A String of bad luck
Posted 03-25-2009 at 05:18 PM by Toner
We've been hit by a string of bad luck recently. A nasty cold had been making the rounds at work - I caught it but couldn't stay home to recoup as because of deadlines & the fact that I was the system support.
It's made the rounds through the family - DD#1 caught it and ended up with a bronchial infection that caused her to miss a number of days from kindergarten.
Mrs. T caught it over the weekend - saw at doctor at a medicentre Monday as she didn't want to wait for a Thursday appointment with the family GP. She has phenomenia...
DD#2 had a bad Monday night - I took her to the medicentre Tuesday and she also was diagnosed with a bronchial/ear infection.
Got back home ~10:00am Tuesday and my wife said our 6 year old dog seemed sick so back out the door for a 11:00am vet appointment. Vet did an initial exam, took xrays and saw 3 big bladder stones (and lots of smaller ones). One seemed stuck in her urethra and was blocking her ability to urinate. Gave the OK for surgery and headed into the office. Got a call that she seemed to be taking a turn for the worse and they wanted to transfer her to the emergency vet location where they have a specialist surgeon. Had FIL transfer her there. They opened her up and found things were pretty bad. 80-90% of her bladder was diseased/dead and urine had leaked through a hole in the bladder into her system. We'd already OK'd ~$2000 of work already but the estimate was for another $5000-7000 more, 5 days in hospital and a 50-50 chance of survival. We couldn't put her through that or even afford it on only my salary. I had to make the heart-breaking call back to the vet to put her down. It was so quick and unexpected we had no time to say goodbye. This was her first medical problem that we've had with her...
FIL was a bit of an ass afterwards - his coping style is to blame others. He was told by the vet that stones can be caused by feeding tablescraps so he latched on to that saying it was our fault - forget the fact that we don't do that on purpose (the dogs have sometimes managed to sneak off of our daughters plates but Lily typically never even did that either). FIL was quick to say we should have put Lily through the extra surgery as he would have done so. He only shut up and briefly hanged his head in shame when our MIL, who just recently divorced him, asked if he would have been willing to pay for it. Personally, even if we had that much free cash, I still don't think I could have put her through it.
It was a tough night...
Went to work this morning. Sat on some unknown liquid substance on the bus seat and almost immediately felt the wetness & a skin irritation. Quickly grew to a stinging/burning sensation - got some on my hands as well but luckily no affect there. Tried to wash the substance out of my pants in the washroom and clean the skin on my leg - noticed it was a nasty red welt and the stinging continued. Not good. Went to another medicentre downtown and got to see the doctor immediately - this was an apparent emergency situation.
I ended up getting a 3x5 inch 3rd degree burn on my leg - doctor says it went deep and will need to heal from the sides. Hopefully it won't require skin grafts but we'll have to see. Was sent home to shower for 1/2 hour - returned to get it re-dressed again and I'll have to go back again tomorrow to have them take a new look again. Part of the burn has 3 grey discolourations in the center - the doctor won't be surprised if more of the red areas turn grey too.
Not sure if the unknown substance was accidentally spilled or some sicko's malicious idea of fun. Tried to report it to the police afterwards but they didn't care beyond knowing if the bus company had been informed and whether I had seen a doctor.
No fun...
It's made the rounds through the family - DD#1 caught it and ended up with a bronchial infection that caused her to miss a number of days from kindergarten.
Mrs. T caught it over the weekend - saw at doctor at a medicentre Monday as she didn't want to wait for a Thursday appointment with the family GP. She has phenomenia...
DD#2 had a bad Monday night - I took her to the medicentre Tuesday and she also was diagnosed with a bronchial/ear infection.
Got back home ~10:00am Tuesday and my wife said our 6 year old dog seemed sick so back out the door for a 11:00am vet appointment. Vet did an initial exam, took xrays and saw 3 big bladder stones (and lots of smaller ones). One seemed stuck in her urethra and was blocking her ability to urinate. Gave the OK for surgery and headed into the office. Got a call that she seemed to be taking a turn for the worse and they wanted to transfer her to the emergency vet location where they have a specialist surgeon. Had FIL transfer her there. They opened her up and found things were pretty bad. 80-90% of her bladder was diseased/dead and urine had leaked through a hole in the bladder into her system. We'd already OK'd ~$2000 of work already but the estimate was for another $5000-7000 more, 5 days in hospital and a 50-50 chance of survival. We couldn't put her through that or even afford it on only my salary. I had to make the heart-breaking call back to the vet to put her down. It was so quick and unexpected we had no time to say goodbye. This was her first medical problem that we've had with her...
