• First off, birthday wishes (belated and otherwise) to electragiselle, fengi, livsmama, pacotelic, photogfrog, matrexius and theamaranth.

• Haven't been feeling up to doing any serious cooking lately, but I did manage to make some absolutely knockout venison burgers (panned in butter, worcestershire & minced garlic) and cabbage/pepper salad on Halloween. Madame then topped it off perfectly with a homemade pumpkin pie.

Feels good to be getting my appetite back. Can't wait to get back into the kitchen.

• Speaking of appetites, somebody better hide the god-damned Butterfingers before I inhale them all. Shit's like heroin.

• Speaking of treats, my ever-amazing dad gave me this magnificent creation as a get-well gift, and I've been going absolutely nuts with it - apples, pears, kiwis, bananas, berries, veggies - you name it. Nectar of the gods, I tellya. And my local fruit & veggie place has a daily "very ripe" cart with all kinds of stuff priced dimes on the dollar... perfect for juicing on a budget like mine.

• Met with my new internist today (great guy, for a change), and he put me through a full exam, top to bottom. So far, we know there's still a significant amount of blood in my urine, and my white blood cell count is still off the charts. I'm awaiting additional results, but it appears we're looking not only at renal lithiasis (with possible pyelonephritis and/or hydronephrosis, but an extremely stubborn staph epidermidis infection (most likely from the the stent and/or the unsanitary hospital conditions), cholelithiasis and steatohepatitis...

I know, right?

Next step is a full renal exam by my (new) nephrologist on Wednesday, then - if worse comes to worst - a hepatologist (and/or liver CT scan) referral.

I tellya, I'm really getting sick of this shit (no pun intended).

• Quick consumer note: If you're thinking about using Carbonite for online back-up, forget it. It's a steaming bowl of suck. Slow, clumsy and unreliable (not to mention the piss-poor "customer service").

• And finally, a couple of recent family pics under the cut - one of my daughter in her "Candy Rapper" Halloween costume and — fair warning — one of me n' my son with the massive (230-pound) whitetail buck he shot a few weeks back:

( Clicky )

Tags: friends, halloween, hunting, medicine
From: Chicago
Mood: Groggy