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So yesterday I'm at work, (the kids were home with the hounds) I was manually srcubbing mold off the exterior of a house and using some industrial bleach.
I had gloves and prorective gear on, but once I started working on the ceiling in the carport and along the front of the house under the gutters the bleach solution was dripping down inside my glove and I didn't realize it for a while until my arm started burning.
I ended up going to the clinic ... now on the way to the clinic I get a phone call from my children freaking out. They went to take the dogs for a walk and apparently Mocha just collapsed.
So now _I_ was freaking out because I couldn't go home I was on the way to the clinic with a pretty bad chemical burn from wrist to elbow ... and now I'm worried about what could possibly be wrong with Mocha and unable to go find out until I get done at the clinic.
At the clinic the doctor tells me I have 2nd and 3rd degree burns, they slather my arm up with some special cream to neutralize the bleach and some other stuff to treat the actual burns and wrap my arm in some gauze specifically for burns (it apparently won't stick in the spots where my skin is all peeled back and seeping).
They send me off with some pain killers and instructions to come back every day for the next week to have my dressings changed and now I can finally get home and see what's wrong with my Mocha.
I get home and the house is in chaos, the kids are crying, my mother is upstairs running her hands in the air over Mocha saying she's doing reiki but that everyone better say their goodbyes, etc. -- Beldin was laying down beside Mocha whining and he would not move from her side and the kittens were pacing around meowing and trying to get to Mocha from between the kids and my mother.
I get the story from my kids that they decided to take the dogs for a walk because Mocha looked a bit "depressed" and they thought she'd like some fresh air ... they got about 4 houses down the street and she "looked like she stumbled" and collapsed.
The kids told me a taxi was driving by and the guy got out and helped get Mocha back home, they laid her on a blanket in the living room and she didn't move from that spot from then til I got home.
Aparently in the time I was gone she had been heaving like she wanted to throw up but nothing would come up, she wouldn't eat or drink and after her collapse wouldn't move from her spot on the floor.
She was twitching and moaning. Her eyes were really red, her mouth was really red, her tongue was really pale and she was cold. Her ears, the inside of her mouth and her tummy were all really cold to the touch.
When I came home she lifted her tail and thumped it on the floor twice but wouldn't pick up her head to look at me. - I got on the phone to the vet.
Being after hours by this time I had to page someone. The vet that called me back was really insensitive, after listening to the symptoms (and the kids crying in the background) he was like "Well, I'm out for dinner with my wife, if you want me to come in and even just to have her looked at is going to be at least $200"
I explained to him that I don't get any money until the 20th (today) and would he please come in and take a look at her and I could pay him tomorrow (since this was yesterday).
He said no, that he'd need the money before even opening the door to the clinic and I could wait until the morning if I wanted and hope she lasted the night or I could "find some friends to pay for it if you care enough to have her looked at tonight, or if you can't get the money and don't want her to suffer I'll come euthanize her for $80". Then he was like "page me back if you get some money" and hung up.
God was taking care of us though, or some guardian angel was looking out for Mocha - no sooner than the vet hung up then I got a call from the fellow who had hired me to scrub the house (he wanted to know how my trip to the clinic went) he could hear everyone in the background freaking out and asked what was wrong, so I told him about Mocha and he said "I'll be there in 5 min!"
So he came and gathered me and Mocha into his truck and drove us to the vet and I told him "I don't have any money to take care of this!" And he shushed me and said "You don't need to worry about that"
The rest of it was kind of a blur - he paged the vet and when he got there took him aside while I sat on the floor with Mocha ... I cought some words here and there but mostly he dealt with everything while we were there. Apparently he paid the vet a deposit and he told him not to talk to me about billing - period - that he'd deal with it. He told him to just make sure Mocha got better and to take care of things.
He's arranged for me to go in and visit Mocha later today. So far we still don't know what's wrong. From what the vet told us while we were there, without further examination he figures it could be pancreatitis or a blockage in her digestive system somewhere but wants to run tests and start her on an iv.
He said they are going to put her in an IV and antibiotics and anti inflamitories for now for 3 days, then if she doesn't clear up they'll start x-rays and further treatments.
I told my friend I would pay him back or work off the debt and he said "oh no you will not - you won't worry about this, do you understand? You just get better and be ready for Mocha to get better and come home"
So now I have 2 clinics to visit on a daily basis for the next little while ... the "people clinic" for my arm to have the dressing changed and treated ... and the vet clinic on the other side of town to visit Mocha and check in on her and see how she's doing.
