The RWA National conference is over, and I'm back home recovering and enjoying the wild-and-crazy Tour de France.

Today was all about cleaning up the messes I left all week because I was too busy and too tired to do dishes or hang up my clothes.  I also got busy writing, can you believe it?  I'm applying some advice I spouted at my own workshop to the manuscript I've been futzing with for weeks.  I also wrote out a sort of career game plan for the next few weeks, along with self-imposed deadlines.

Johanna, my editor, promised she would read my fishing boat proposal as soon as she got back, but I know how the best of intentions sometimes get derailed, so I won't hold my breath.  I'll just keep working.

I got a call from my niece today.  She let me know that my sister was at a conference and went into anaphylactic shock.  She had to be rushed to the hospital and spent the night in ICU, though she is okay now.  But here is the weird thing.  Earlier this week, I had a mild allergic reaction to something I ate at my conference.  I had the same symptoms as my sister, just not as severe.

Neither of us knows what caused the reaction.  Neither of us has EVER had such a reaction before.  Yet we both had problems during the same week, hundreds of miles apart, while we were attending meetings.

Cue the Twilight Zone music.

Have a great week,

Kara

Hey, Karen--
What exactly is anaphylactic shock? I think it's what I get when I get shots. I always have a reaction that nearly causes me to pass out--and I'm NOT afraid of needles. Bloodwork is never a problem. Very weird.
Cate

Cate--
It's a severe allergic reaction--usually to insect sting or food. In my sister's case, she broke out in hives all over her body, then her tongue swelled up. I talked to her yesterday and she said she didn't go into "shock," (which involves unconsciousness, I guess) but she had an anaphylactic "event." She went to the ER more as a precaution, and was surprised when the doctors got all panicky and put her in ICU. She stayed for two days. Then she went to an allergist, but they could not determine what set her off, so she has to get an Epi-pen and carry it with her in case it happens again.