Had my doctor’s visit yesterday morning. Should have new numbers in a few days … so will update when I get those.

Anyway, because today was a combo chemo cocktail day (i.e., Abraxine and Avastin), I had to give ‘em a urine sample. They won’t give me the Avastin if I have excessive protein in my system. Can’t remember why and I really gotta ask about that. Well, because of the cold last week, an impending bladder infection (oh … joy) and whatever circumstances, I had excessive protein. So … no Avastin today.

To top it off, Dr. D wants to monitor the protein. He now wants a 24 hour urine collection. A collection … I kid you not. I asked if he just wanted samples of each time I pee and he said no … he wants all of it. Ewwww. I go to labs and they give me this huge jug and a contraption which fits over the toilet so I can pee into it and then pour it into the jug. Talk about bizarre.

So guess what I’ll be doing on Sunday? I may as well spend the day at home because with the bladder infection, I feel like I have to pee every five minutes anyway. No way am I gonna get caught out where I have to rush home to pee in a pot and then transfer it to a jug.

Needless to say, I’m not particularly happy with this. At least I got a prescription to start clearing up the bladder infection. Just another fun filled event in the cancer war.

On a side note … Sharon, who I see periodically at the clinic informed me that yesterday was her final chemo treatment. Way to go, Sharon. No offence, but I never want to see you there again.

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

I’m the one who does nearly all the grocery shopping in our household and I can say that I’ve been disappointed nearly 90% of the times when I purchase generic brands. Not sure why. I read the ingredients on both the brand names and the generic and they seem to be pretty much the same. Is it the quality of those ingredients that make a difference? Don’t know. The packaging doesn’t mean squat, of course, yet there must be something that causes it to taste inferior.

With the economic downturn, I’ve been trying to cut back on the grocery bill and have been buying more generic brands. When it comes to bread or milk, I really don’t see a difference, yet I’ve noticed a difference in canned goods, some frozen products and cereals.

I know a few people who swear by them, even saying that some generic brands are better than name brands. Not that I‘ve found so far … but then, I haven’t tried all products, of course. I’m also not saying that all generic brands are inferior. You gotta be able to cut corners when you can, but I’m certainly not going to make a habit of buying them unless the quality comes up … despite an effort to save a few pennies.

Have you tried a few generic brands and what’s your opinion of them?

I’m in the midst of putting together a game plan. I’ve come to the conclusion that I gotta get off my butt and get moving with my career. I haven’t had a book released since 2008, despite the fact that I have three of them primed, edited and ready to fly. In this business, you cannot drag your feet, nor can you allow any momentum you might have to dissipate.

I checked with my crit partners and mentioned my gut feeling that I should offer one book with one house (not naming names here), and shop the other two around. I’ve been going the agent route for the past few months, but have been getting shot down right and left. So now … I go with the editor route.

This may be pretty good timing. I’ll be leaving for a weekend conference in the middle of April, RT conference at the end of April, another week-ender in May and RWA Nationals in July.

I plan on sending out queries before I go to these conferences and this will give me an opportunity to introduce myself to various editors and/or agents if I happen to meet them at any of these conferences.

It does feel good to have a game plan. Now to follow through.

It finally happened. After spending much of the winter season dodging colds, I got one. This is highly unusual for me. When you have a young daughter who is bringing everything home from school … and not just homework … having two or three colds during the winter season is nuthin’. Add hubby into the mix and this household has had two rounds of a potential whammy. They were both miserable — I was fine. I was at the point where I was thinking that the chemo was warding off not only cancer cells, but the cold germs. Geez — a second good use for the chemo cocktail.

Well, I cannot brag about that any longer. One of the guys I work with (and who has come in to work with colds on three different occasions courtesy of his young son), has had a cold for the last week and it looks like I finally got it. Sore throat, cough, sniffles. Oh — Joy. Ah well, here it is mid-February and this is the first one I’d gotten. I can’t complain. Well, I could, but who wants to hear it?

Now comes the question — Do cancer patients going through treatment get worse head colds than those who are fairly healthy to begin with? Probably depends at what stage you’re at, the type of chemo cocktail you’re getting and your personal tolerance. For myself? I think I’ll get over this fairly quickly. All my bloodwork is pretty normal (despite the fact I’ve been on this particular cocktail for about six months — hard to believe, eh?) and I usually shrug off colds within a week or so. Hope that’s still the case. I’m going through tissue like there’s no tomorrow.

My nurse visit yesterday was uneventful. A quick in and out — my favorite. I think I got there around 8:20 and was on my way to work by 9:40. Likin’ that.

Last week Monday I might have had a reaction to the Avastin, but I’m not sure. Started out the morning feeling sorta crappy and it just got worse from there. A headache from hell, chills, fatigue up the vin-vang and flu-like symptoms. By 3:00 I couldn’t take it anymore and headed for home where I promptly bundled into everything warm, found a couple of blankets and went to bed. I slept from approximately 3:30 Monday afternoon through to 6:30 the next morning (with a couple of toilet breaks). Felt pretty much normal after that. And have felt fine since then … discounting this stupid cold.

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

It’s pretty rough when there’s only one game in town when it comes to heating utilities. They pretty much have the corner on the market and you have little choice but to pay what prices they’re touting.

Here in Wisconsin, we have WE Energies. I love it when they put out these commercials where they assure us … uh suckers … that they’re doing everything they can to keep the heating bills down — yet not a month earlier there’s something in the news where they announce that heating is going to rise this winter by 5%, 10% or whatever percent.

Sure you can break down and either put in a fireplace or some other method of heating, but they pretty much got you by the balls (if you have ‘em) for standard heating. Don’t know if there is a monopoly in other states but here in Wisconsin, they’ve cornered the market.

As a result of the prices, we’re trying to hold the heat down this winter. Sure it gets chilly during the night, but that’s what extra blankets are for and sweaters for the day. I know people who drop their heat to about 50 degrees during the night. I’m not that manic about it. We keep it at around 63 or 64 degrees and about the same during the day when we’re not home.

You have any heating nightmares to share?