Medical emergency in Seoul & a week in pictures
Last week was a pretty diverse week for the Collard household...
We had a family hike up Bonghwasan Mt (right by our house) on Sunday and looked out at the beautiful views of Seoul and the cherry blossoms that were popping up all along the path. Taylor even found our work building from the top of the mountain (with a little help from his phone's compass).
We went to immigration on Monday and got our paperwork all set for our ARC (alien registration cards), which we can pick up on May 11th. We also stumbled across some awesome buildings, including a traditional style temple in the middle of a business district of the city surrounded by tall buildings and modern amenities. Oh and a funky mural in the subway. They love their strange art here.
That evening we introduced Laura to Misoya, and I finally got sushi! Though it didn't curb my craving for the Japanese delicacy.
We checked out a new cafe for a coffee date on Tuesday morning and later ate out with another co-person (Danella) and learned about NZ holidays, lifestyles and history, sorry, no pictures.
We had our (normal) pizza night on Wednesday instead of Monday and watched a Game of Thrones episode (our obsession truly knows no bounds).
Also, I found a sketch a girl (Jessica) in one of my classes had jotted down on the back of one of her daily tests, which has reminded me that I wanted to learn how to draw anime-style (the above style) while I am over here. It sounds like a fun hobby, and there are 'how to' books.
And I managed to wash my rare, white Taemin-kpop-shirt with my superman onsie, causing it to become an even rarer pink Taemin-kpop-shirt... :/ So Wednesday was an up-and-down-day for me...
My walk to work on Thursday consisted of the realization that all the bushes on my 15 minute walk will soon be fully in bloom. Updates on the little buds' progress to come.
After work, we got off line 6 (subway) at a random stop (Anam) and decided to find fun things Thursday evening, and ended up finding an awesome coffee shop (Serendipity), beautiful university (Korea University) and Mexican food for dinner (a first in Korea). Oh and I found bows, because I can never have too many :D
On Friday we went out with both Laura and Danella for dinner, drinks and exploration of Konkuk University area before catching the last subway home. And trust me, the neon lights are even more impressive in person! The drink above was named something that is inappropriate for the delicate ears of all audiences, so I will refrain, but I believe Danella posted about her unique drink on Facebook for those of you of the curious variety. And it was pretty funny, especially when the bartender (pictured above) showed Danella how her shot looked when the little drops of grenadine were added and swam about...
All of the above is nice, but the biggest event of the last week, something not-so-nice, in fact downright terrible, (and my excuse for not writing over this past weekend as was my plan) is what transpired on Saturday...
It all started off with a walk to Grand Children's Park, where vendors, families (and apparently chick vendors) gather, especially when it is almost 70 degrees as it was last Saturday. We thought we would walk Grimm around the park, however they don't allow dogs, but to our relief there was a dog park at the other side of the massive park, so we made our way there with the help of some friendly natives. Also, as you can see, flowers are bursting everywhere in Seoul right now. The cherry blossoms may be done now, but the bushes and hardier trees are still showing their colors quite vibrantly. The last two pictures are the dog park, including a little poodle who bounded about like a rabbit due to his doggie-shoes.
Taylor and I decided that after the dog park we would drop Grimm off at home (after subwaying back with him) maybe see a movie that night and watch the street performers in Hongdae, maybe find sneakers for Taylor so he could start working out, ect. But the afternoon, and weekend, turned out very differently...
As we were subwaying back, Grimm started wheezing and panting more than usual, we just thought he was stressed at first, about the dog park, or maybe the subway, or a combination of the two, but his wheezing was getting loud so we got off a few stops early thinking we would just hold him at a terminal until he calmed down and we could continue on home. We tried to get him to drink water, but to no avail. After a couple more minutes of wheezing, Taylor noticed his tongue had become a shade darker. At this point we began to really worry and ran up to the main street. We quickly walked/jogged up the street until we found a pet shop and I ducked in, signing that our dog couldn't breathe and we needed a vet, luckily there was a little girl who knew some English and told the owner what I meant and he pointed to a vet's office just across the street. We are very lucky that there seems to be pet shops and pet doctors every couple of blocks in Seoul.
