Free Meals and Dental Skunks.

And the newest standings from my transplant center, according to UNOS are:

Total Liver:	419
Liver Status 7 (Inactive):	44
Liver MELD / PELD <10:	249
Liver MELD / PELD 11-18:	111
Liver MELD / PELD 19-24:	13
Liver MELD / PELD 25+:	2

I don’t think it’s worth my time waiting up nights for the phone call right now, since I’m currently standing at a 17.

Dinner last night was actually noteworthy. The Socialist and I splurged on a small rack of lamb from Trader Joe’s. It was heavily seasoned with Rosemary, remarkably low in sodium, and a wonderful change in pace. I made garlic whipped potatoes to go with it, and succatash (no sodium in either one except for the miniscule amount that the milk added to the potatoes). There were two chops left over, and I brought those in for lunch today, along with the remains of the mashed and the succatash. It isn’t often that my current diet makes me the envy of the lunch table, but today I think I might have managed to make a few people a bit wistful as I chowed down.

I note with some irony that Thursday at my company has been designated “Employee Appreciation Day”. The company is recognizing the “above and beyond” efforts made by most of the departments recently in response to a particularly heavy work flow. A free meal will be provided at the company cafeteria at lunch Thursday. We have, I should note, a particularly nice cafeteria here. They take pride in what they serve, which is usually quite a cut above standard cafeteria fare. I, of course, will be out on Thursday getting the fluid drained out of me again, so I’ll miss out on the free meal. I suppose it’s just as well; I probably wouldn’t be able to partake anyhow.

We had a contractor in from the outside today, setting up for a new contract they’d won. One of the ladies working there saw me pass by in the hallway several times as I went to and fro in my morning errands, and the last time I passed her she smiled and asked “When’s it coming out?” I gave her a puzzled look, so she repeated, “The baby. When are you due?” I swear, everytime this happens it takes me by surprise again. I explained that it wasn’t a baby coming out, but a liver, and that I was on a waiting list so I didn’t know exactly when it was going to happen. She, of course, got very flustered (though that really wasn’t my intent) and apologized several times.

This evening wass the next of the ever-dreaded dental appointments. I had to leave work a bit early to get there, which was just fine by me. We had visiting dignitaries from another country today, and anything I can do to avoid those festivities was all to the good. I had to come off the coumadin for the dental appointment, which will further lower my MELD score. I also had to take 2000 mgs of Trimox antibiotic before the dental appointment; that stuff always upsets my stomach.

I did survive the visit, in spite of all phobias. I got kudos for keeping my teeth and gums in excellent condition (grin). I asked the hygienist who works on me to take a look at one filling that has recently started grabbing the dental floss when I work next to it. I told her that after I flossed and bit down, the tooth seemed to “settle” and I was afraid the filling was coming loose. Sure enough, the back of the filling had cracked, and was only being held in place because it was in close proximity to the tooth next to it. Fortunately, it was a very shallow filling. Even though this was just a regular check up, the dentist made time to remove the filling and replace it. Gone is the ugly old silver filling I’ve had for the past thirty-some years. In it’s place is a nice white polymer filling that is hardly noticeable. Things have sure come a long way since I got my last filling!

While I was in the waiting room until I was called I read through a couple of magazines in a totally desultory manner. I’m interested in neither Good Parenting or The Annals of Dentistry, and the other patrons had already gotten their mitts on the good reading material. While I was looking about the waiting room, I happened to glance out the front door. The door is glass, with just a narrow frame around it, so it affords a good view. I couldn’t believe what I saw. I turned to the receptionist and said “Did you just see that skunk that crossed the entranceway right in front of the door?” Immediately half the waiting room jumped up to look out the door. The skunk, low slung and waddling, disappeared into the shrubs next to the door. Most of the people never even got a chance to glimse it. It certainly got conversation going for a while though. During the fray, I was able to snare the current issue of Time, so I suppose I really ought to thank Mr. Skunk if I see him again. If I do, I’ll thank him from a distance.