll see if that happens.

What to do with old medication? I’m finding this a problem. Since I’m no longer taking the Tykerb and the Xeloda … what should I do with the remaining pills? There’s something like half a bottle left of each. I don’t want to flush this stuff down the toilet. Not only is this a chemo drug and therefore dangerous, but there’s a big hoopla about polluting the water supply … which I totally agree with. We shouldn’t be flushing old meds down the drains.

I asked Dr. D and his nurse suggested checking with Walgreens since that’s where I’d gotten the Xeloda. Tried that last night. The pharmacist said that they don’t take back and destroy old medications but that I should contact the City Health Department. Oooookaaaay. So I’ll be making that call this morning. Either that, or he suggested contacting a local hospital. He thought that Aurora was having a drug gathering this coming weekend. That might work since I have to go for my nurse visit this Friday anyway. I could swing by the hospital portion and see if they’ll take this stuff. I better call first. With my luck, I’ll be hauling this stuff around in the trunk of my car for months.

Last summer, CVS Pharmacy was advertising they were gathering drugs for destruction. What they didn’t mention was that I would then have to take them to the local baseball stadium and drop it off there. On a weekend I just happen to be out of town. Being an environmental conscious person, I asked other family and friends if they old meds they wanted me to take. I have a small bagful and here it sits because I couldn’t get down to the stadium to drop it off. (Sigh).

What I’m saying is that it really is inconvenient to try to do the right thing. Hubby, by the way, suggested taking a hammer to the tablets, powdering them and then sprinkling it along the gravel garden path in our backyard. Ummmm … I don’t think so.

I do hope that other people have an easier time of getting rid of old meds than I am. Any suggestions?

Aaaaannnnd, of Course … Repeat after me …“YOU ARE A CANCER WINNER”

Well, I knew this was going to happen sooner or later … and its happened sooner. My lovely forward progress has slowed to a trickle. The doctor has been weaning me off the steroids, so as a result, my 1:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. writing marathons have pretty much dried up. Been sleepin’ through the night and if I do wake up at 1:00 a.m., I have a brief moment of whether I have the energy or am alert enough to warrant getting up and then promptly fall asleep again.

This is good and bad. Good because I hate being on the steroids … other than the energy they gave me. Bad because now I have to find another time to find my writing productivity. Evenings are usually out. Too tired after a full day. 5:00 a.m. is a possibility. If I can get a decent hour of work in (uninterrupted), that might be my window of opportunity.

I’ll have to experiment and see what I come up with.

Had my second Ixempra treatment last Friday and frankly, expected the worse as far as incapacitating reactions. Now, with the first administration, I was fine on Friday, okay on Saturday and started going downhill Sunday. It took me until Wednesday before I was fully functional. Because the reactions tend to be accumulative, I fully expected to be barely functional for the above mentioned time span, plus another day or two after the second treatment.

Imagine my surprise when none of that happened. By Sunday, I’m looking for signs of the flu-like symptoms I’d experienced after the first treatment, the fatigue, the general “blah” feeling. Nope, nada, nuthin’. I’m feelin’ pretty damn good. Not that I’m arguing, mind you, but I’m sorta waiting for the other shoe to drop. Went to work on Monday and Tuesday and admit to feeling pretty wiped by the end of the day, but other than that … I was good to go. Likin’ this. It also bodes well for the remaining four treatments.

The headaches do continue and there is some fatigue. And some weirdness does prevail. After a day or two, my tongue sorta went numb … like there was a coating of fuzz on it. Very odd and very disconcerting. Needless to day, I couldn’t taste a thing … or if I did, it was a nasty, metallic sensation … which made eating an actual chore. Well, by today, that’s pretty much faded. Still a slight numbness but at least I can taste again … somewhat.

Other reaction I didn’t expect? Gas. Ewwww. Made a mistake of drinking two cans of Diet Coke at work one day and had an actual double-over, OMG stomach pains. Not to get gross, but once it passed, I was pretty much okay. So … note to anyone taking Ixempra … skip anything carbonated. And this includes beer. Tried that route with similar reactions. I think I’ll stick with wine. That’s fairly safe and for some reason, even with the wonky tastebuds, tastes great and it goes down really well.

And remember to repeat after me …“YOU ARE A CANCER WINNER”