We ran across the street and quickly told the woman working at the vet shop that Grimm couldn't breathe, she took one look at him and helped us immediately. She gave him an oxygen mask, which we tried our best to keep over his mouth and nose, then she gave him shots of steroids, bronchodilators and a diuretic, along with a patch on his belly. She took x-rays and tried to see if he had something lodged in his throat, apparently Grimm has quite the gag reflex as this caused him to get sick, and also proved he had nothing blocking his airway, but he continued to wheeze, though his tongue had become a little lighter again from the O2 mask. After all the medicine was given and x-rays had been taken, the vet put Grimm in a O2 tank and told us to come back before closing (at 9:00pm) and that he should be calmed down enough for us to take him home.
We came at 9:00pm and Grimm seemed a bit better, but that was in the O2 tank, within 15 minutes of us holding him, it was clear he couldn't get his breath and the vet wrote down the address and information for a 24 hour emergency vet clinic that was close to both her office and our home. Her husband went outside and hailed us a taxi, telling him where to go and we were off again. We arrived at the emergency vet's office around 9:30pm, handed the front desk receptionist the notes from the first vet and she called over the intercom without a moment's hesitation. Not even ten seconds later a doctor came out, scooped Grimm from us and disappeared into the ICU without a word. A few minutes later he came out to tell us that Grimm was much too hot, his heartbeat was three times as fast as it should be, and his breaths were much too quick as well, though his O2 levels were dropping. He said he tried a sedative but it didn't work and requested permission to use more, we agreed, and we waited.
Ten minutes later the same vet came back and said we could see Grimm, he was 'under' or unconscious, but his little chest was still heaving as he breathed much too quickly, even in his sleep. He had IV's in his little legs and a breathing tube and was laying on their table. It was a very difficult to see him like that, but the doctor was very kind and tried his best to communicate with us, despite the language barrier, telling us that Grimm had to stay the night, and that they knew very little at that point, but that he would be closely monitored all night and we should come back in the morning (Sunday) to see him. The vet asked us for a phone number so he could call us if Grimm's condition worsened, but we don't have numbers yet, so instead he said he would email. So Taylor and I spent Saturday night on our living room floor next to our router (since our loft's wifi is less reliable than our living room's) with an alarm going off every hour to check our emails and our volume up so we would hopefully hear the email as soon as we got it. However, with each passing hour, and each alarm, we had no news, which we assumed was good news.
Sunday morning we went back to the vet, Grimm was still under but had been moved from the table to an O2 cage, and his breathing tube had been removed. His breaths were still too quick, as was his heartbeat and temperature, but the doctor said one of his lungs looked a little better in the x-ray than it had the night before. He said Grimm would most likely have to stay until Tuesday, as 72 hours is the 'critical period' for respiratory syndrome, which is what the vet feared Grimm was going through (he was actually having respiratory difficulties, but doesn't have a 'syndrome' or he would most likely be dead right now). The vet then said we should come back Sunday night, as he wanted us to see him as many times as we could in case things came to the worst.
So we spent another nerve-wracking day in our apartment, watching the clock. At 8:00pm we went back to the vet, and Grimm was awake! He was still breathing too fast, but his heartbeat was a bit better, and his temp was a little better as well. The vet let us hold Grimm for a minute too, before putting him back in his O2 cage and talking with us about their plans. They had taken a blood sample as well as more x-rays, and were sure the respiratory issues weren't from mold, however the trigger was still unknown. The vet said that Grimm has saliva in his lungs from panting, which caused inflammation, which caused less oxygen, which caused more panting, but the original reason for the panting, or the reason the panting had been more than his normal panting is still a mystery.
