Salamander
Fire Walking

Around these parts, we don't have a mouse or mole problem in our gardens so much as a vole problem. Voles can be easily mistaken for mice or moles at first glance, and actually look a bit like a cross between the two (tiny little mole eyes with a mouse-like tail which is actually a lot shorter than a mouse's). Back when I used to have a "real" garden, the voles used to hollow out the cucumbers and zuchinni, so they looked normal on the outside but collapsed as soon as you went to pick them.

The voles are ubiquitous, and even though there isn't much in the way of veggie gardening done in this apartment complex, they're still around. This is being proven rather efficiently by one of the neighbor's cats who seems to delight in catching them and the stockpiling the teeny little carcasses underneath the neighbor's car. There are two rain-soggy little bodies in the empty parking spot at this moment, though the evidence should soon be hidden when the neighbor gets home from work.

I went for yet another paracentesis this morning. This time Dr. Liver decided to go in from the left side instead of the right. He was afraid scar tissue was starting to build up, which is why we weren't getting good taps on the right any more. I must say, it worked like a charm. We got 7.8 liters out of me. As usual when we have that big a drain-off I'm crampy and uncomfortable, but it beats how I felt before the tap. Tomorrow I should be feeling pretty good. The instantaneous weight loss of 16 pounds was nothing to sneeze at either - I now have clothes that fit again!

My erratic MELD score is at least being consistent in being erratic. Today's bloodwork results calculate out to a "16". sigh Dr. Liver reassured me that I'd be getting a liver "soon", but lack of sleep and exasperation with things in general led me to voice my doubts in the matter. He didn't even try to argue with me this morning about it; I suspect he's tired of offering the same pep-talk as well.

I only got an hour's sleep last night due to the discomfort of the fluid. I returned home at 11:30, and immediately went back to bed until 4:00. I think I may try to nap again now.