What a day yesterday was.
And thank God for friends like Mitch.
I had gloves and prorective gear on, but once I started working on the ceiling in the carport and along the front of the house under the gutters the bleach solution was dripping down inside my glove and I didn't realize it for a while until my arm started burning.
I ended up going to the clinic ... now on the way to the clinic I get a phone call from my children freaking out. They went to take the dogs for a walk and apparently Mocha just collapsed.
So now _I_ was freaking out because I couldn't go home I was on the way to the clinic with a pretty bad chemical burn from wrist to elbow ... and now I'm worried about what could possibly be wrong with Mocha and unable to go find out until I get done at the clinic.
At the clinic the doctor tells me I have 2nd and 3rd degree burns, they slather my arm up with some special cream to neutralize the bleach and some other stuff to treat the actual burns and wrap my arm in some gauze specifically for burns (it apparently won't stick in the spots where my skin is all peeled back and seeping).
They send me off with some pain killers and instructions to come back every day for the next week to have my dressings changed and now I can finally get home and see what's wrong with my Mocha.
I get home and the house is in chaos, the kids are crying, my mother is upstairs running her hands in the air over Mocha saying she's doing reiki but that everyone better say their goodbyes, etc. -- Beldin was laying down beside Mocha whining and he would not move from her side and the kittens were pacing around meowing and trying to get to Mocha from between the kids and my mother.
I get the story from my kids that they decided to take the dogs for a walk because Mocha looked a bit "depressed" and they thought she'd like some fresh air ... they got about 4 houses down the street and she "looked like she stumbled" and collapsed.
The kids told me a taxi was driving by and the guy got out and helped get Mocha back home, they laid her on a blanket in the living room and she didn't move from that spot from then til I got home.
Aparently in the time I was gone she had been heaving like she wanted to throw up but nothing would come up, she wouldn't eat or drink and after her collapse wouldn't move from her spot on the floor.
She was twitching and moaning. Her eyes were really red, her mouth was really red, her tongue was really pale and she was cold. Her ears, the inside of her mouth and her tummy were all really cold to the touch.
When I came home she lifted her tail and thumped it on the floor twice but wouldn't pick up her head to look at me. - I got on the phone to the vet.
Being after hours by this time I had to page someone. The vet that called me back was really insensitive, after listening to the symptoms (and the kids crying in the background) he was like "Well, I'm out for dinner with my wife, if you want me to come in and even just to have her looked at is going to be at least $200"
I explained to him that I don't get any money until the 20th (today) and would he please come in and take a look at her and I could pay him tomorrow (since this was yesterday).
He said no, that he'd need the money before even opening the door to the clinic and I could wait until the morning if I wanted and hope she lasted the night or I could "find some friends to pay for it if you care enough to have her looked at tonight, or if you can't get the money and don't want her to suffer I'll come euthanize her for $80". Then he was like "page me back if you get some money" and hung up.
God was taking care of us though, or some guardian angel was looking out for Mocha - no sooner than the vet hung up then I got a call from the fellow who had hired me to scrub the house (he wanted to know how my trip to the clinic went) he could hear everyone in the background freaking out and asked what was wrong, so I told him about Mocha and he said "I'll be there in 5 min!"
So he came and gathered me and Mocha into his truck and drove us to the vet and I told him "I don't have any money to take care of this!" And he shushed me and said "You don't need to worry about that"
The rest of it was kind of a blur - he paged the vet and when he got there took him aside while I sat on the floor with Mocha ... I cought some words here and there but mostly he dealt with everything while we were there. Apparently he paid the vet a deposit and he told him not to talk to me about billing - period - that he'd deal with it. He told him to just make sure Mocha got better and to take care of things.
He's arranged for me to go in and visit Mocha later today. So far we still don't know what's wrong. From what the vet told us while we were there, without further examination he figures it could be pancreatitis or a blockage in her digestive system somewhere but wants to run tests and start her on an iv.
He said they are going to put her in an IV and antibiotics and anti inflamitories for now for 3 days, then if she doesn't clear up they'll start x-rays and further treatments.
I told my friend I would pay him back or work off the debt and he said "oh no you will not - you won't worry about this, do you understand? You just get better and be ready for Mocha to get better and come home"
So now I have 2 clinics to visit on a daily basis for the next little while ... the "people clinic" for my arm to have the dressing changed and treated ... and the vet clinic on the other side of town to visit Mocha and check in on her and see how she's doing.
What a day yesterday was.
And thank God for friends like Mitch.