Monday morning we repeated the process from Sunday, and visited Grimm in the ICU. Our vet from Saturday and Sunday was not in on Monday (as he had informed us of on Sunday morning) but we were still allowed to see Grimm, though we didn't hold him on Monday. Monday night after work we went back and visited again, seeing, but not holding Grimm. The vet we spoke with didn't know as much as our vet, but he assured us that 'our' vet would be back later that evening and that he had Grimm's treatment plan and discharge plan for Tuesday all worked out, including turning off his O2 in the morning to see how he did with regular air a full 12 hours before we would pick him up Tuesday night, having him out of the cage from Tuesday noon on so he could be observed in a more normal environment, ect.
Overall the vets we worked with were kind, empathetic and very knowledgeable. In fact, when we asked if we could bring Grimm home Tuesday morning instead of evening, and the vet told us that he preferred evening because of how busy they are in the morning hours, he offered to not charge anything from Tuesday morning until the evening for Grimm's treatment/housing fees, since he was the one requesting Grimm stay the extra 12 hours. And though it is still a mystery why Grimm had his 'close call' the vet did say that keeping his hair short or well brushed, having him lose some weight, and making sure he doesn't get overly excited/nervous especially in the sun/outside are safe bets for keeping him in better health.
Tuesday after work we went straight to the vet's office and picked up our little furry child in a wonderful and tearful reunion, and though he acted a little mopey, and very, very sleepy Tuesday evening, he is now (Wednesday evening) almost completely back to normal, though still a little mopey/sleepy, especially when I brush him before bed. We will be bringing him back to the vet for some blood work in two weeks (he had a lot of fat in his blood that they want to re-check at a later date) but besides that this whole traumatic experience is (thankfully!) behind us!
So now you have read the saga that was our first (and hopefully last) medical emergency in Seoul.
I will write more soon, telling about this week's adventures, the Avengers movie and more!
All of my love,
Tea
P.s. Tuesday night...
We had a family hike up Bonghwasan Mt (right by our house) on Sunday and looked out at the beautiful views of Seoul and the cherry blossoms that were popping up all along the path. Taylor even found our work building from the top of the mountain (with a little help from his phone's compass).
We went to immigration on Monday and got our paperwork all set for our ARC (alien registration cards), which we can pick up on May 11th. We also stumbled across some awesome buildings, including a traditional style temple in the middle of a business district of the city surrounded by tall buildings and modern amenities. Oh and a funky mural in the subway. They love their strange art here.
That evening we introduced Laura to Misoya, and I finally got sushi! Though it didn't curb my craving for the Japanese delicacy.
We checked out a new cafe for a coffee date on Tuesday morning and later ate out with another co-person (Danella) and learned about NZ holidays, lifestyles and history, sorry, no pictures.
We had our (normal) pizza night on Wednesday instead of Monday and watched a Game of Thrones episode (our obsession truly knows no bounds).
Also, I found a sketch a girl (Jessica) in one of my classes had jotted down on the back of one of her daily tests, which has reminded me that I wanted to learn how to draw anime-style (the above style) while I am over here. It sounds like a fun hobby, and there are 'how to' books.
And I managed to wash my rare, white Taemin-kpop-shirt with my superman onsie, causing it to become an even rarer pink Taemin-kpop-shirt... :/ So Wednesday was an up-and-down-day for me...
My walk to work on Thursday consisted of the realization that all the bushes on my 15 minute walk will soon be fully in bloom. Updates on the little buds' progress to come.
After work, we got off line 6 (subway) at a random stop (Anam) and decided to find fun things Thursday evening, and ended up finding an awesome coffee shop (Serendipity), beautiful university (Korea University) and Mexican food for dinner (a first in Korea). Oh and I found bows, because I can never have too many :D
On Friday we went out with both Laura and Danella for dinner, drinks and exploration of Konkuk University area before catching the last subway home. And trust me, the neon lights are even more impressive in person! The drink above was named something that is inappropriate for the delicate ears of all audiences, so I will refrain, but I believe Danella posted about her unique drink on Facebook for those of you of the curious variety. And it was pretty funny, especially when the bartender (pictured above) showed Danella how her shot looked when the little drops of grenadine were added and swam about...