FIL was a bit of an ass afterwards - his coping style is to blame others. He was told by the vet that stones can be caused by feeding tablescraps so he latched on to that saying it was our fault - forget the fact that we don't do that on purpose (the dogs have sometimes managed to sneak off of our daughters plates but Lily typically never even did that either). FIL was quick to say we should have put Lily through the extra surgery as he would have done so. He only shut up and briefly hanged his head in shame when our MIL, who just recently divorced him, asked if he would have been willing to pay for it. Personally, even if we had that much free cash, I still don't think I could have put her through it.
It was a tough night...
Went to work this morning. Sat on some unknown liquid substance on the bus seat and almost immediately felt the wetness & a skin irritation. Quickly grew to a stinging/burning sensation - got some on my hands as well but luckily no affect there. Tried to wash the substance out of my pants in the washroom and clean the skin on my leg - noticed it was a nasty red welt and the stinging continued. Not good. Went to another medicentre downtown and got to see the doctor immediately - this was an apparent emergency situation.
I ended up getting a 3x5 inch 3rd degree burn on my leg - doctor says it went deep and will need to heal from the sides. Hopefully it won't require skin grafts but we'll have to see. Was sent home to shower for 1/2 hour - returned to get it re-dressed again and I'll have to go back again tomorrow to have them take a new look again. Part of the burn has 3 grey discolourations in the center - the doctor won't be surprised if more of the red areas turn grey too.
Not sure if the unknown substance was accidentally spilled or some sicko's malicious idea of fun. Tried to report it to the police afterwards but they didn't care beyond knowing if the bus company had been informed and whether I had seen a doctor.
No fun...
Total Comments 6
Comments
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Oh my gosh, I'll say that is a string of bad luck. Toner, that's a nightmare!
I am so sorry about your dog. It is heartbreaking to lose a beloved pet. Don't feel bad, you did the right thing.
As for the burn on the bus... what the heck?! That is outrageous. No one should carry anything on a bus that could cause such an injury. Did your doctor have any clue what the substance was? Call the local news shows - people should be warned just in case some sicko is deliberately spilling caustic acid on the seats.
I hope you feel better, and your wife too. Ugh, I don't even want to think about all you have been through. Just terrible.Posted 03-25-2009 at 10:14 PM by flourbug 
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Thanks - yes we knew it was the right & only decision for Lily once we heard the details. Still pretty tough - especially because it was so quick and we didn't get to give a goodbye hug.
Here's the acid burn: Ouch...
Had a few calls this evening - two from the city transit service and one from the police (who left about a half hour ago after taking a statement). It seems to be some kind of acid but the HazMet team still is trying to identify what exact kind. The bus had security video and they think it might have been a 40ish female but nothing certain. They can't tell if it was a deliberate act or she brought some substance on the bus that leaked from her bag (but the question would be why didn't she inform the bus driver if it was accidental). Apparently the bus seats with the substance were pulled out of the bus and will be burned and they'll clean the remainder of the stuff on the floor.
Even if they could find her it doesn't sound too likely they could convict as they'd have to prove malicious intent - which would be easy for her to deny.Posted 03-26-2009 at 02:02 AM by Toner 
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From your description of the initial stinging I thought, "lye". Now that you showed the burn and said a 40ish woman, that nails it. I think you found a leaky soapmaker. Or someone with badly clogged drains. That looks like a liquid lye burn.
Posted 03-26-2009 at 06:21 AM by flourbug
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Toner, I'm so sorry you had to put Lily down. Even when you know it's the right thing to do, it's so hard.
Oh, man, you really got a nasty burn! I hope it heals without issue and they'll be able to identify what caused it. I'm sure you'd like to know. (And I'm sorry for my "pain in the ass joke" on the thread...this isn't a joking matter.)
You've all had a tramatic week, I hope everyone feels better soon.Posted 03-27-2009 at 04:54 PM by ladybugs4me
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No worries about the jokes - I'm making them myself
My brother too (eg. he originally said it looked like the great spot on Jupiter, then said changed his mind saying it was closer to Uranus...)
Had the dressing changed today - they're recommending that I come back daily for a bit so they can keep an eye on it. The nurse was happily surprised that it looked like it was already starting to heal pretty quickly.Posted 03-27-2009 at 05:29 PM by Toner
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Awww, Toner, I'm so sorry for you, your family, the dog - y'all have really been through the wringer. I'm so very glad the burn isn't worse, altho it's still plenty bad enough.
Some weeks, you ought to be able to just stay in bed with the covers pulled over your head. Sounds like this was one of those weeks for your whole family.
Best wishes for a speedy and uncomplicated recovery. And the same for the family with respiratory illnesses.Posted 03-29-2009 at 08:12 AM by spinnerholic
