Rigatoni is doing very poorly this morning. He isn't breathing enough on his own. The vet thinks some urine might be leaking from the tube they stuck in his kidney, and going where urine shouldn't be going.

They're trying to fix the tube now. If that doesn't work, I don't know what we have left.

Can I get some of that patented Buffista job~ma headed this way? KBD has his first interview since getting laid off today at 2 pm Eastern.

I know there's a lot of ~ma needed, but if a little could be spared, we could sure use it. Had to take my senior dog Mooshu to the vet this morning for some pretty angry hot spots. Turns out he's lost eighteen pounds in the last three or so months and the vet's just not liking how he's moving around, so she's drawing some blood to see if anything funny shows up.

He's my sweet boy, so I'm definitely hoping it's nothing major.

I have not breathed a word about this to anyone for fear of jinxing it, but it has been in the works for several months now...

I just got my first promotion. And it came with a very nice raise.

Rigatoni is out of surgery. He isn't breathing properly on his own, and his blood pressure is dangerously low. In other words, his kidney is now the least of his problems.

We approved putting him on a mechanical ventilator for two days. If he isn't better by then, or if he starts suffering or it appears hopeless before then, we'll end it.

Just got a text message from my sister.

Surgery went well. 1/5 pancreas removed. Still under, but is stable.

This is great. That means they didn't have to take out the spleen! The ~ma is a wonderful thing. Thank you all! Now for a speedy recovery.

Update on my dad. I just talked with my sister, she texted me last night based on a phone call with the doctor, while she was in a restaurant (her 10 year anniversary!), so she didn't quite hear everything, or understand everything.

I just talked with my sister, and then also my father's girl friend, and got more of the details.

They ended up needing to remove his spleen, gall bladder, and 1/5th of his pancreas. During the operation, one of the symptoms for Malignant Hypothermia showed up, blood gases showed acidosis, so they started treating him for that before things went all haywire. The surgery went on for over 8 hours. He is in ICU recovery right now. He is stable. He has been having some temperature fluctuations, but that seems to have leveled out. He is intubated, and looks to be on the ventilator for another 2 days. Apparently the intubating process was difficult from swollen something-or-other, which they say was due to his excessive drinking. So he will have a nasty soar throat when he wakes up.

He is stable. His vitals look good. But it doesn't sound like he's out of the woods yet. So, any ~ma would be appreciated.

Rigatoni is better but still in a very tough situation.

Turns out he didn't need mechanical ventilation, though he's on extra oxygen now and then. The kidney is, if anything, producing too much, which leads to problems like low potassium. His blood pressure is shaky, though at least it's shaky on a lower level of medication.

Now that the kidney is functioning okay (and a transplant is no longer being considered), the vets are going to get more aggressive on his other problems. They hope to have a good idea tonight.

We visited him on Saturday. He was weak but aware of what was happening around him. (The transplant nurse from Penn was there as well. So he got a lot of love.)

Bad news on Rigatoni. He suffered a sharp reversal yesterday. His heart is dangerously enlarged from fluid, and fluid around his lungs is interfering with his breathing. Plus, the kidney is working so well that he's dehydrated. So if they don't give him fluids, the dehydration becomes worse, and if they do, he risks heart failure.

The vets say they don't have many options. We agreed to see how things went overnight. But we may have to make The Decision this morning.

I don't know why I'm at work today. I spent half the evening crying and the other half with mindless TV. I cried for the entire commute.

I'll be going to New York tomorrow, but I fear it'll be to bring his body home and not to visit.

If there is any free, some calmness ~ma for a very dear friend who found a lump in her breast, and is anxiously awaiting the results of the biopsy.