All of the above is nice, but the biggest event of the last week, something not-so-nice, in fact downright terrible, (and my excuse for not writing over this past weekend as was my plan) is what transpired on Saturday...
It all started off with a walk to Grand Children's Park, where vendors, families (and apparently chick vendors) gather, especially when it is almost 70 degrees as it was last Saturday. We thought we would walk Grimm around the park, however they don't allow dogs, but to our relief there was a dog park at the other side of the massive park, so we made our way there with the help of some friendly natives. Also, as you can see, flowers are bursting everywhere in Seoul right now. The cherry blossoms may be done now, but the bushes and hardier trees are still showing their colors quite vibrantly. The last two pictures are the dog park, including a little poodle who bounded about like a rabbit due to his doggie-shoes.
Taylor and I decided that after the dog park we would drop Grimm off at home (after subwaying back with him) maybe see a movie that night and watch the street performers in Hongdae, maybe find sneakers for Taylor so he could start working out, ect. But the afternoon, and weekend, turned out very differently...
As we were subwaying back, Grimm started wheezing and panting more than usual, we just thought he was stressed at first, about the dog park, or maybe the subway, or a combination of the two, but his wheezing was getting loud so we got off a few stops early thinking we would just hold him at a terminal until he calmed down and we could continue on home. We tried to get him to drink water, but to no avail. After a couple more minutes of wheezing, Taylor noticed his tongue had become a shade darker. At this point we began to really worry and ran up to the main street. We quickly walked/jogged up the street until we found a pet shop and I ducked in, signing that our dog couldn't breathe and we needed a vet, luckily there was a little girl who knew some English and told the owner what I meant and he pointed to a vet's office just across the street. We are very lucky that there seems to be pet shops and pet doctors every couple of blocks in Seoul.
We ran across the street and quickly told the woman working at the vet shop that Grimm couldn't breathe, she took one look at him and helped us immediately. She gave him an oxygen mask, which we tried our best to keep over his mouth and nose, then she gave him shots of steroids, bronchodilators and a diuretic, along with a patch on his belly. She took x-rays and tried to see if he had something lodged in his throat, apparently Grimm has quite the gag reflex as this caused him to get sick, and also proved he had nothing blocking his airway, but he continued to wheeze, though his tongue had become a little lighter again from the O2 mask. After all the medicine was given and x-rays had been taken, the vet put Grimm in a O2 tank and told us to come back before closing (at 9:00pm) and that he should be calmed down enough for us to take him home.
We came at 9:00pm and Grimm seemed a bit better, but that was in the O2 tank, within 15 minutes of us holding him, it was clear he couldn't get his breath and the vet wrote down the address and information for a 24 hour emergency vet clinic that was close to both her office and our home. Her husband went outside and hailed us a taxi, telling him where to go and we were off again. We arrived at the emergency vet's office around 9:30pm, handed the front desk receptionist the notes from the first vet and she called over the intercom without a moment's hesitation. Not even ten seconds later a doctor came out, scooped Grimm from us and disappeared into the ICU without a word. A few minutes later he came out to tell us that Grimm was much too hot, his heartbeat was three times as fast as it should be, and his breaths were much too quick as well, though his O2 levels were dropping. He said he tried a sedative but it didn't work and requested permission to use more, we agreed, and we waited.
Ten minutes later the same vet came back and said we could see Grimm, he was 'under' or unconscious, but his little chest was still heaving as he breathed much too quickly, even in his sleep. He had IV's in his little legs and a breathing tube and was laying on their table. It was a very difficult to see him like that, but the doctor was very kind and tried his best to communicate with us, despite the language barrier, telling us that Grimm had to stay the night, and that they knew very little at that point, but that he would be closely monitored all night and we should come back in the morning (Sunday) to see him. The vet asked us for a phone number so he could call us if Grimm's condition worsened, but we don't have numbers yet, so instead he said he would email. So Taylor and I spent Saturday night on our living room floor next to our router (since our loft's wifi is less reliable than our living room's) with an alarm going off every hour to check our emails and our volume up so we would hopefully hear the email as soon as we got it. However, with each passing hour, and each alarm, we had no news, which we assumed was good news.
