MISERY

Yesterday, I was, as they say, "off the grid" for a large part of the day.  I'm not entirely sure what happened but something threw me off my game and the minute that happens, it seems the remainder of the day is gone.  Suddenly, it's approaching 2AM and am surrounded by the same pile of papers that were around me when the day began.

In other words, I was reading "breaking news" when it wasn't news.  It's olds.  In a 24 hour news cycle, you either keep up or you are in the dust of the rest of the news lovin' world.  Yesterday, I was in the dust.  And in the dark.

Perhaps you recall I mentioned my attendance at a MSKCC Survivor Celebration?  It was in June.  The keynote speaker was the one and only Ms Kathy Bates.  She was charming and witty.  With a side of snark.  "What's spoken at Sloan, stays at Sloan."  Her words.  I'm not breaking that code of silence.

I remember being so damn impressed with the fact that she managed to keep her ovarian cancer diagnosis off the grid, out of the press and in the privacy of her own personal space until SHE was ready to share her story.  It was years before she outed herself.  My guess?  She has loyal and trusted friends and a very loving family.  That.  Or, she kept a particular movie scene queued up on her DVD player.  That would strike fear into the hearts of any who might be inclined to leak the story.

Yesterday, Kathy Bates announced she was diagnosed with breast cancer.  She had a bilateral mastectomy.  I'm going out on a limb.  It was another sucker punch in the gut.  And it was upsetting to read.  I saw this on a twitter feed and I had to send her a message.  I wanted her to know that I was in that audience at Sloan (keeping all of her secrets) and that this recent cancer episode was upsetting.

I sent her a tweet.  It's what you do on twitter.  Very easy when the wordy one is restricted to 140.  Gotta be brief. Economize the words.  

@chemobrainfog No tears. Distinguished survivors in this club.
— Kathy Bates (@MsKathyBates) September 13, 2012

I was THRILLED to have her reply directly to me.  We wanted to go out for cocktails with her after that keynote address. There were a couple of other tweets that went back and forth....... bottom line.  I plan on slamming back shots with a few other buddies and Ms Bates WILL be the guest of honor.  I have no idea how we are going to make that happen.  But I'm finding a way.  Come hell or high water.

Last week it was Judy Blume.  This week, Kathy Bates.

Is it me or are we in a "everyone is getting breast cancer" cycle?  I'm going to retrieve the sledgehammer from the garage.  Frankly, I've had enough already.

Normally, I like the sound of smashing glass to release my anger.

Today, I think I'll swing a sledgehammer and do some real damage.  I need a good target.  Anything pink will suffice. Shouldn't be too hard to locate this time of year.  Watch out.  I'm Pissed.  Steer CLEAR.

It's never a good idea to F*k with an angry woman on a mission who is hormone starved, sleep deprived AND wielding a sledgehammer.