Day IXXX: Portland, OR

August 12, 2008

I know, I know. I'm horribly behind. After San Diego was LA, then the long drive home to the San Francisco Bay Area. We spent a couple days there, then drove back down to LA with Ben Iremonger, David Wood, Jon Atkinson, Jackie Sloves and Patrick Whitford for a concert. The Boredoms (look 'em up!) played with 88 Boardrum.. an 88 full drum ensemble at 8:08pm, on August 8th, 2008. It was incredible. It took place at the La Brea tar pits in L.A., and it was fo free. We also got free T-shirts and free ice cream from the Ice Cream Man (if you haven't heard of them, they go around giving out free ice cream "just for smiles").

We got back, were planning to leave on Tuesday morning.. I got in a parental fight (as usual), and so we left early on Sunday morning. I left on good terms, so it's all gravy.




Anyhow, I'm in Portland. I love it here, however our situations are less than ideal. I mean, the people we're staying with (Matt and roommates) are fantastic. Thanks Ian Shiver for the great friends in faraway places! No really, they're so accommodating and really down to earth folks. Portland in general feels like an enormous small town, if that makes any sense. I could see myself living here in a decade or two. There are bikes everywhere, and community gardens galore! Last night we went with Matt to a friend's house for a vegan potluck. I had taken four Typhoid fever live viruses for Bioko in the past week, and I felt horrible. I felt like I had typhoid fever.. well, I felt like I had a real bad fever. Bea was social for me, I guess. I sat there and pet their dog, Lisa.

When I got home I crashed right away. Mango, who we had to leave at home for the dinner (Lisa didn't get along with other dogs), seemed a little strange when we got home. He was real timid and shaky and didn't seem like himself. I felt horrible as well, so we both went to sleep while Bea and Matt watched The Squid and the Whale upstairs, and then the meteor shower afterwards. I'm so bummed I missed that shower, so bummed.

So I wake up in the morning at around ten or elevenish, and Mango was still acting the same weird way. He was also dry heaving a lot, which made me real nervous. I looked up a vet right away, drove him there, and set up an appointment for later on in the day. We went for a little walk around the neighborhood of NW Portland, where the vet clinic was. We found a dog park, a post office, a public library, cute coffee shops, a doggie store, and many restaurants and pubs. Every minute or so Mango would start huffing and his lungs would swell up real big, and it seemed like he had a lot of trouble breathing.

I picked Bea up from the house and then we both drove back to the vet's. Bea had slept until 1:30pm, and didn't come with me in the morning. I had asked her if she wanted to come with me, but she said she'd keep on sleeping. I was kind of disappointed, but when I talked to her later she had no idea I had woken her up to ask her if she wanted to come. You have to understand, it takes at least 10 minutes for this girl to fully wake up :)

Anyways, we went to the doc's together. He felt around Mango's abdominal area and said that he felt like Mango's stomach was full. I told him he vomited up his breakfast this morning, but kept in his dinner last night. He also pooed this morning, so his GI tract should be okay, but he wasn't drinking as much water as he normally did. Not good. So, Mango had a little x-ray done to see what was going on, and had a shot of some anti-nausea medication to make him feel better. We looked at the x-rays together and there was evidently some stuff in his stomach. There was also dark spots where his intestines were- meaning gas was present, meaning his intestines were irritated.

The vet told me not to give him any dinner tonight, and to bring him back in the morning for another x-ray to see what was going on, and if he still had something stuck in his stomach. I guess his little intestine could rupture, or he could get really seriously dehydrated if there's something in the way. If that's the case.. he's going to have to go through surgery to take whatever is in there out.

Surgery! The vet visit today was $212... Tomorrow it's going to be another $150 or so.. and if he has to get surgery it'll be over $500. I honestly don't know what I'd do if he had to go through surgery because I really don't have that kind of money. Any suggestions? Vet payment plans? Golly. Oh, AND I'll be "MIA" for six months starting in October, so it's not like I can get lots of moohla in that time period.

I talked to my mom and she reiterated what my dad told her: that I should have considered these kinds of things when I first adopted this guy. True, but he would be dead if I didn't adopt him.

Advice?
-S and M