Sunday morning we went back to the vet, Grimm was still under but had been moved from the table to an O2 cage, and his breathing tube had been removed. His breaths were still too quick, as was his heartbeat and temperature, but the doctor said one of his lungs looked a little better in the x-ray than it had the night before. He said Grimm would most likely have to stay until Tuesday, as 72 hours is the 'critical period' for respiratory syndrome, which is what the vet feared Grimm was going through (he was actually having respiratory difficulties, but doesn't have a 'syndrome' or he would most likely be dead right now). The vet then said we should come back Sunday night, as he wanted us to see him as many times as we could in case things came to the worst.
So we spent another nerve-wracking day in our apartment, watching the clock. At 8:00pm we went back to the vet, and Grimm was awake! He was still breathing too fast, but his heartbeat was a bit better, and his temp was a little better as well. The vet let us hold Grimm for a minute too, before putting him back in his O2 cage and talking with us about their plans. They had taken a blood sample as well as more x-rays, and were sure the respiratory issues weren't from mold, however the trigger was still unknown. The vet said that Grimm has saliva in his lungs from panting, which caused inflammation, which caused less oxygen, which caused more panting, but the original reason for the panting, or the reason the panting had been more than his normal panting is still a mystery.
Monday morning we repeated the process from Sunday, and visited Grimm in the ICU. Our vet from Saturday and Sunday was not in on Monday (as he had informed us of on Sunday morning) but we were still allowed to see Grimm, though we didn't hold him on Monday. Monday night after work we went back and visited again, seeing, but not holding Grimm. The vet we spoke with didn't know as much as our vet, but he assured us that 'our' vet would be back later that evening and that he had Grimm's treatment plan and discharge plan for Tuesday all worked out, including turning off his O2 in the morning to see how he did with regular air a full 12 hours before we would pick him up Tuesday night, having him out of the cage from Tuesday noon on so he could be observed in a more normal environment, ect.
Overall the vets we worked with were kind, empathetic and very knowledgeable. In fact, when we asked if we could bring Grimm home Tuesday morning instead of evening, and the vet told us that he preferred evening because of how busy they are in the morning hours, he offered to not charge anything from Tuesday morning until the evening for Grimm's treatment/housing fees, since he was the one requesting Grimm stay the extra 12 hours. And though it is still a mystery why Grimm had his 'close call' the vet did say that keeping his hair short or well brushed, having him lose some weight, and making sure he doesn't get overly excited/nervous especially in the sun/outside are safe bets for keeping him in better health.
Tuesday after work we went straight to the vet's office and picked up our little furry child in a wonderful and tearful reunion, and though he acted a little mopey, and very, very sleepy Tuesday evening, he is now (Wednesday evening) almost completely back to normal, though still a little mopey/sleepy, especially when I brush him before bed. We will be bringing him back to the vet for some blood work in two weeks (he had a lot of fat in his blood that they want to re-check at a later date) but besides that this whole traumatic experience is (thankfully!) behind us!
So now you have read the saga that was our first (and hopefully last) medical emergency in Seoul.
I will write more soon, telling about this week's adventures, the Avengers movie and more!
All of my love,
Tea
P.s. Tuesday night...
Subwaying home
Napping
Gaming with dad
P.s.s Taylor and I have a theory about what caused his initial panting that turned into this whole ordeal...we think Grimm had a little doggie epiphany at the dog park and realized he wasn't in America anymore when the other dogs began barking at him in Korean. This most likely caused a little doggie panic attack which caused his little doggie throat to close up and eventually, his blue tongue which prompted our alarm and quick hunt for a vet. That's our story and we're sticking to it.
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