Of Doctors and Vets

Following my bitter disappointment on Thursday, I am happy to report that the sun did, in fact, rise. Well, I assume it did, behind the heavy cloud cover and snowfall. At least Sydney was excited about the snowfall. She stared out the window with concentration normally reserved for food. I took a deep breath and...promptly hacked up a lung. Sometimes The Fates won't let you have a breather, literally.

Thankfully, Korea has an excellent healthcare system, so without an appointment, I popped in my doctor's office at 9:05, and was out the door of the pharmacy downstairs by 9:15. Total cost? Under $5. I returned on Saturday for a follow-up appointment, and parted with an additional 3,700 won ($3.20).

However, I was not so fortunate when I took poor Syd to the vet. I first took her to a vet a couple of weeks back because I had noticed a small lump under the base of her tail. The woman who helped me thought it was an issue with her anal glands, which she quickly helped Sydney "express." But the problem persisted, so I took her to another doctor, this one (luckily) spoke a good deal of English and explained that the lump was either "from trauma" or "a tumor." She withdrew three syringes worth of blood, and gave her a few shots. Sydney was pretty good through the procedure. The vet didn't think it was a tumor because of her age, but is sending the blood to be tested anyway. Total cost? $81.

Still, not bad for a visit to the vet, there's no saying what I would have paid back in the States. I'm pretty confident that her "trauma" diagnosis is correct. With the swelling down, I could clearly feel a kink in her tail (or the nub that used to be her tail). I read online that dogs sometimes develop an abscess that must be drained when they break their tails. I looked right at her and said, "See, this is why Aussies aren't allowed to have tails."