Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Charlie the Immortal

It's no secret that I like to play this little "Charlie is immortal" game.  I know that he isn't but right now I need him to be.  So, yes, Charles the Amazing Wiener Mutt is Immortal.  I realize it's completely ridiculous and denial and blahblahblah....let me have this one, okay?

Charlie

Recently someone has started interfering with my little immortality game. The past month we have spent a particularly large amount of time at the vet, much medication has been administered and he's spent an unfortunate amount of time rockin' the "cone of shame."  He's been a good sport about all of it, as he always is, but as of this morning, I'm over this.

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Thankfully, I have a fantastic vet (Emart Traders in Wolpyeongdong)that I very much trust, but I'm still frustrated. Important to mention, I'm not intentionally coy about his medical condition, it's just of a personal nature and my little guy deserves a little privacy here. Some things shouldn't be blasted on the Internet.

The vet recommended surgery but, for me, the possible side effects just don't make the surgery worth it. We actually had the surgery scheduled after the first occurrence.  Immediately prior to surgery, I was informed of the risks we were taking and I cancelled it to have his teeth cleaned instead. I'm not willing to take the risk.  We (I) were warned there was a high rate of reoccurrence after the initial treatment but I assumed that meant it might recur in 6 months to a year, maybe longer.  No, not true.

Sunday evening we stopped by the vet for a final clearance after the second round of meds.  I was tired of trying to decode the situation myself.  "Perfect!  All is good!  Definitely on the mend," said my (adorable) vet.

Monday night it came back. Third occurrence. In four weeks.

ARGH.

It's not that his condition is in anyway serious or challenging his mortality (see how I avoided the scary words??), it's more just remembering that these things can happen to him. The basic definition of 'immortal' suggests that you aren't susceptible to the same weaknesses as everyone else.  Alas, my perfect wiener dog is, in fact, a mere mortal just like the rest of us.

Google has taken me quite far in my research for this but now I need a real live person.  I adore my vet here (truly, he's adorable!) but the language barrier just makes my anxiety worse.  This afternoon, I emailed our vet back in Orlando hoping she can offer some suggestions or at least calm my nerves. Poor Charlie is frustrated by this as well and I would like to find a solution that both my vet and I can agree on.

I know this isn't necessarily what you come to my blog to read about but this has been my life in Korea for the past month or so.  Most of the time Korea is a wonderful escape from the realities of the world.  It's a pleasant little happy bubble where rarely does anything bad happen (unless we spend too much time stalking on Facebook).  Every once in a while though a little reality sneaks through the cracks.

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