The paracentesis went fairly straightforward yesterday. We only got around 3.1 liters this time; I can thank the new diuretic from preventing me from packing on too much water. I saw the nutritionist, who wants me to start increasing protein intake again. *sigh* First it's eat a lot of protein, then eat sparingly, now eat a lot again. It gets to the point where I can't keep straight what I'm supposed to do. I tried today at lunch, but that damned hunk of pork roast just sat on my plate daring me to barf all over it. Most meats are simply not appetizing at the moment, although if I thoroughly marinate them in balsamic vinegar first they become doable. Am I the only one who senses a trend here?

I spoke at length to Dr. Liver about the Needs List while I was at the hospital. He is pretty adamantly against me going on it. He feels there is simply too little history on the program to know if the livers from 70+ old donors have any problems long term. He reminded me that I'm a 46-year old woman who can reasonably expect another thirty years of life, and he wants me to have a liver that can reasonably expect the same. That's good enough for me. Until things get more desperate, I won't put my name in on the Needs List.

I brought yellow ducky along for kicks. While I was going through prep the nurses all had fun running through the special services suites making the duck quack at the doctors at work there. They left Ducky for me to use as a call bell while I was being given my usual albumin, and when the bottle was done I set him to quacking, which inspired a new wave of laughter out at the nurses' station. When I left, I gave the ducky to the nurses. I could hear them badgering Dr. Liver behind me as I walked out into the hall, with one nurse pretending to be Dr. Liver and barking orders while the others all quacked along with her. They told him that Ducky sounds just like him.

Hmmm ... It occurs to me that I could come to regret that little piece of generosity.

If I'm not too exhausted tonight, Kitten should get an entry, complete with pictures. Stay tuned for the next episode of The Kitten, wherein our little brainless heroine defeats the villain Super Spider.