Okay, remember last week I mentioned having what could have been a reaction to the Avastin/Abraxine cocktail? With the other option being a reaction to the recalled Tylenol that I’d been popping the Thursday and Friday after my Avastin/Abraxine cocktail.

Well it sounds like …. drum roll please … it may have been the Tylenol. I finally got through on the 800 number and after listening to an irritating pre-recorded advice about returning the half dozen or so products on the recall list, you were directed to contact an 888 number which is the McNeil Group & Associates (or something like that.) I listened to the half dozen or so (again) irritating pre-recorded messages, trying to get a warm body (without success I might add) when I finally punched in option number 5 which was a list of the symptoms. The spiel went through the usual “The following reactions may occur in a very small percentage of people who took this product.” They then listed mild nausea, flu-like symptoms and diarrhea. Bingo! Those were exactly the symptoms I was experiencing two weeks ago.

Still not a guaranty that this is what caused my crash and burns. I guess we’ll find out this weekend because I’d just had my Avastin/Abraxine cocktail yesterday. I’m hoping it was a Tylenol reaction since this chemo cocktail appears to be working and I don’t want to be taken off of it.

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

I was one of those lucky people whose computer picked up a nasty little virus last week. The only consolation is the fact that it happened on my work computer … initially. After a moment of panic — wondering what the hell I did, I immediately called our IT guy … and got voicemail. Oh, great. Fortunately Jeff got back to me fairly quickly and was able to remote into my system, check out the problem and began the clean up. It took a good four or five hours to get that sucker out of my ‘puter.

Since then I’d been hearing via my loops that a number of people had received this malware and have literally spent hours getting their hard-drives cleaned up. Talk about a pain in the ass. It seems this virus will burrow into your computer, hide and pop up periodically … instructing you to try this, try that and eventually suggest that you purchase this special software to get rid of the virus … oh and by the way, cough up your credit card number. Uh, there’s the catch. The second you do, you will find your credit card highjacked and emptied. Nice, eh?

Since then, something popped up on my home computer. Another panicked call to Jeff … and got voicemail.. He was able to email me the instructions, which I followed and it seems like I’d caught it. Whether it was the same virus … don’t know. All I know is that I’ll be running scans regularly from now on.

And for those people who create and release these viruses, I’m sure there’s special little space in hell for you.

Talk about fun. This past Saturday there was an author signing at my local Barnes & Nobel. Chloe Neill (http://www.chloeneill.com) writes urban fantasy … a series called the Chicagoland Vampires. So far, she has two books out, “Good Girls Bite” and “Friday Night Bites”. Her third in the series “Twice Bitten” will be out in July.

It was only by chance that I heard about the signing. One of the B&N salespeople mentioned it when I picked up Chloe’s first book. This woman positively gushed over her appearance, so naturally I had to note the date then get started readin’. Wanted to know if I liked her writing before going to the signing. I’m happy to say that Chloe’s style came through with flying colors.

My daughter and I made this an event. We did some running around, stopped at the nearby Olive Garden for dinner before heading over to the B&N. Rather than a regular book signing, Chloe Neill was doing an informal sit down question and answer session with a group of perhaps twenty men and women. It was very enjoyable. There were a couple of ‘spoilers’ for me because I hadn’t yet read the second book, but that wasn’t a problem. It just made me all the more eager to get started on it.

One other thing to mention is that Chloe also has a young adult series. “Fire Spell” just came out recently and of course I had to pick it up for my daughter. Any time she shows an interest in reading something, I jump all over it. And surprisingly, she’s already hooked.

We had a good time attending this signing. If you ever see an author at a bookstore, don’t just pass her/him by (avoiding eye contact). Stop for a moment. Chat. Doesn’t mean you have to buy the book … although that would be nice. Doing author appearances can be difficult for some authors, so give ‘em a break and say hi. Its always appreciated.

Last weekend was a little rough. I’d had my Abraxine/Avastin chemo cocktail on Thursday and was feeling pretty good. Up until Saturday afternoon and into the evening. From there I started getting a little pukey feeling, fatigue hit me and I don’t even want to go into what my bowels were doing. Needless to say I did a crash and burn. Sunday morning I was feeling pretty normal again and naturally overdid it. By evening I went into a second crash and burn.

Decided Monday morning that I was going to give myself a day off. Now, through of all this … the treatments, the chemo, the fatigue, I’ve rarely taken time off of my day job. My employers have been very understanding through all this cancer junk and I try to make it a point of not taking advantage of their generosity … I guess you could call it. But I wanted to recover, so I slept a good portion of Monday morning away. Woke feeling fine.

Now, there’s a question of whether this reaction was from the chemo cocktail or the fact that I’d been popping Tylenol on Thursday and Friday while at work. Found out Tuesday that there had been a mass recall on this particular batch of Tylenol. The company went so far as to contact individual purchasers. One of my bosses had bought this Tylenol at Walmart and received a recorded message notifying her of the recall. I do have an 800 number to call to see if I can get some information regarding the recall. I’d also like to know what the problem was and what the reactions were. Haven’t had a chance to make the call yet, but I will in the very near future.

Personally, I hope it was the Tylenol. I’d rather it wasn’t a reaction to the chemo cocktail. This stuff appears to be working and I don’t want to mess with that.

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

Don’t know ‘bout you, but I hate looking in the mirror when I first get up in the morning. That first glance is enough to scare small pets and young children. Makes it a good thing that I get up at 4:30 a.m. when no one else is around.

Then, unless I get some caffeine in me, it just seems to go downhill from there. I inevitably stub my toe on something (usually the cat), have more than once stepped in cat puke, broken the tea carafe while trying to get said caffeine into my bloodstream and finally stumble into the shower.
Once the shower is accomplished, things seem to look up from there. Somewhat. Still gotta slap that makeup on in order to avert the whole scaring small pets and young children scenario. However, that’s when you discover you’re out of eyeliner, the tip of the eyebrow pencil keeps breaking and you really cannot do anything about those bags under your eyes.

Once you’re out the door and on your way to work, things should be pretty smooth. “Should be” are usually famous last words. Did your car start? Good. Things are looking up. That’s when I check my tires and discover one of them looks a little soft. Gotta get that checked out before I come up with a flat. Its happened before.

Leaving for work is pretty much the end of my bad mornings. I’m told I drive like a bat outta hell, so I don’t worry about traffic all that much. Once at work, I’m pretty good. I get there before everyone else, so I have a few minutes of quiet before mayhem ensues.

Mornings are necessary … why? I’m still tryin’ to figure that one out. I vote that the day begin at around 10:00 or 11:00. People are so much more alert by then.