Tiramisu

You know you want some.

I used coconut rum, espresso, semisweet chocolate, and marble poundcake (and, of course, marscapone). I didn't plate it nicely, was too eager to dig into it, it's so good.

Mal-aria?

So, the ENT specialist did tests on Exene to see what the hell's wrong with her (where to start? I can think of a few key areas) and the results aren't back, yet. Meantime, they've got her taking Clindamycin and a six-day course of Cadista (methylprednisolone, a steroid) for the inflammation. She also had to quaff a barium smoothie tonight (mmm, banana-flavored barium beverage) for the CT scan tomorrow morning, just to check out that inflamed spleen. I'll be curious what the test results indicate, when they finally come in. The ENT hadn't entirely ruled out mono (wonder where she picked THAT up? Probably those sailors from Smolensk), saying that the original test used can often give false negatives. The ENT doc also thought maybe her tonsils have warehoused some particularly nasty bug that can't quite be dispatched or overcome, and she may have to get her tonsils taken out, assuming it is some kind of pathogen at work, here. Exene's under the delusion that tonsil removal can be an outpatient operation that won't require her getting knocked out, but I told her that it's very likely that it will, which predictably has her being obstinate and pig-headed. She's motivated to get them out, if that's the problem, but doesn't understand the procedure so much. I got mine taken out in the mid-70s, when I was a little kid. I remember getting that done at St. Elizabeth's, long, long ago, in my hometown. Anyway, we'll see what the deal is, and you'll know as soon as I do, just because it's weird.

We're supposed to get serious storms tomorrow at some point, and the high'll be around 92 degrees. Yowza. Hot stuff, comin' through!

I got fuck-all for sleep last night, so I should be way sleepy, but for some reason, I'm not. I had some of my homemade tiramisu earlier this evening; maybe that's the culprit. I should post a picture of it, so you can see it and covet it. It's sooo good.

*Snicker*

Okay, seeing these two paired on the marquee, I had to laugh.

Second Best Foot Forward

Exene

Curious things are afoot with Exene. She's been sick on and off since February, which I haven't mentioned too much. Her symptoms are fever, night sweats, swollen lymph glands, and most recently, swollen spleen. She'd gone to the doctor a few times over the past few months, getting antibiotics, but nothing worked, the fevers (often around 102 degrees F) persisted. Symptoms have been gradually worsening (in my view -- first fever, then tonsilitis, then night sweats, then fatigue, then swollen lymph glands, then swollen spleen).

Not sure what it is, but she's got five of eight symptoms for lymphoma. She's getting a CT scan this week, and is seeing an ear, nose, and throat specialist (and infectious disease specialist) at the recommendation of our GP, who was concerned with the swollen spleen (which is the newest symptom). Either she's a victim of stregoneria, some novel infection (she's been tested several times, no strep, no mono, no other routine pathogens implicated), or else it's lymphoma. She's pretty blasé about it at the moment, but we'll see where she's at once this whatever-it-is gets diagnosed.

She also appears to have broken one of her toes -- she says somebody stepped on her foot on the El, and one of her little toes was all swollen and looked broken. Needless to say, she's not done much running of late.

Also, she's interviewing for a good position today; I hope she gets it, as it'll make everything else far easier in this dreadful economic (and household) situation!