This is Takumi. His name comes from (I’m pretty sure this is the story) the anime / manga series Initial D that features the “drift” style of Japanese street racing. Like in the movie Tokyo Drift. He was a Hurricane Katrina rescue puppy, and Taylor’s friend who named him was a big street racing fan. He’s now Sam’s dog. Or Casey, Taylor, and Sam’s dog.
He spent Monday night having a (fairly sleepless) sleepover with Snickers, however, because Sam spent Monday night in the emergency room with his parents hovering. (And, yes, this is in our terribly messy combo office and general junk room, please ignore.)
The little guy got sick on Saturday with a too high and unexplained fever, and was checked out at the ER. The staff there ran all sorts of tests, hydrated him, and sent him home once his fever was down. It was up and down Sunday and Monday, and his pediatrician decided she wanted him at Texas Children’s in the medical center. He was so dehydrated by then, it took four hours and fifteen tries to get his IV in, poor baby. He slept, had another billion tests, was deemed to have a viral infection and came home around ten Tuesday morning. All I did was dogsit and I was worn out. I can’t imagine his folks’ exhaustion.
Well, I can, since I sat in a pediatric ER for two days with #1 when she was 18 months old. (Sam is almost 15 months old.) It was #1’s first bout with asthma, and was a scary scary experience for the both of us. She had to go several more times over the years for breathing treatments, and ended up there once when she put the nose of our car into a ditch. Car totaled. #1 only scratched. I believe the only time #2 has been in the ER was for stitches in her leg when she stepped through an empty aquarium at age 3 or 4. 
I’ve never had to take Casey for anything but stitches either (that I can remember) - in the corner of his mouth when he was about 2, in his hand when he was about 9, and then he took himself when he was 19 or so, and his earlobe ran into another guy’s fist and had to be sewn back on, heh.
And since today’s subject is scariness and ER’s, I’m giving away a copy of THE LAST VAMPIRE by author buddy Patricia Rosemoor and Marc Paoletti, along with a copy of AT RISK. Click on Patricia’s name to read an excerpt. The book released yesterday, and I’ve got my copy and another for one of you guys on the way.
All you have to do is tell me something scary that’s happened to you at some point! I’ll draw a winner on Sunday night, June 29, 2008, at 8:00 p.m.ish CDT. (You can comment without entering to win, too!)
Happy to hear that Sam is home and doing better. What a huge relief! Hope the little guy is back to being his healthy, happy self very soon. {big hugs}
by HelenKay Dimon June 25th, 2008 at 12:26 amHere’s hoping for Sam’s speedy recovery and that whatever it was that was going on is now out of his system. Your right, kids getting sick can be very scary. I have enough little cousins to know.
by April June 25th, 2008 at 2:45 amOkay, something scary happened to me recently. Back in winter, I started hearing this crunching noise under my bedroom window. I would look out the window sometimes and see nothing but it’s dark in this gap between buildings that my window faces. Just a long gangway-like plot of soil and grass with a gate built to look like a fence at one end, the other end leading into my backyard. My room is above ground level so I would be looking down when I would look out. Anyhow, I started thinking it might be my imagination but I couldn’t will myself not to hear this noise almost every night. When it warmed up this year I decided to plant flowers and things in this plot of land and went to have a look at it. And thats when I noticed cigarette butts on the ground, wrappers here and there and the big footprints of some man. When I got to the gate at the narrow end, it was open which was a surprise to me since the locking lever is VERY hard to move and hidden. Obviously someone had been coming in there for whatever reason all through winter and into summer. Someone who had looked into my windows, probably listened to me talking, and maybe watched me through the windows. The same day I discovered all this, I had the gate shut up for good. But to this day I don’t who was coming in my yard or why.
Scary? I would have to say when my husband was gone for a week on a trip and didn’t call. I waited a whole week when he was supposed to call every night. My husband is very reliable. He wouldn’t forget. I thought they were in a serious accident and freaked out. Only to learn when they got back that they couldn’t get phone reception in that area of the mountains. Whewww, a big releif.
by StaceyB June 25th, 2008 at 5:56 amGlad Sam is back home and I hope the virus runs it’s course quickly.
by Liza June 25th, 2008 at 8:03 amYou reported that much more calmly than I would have been able to. I hope Sam is feeling better, and that the exhausted parents are getting some sleep of their own!
by Angela James June 25th, 2008 at 8:21 amAww, that’s such a cute dog!
Scary is driving in the middle of a highway with a lot of cars around, going +70 mph and then all of a sudden, my car starts slowding ALL by itself, even though I’m slamming on the accelerator but it keeps slowing down and I have to find a way to get to the side to stop without crashing into anyone.
Now THAT was scary; I think I almost had a heart attack!
by Wendy June 25th, 2008 at 9:27 amAngela - I was only calm because it was after the fact. Trust me. I was a nervous wreck all Monday and Tuesday! We went to take Takumi home last night and I got to kiss and almost cuddle Sam, plus let him show me his toys as he babbled, so felt MUCH better after that!
Thanks, HK & Liza, and April! That is terribly scary, oy!
Stacey - I had that happen once. The husband rode Greyhound to Wyoming to meet #1 and her boyfriend at the time to drive back with them. They had no phone and weren’t where they were supposed to be (this was 7 or so years ago) and his cell phone didn’t work once he left the state. I was frantic until hearing from them the next day!
Wendy - That would scare me plenty!!
by Alison June 25th, 2008 at 10:13 amWhen my daughter was five I had just polished the coffee table in the family room that had been totally child proofed for years. In fact all the furniture we purchased for that room had rounded edges. My daughter decided to dance on the slippery coffee table while I was in the next room vacuuming. She slid into the television from the coffee table and came up to me apologizing repeatedly with blood covering her face.
by Maureen June 25th, 2008 at 11:07 amThe scariest thing that happened recently was that we got a call from the elementary school saying my nephew was caught on something and they needed the fire dept. to come and get him down. As we pulled into the parking lot, we saw a fire truck and ambulance. My heart dropped! We then went into the school and found him surrounded by medical personnel. He was soooo still and that is not like him at all… he did not even acknowledge that we were there. What happened was that he was almost strangled by the gym’s upward folding wall… his shirt somehow was caught in it and the teacher with the key had walked away!The wall could only be stopped by the key. Now he has a mark across his neck that seems permanent! This is something I will never forget and it scared the crap out of me!!!
by Colleen June 25th, 2008 at 11:08 amMaureen - Blood makes is SO scary!!
Colleen - Yikes! That’s horrible! Why was that teacher not paying attention???
by Alison June 25th, 2008 at 11:16 amSo glad to hear Sam is doing better and is back home.
I had an experience that was both scary and then humorous. My friend and I had gone to a farm to look at a new horse she wanted to purchase. We pulled into the yard, stopped the car and I was just going to open my door and get out when I turned, looked out the window and right into the eyes of this absolutely ‘huge’ dog. Needless to say we stayed in the car, locked the doors and choose to honk the horn hoping the owner would come out. He did come out onto the porch and yells out that the dog is friendly and to come on in. NO WAY!!! He finally came out to the car and escorted us inside. He also introduced us to his dog who was actually very friendly, but still very huge and ferious in appearance…then it became a humorous moment and I think we began to relax and breath normally again.
by Shari C June 25th, 2008 at 11:17 amI think the scariest thing that happened to me recently, is driving home from Lake Tahoe after a winter storm, and losing control of the car on some black ice on the road. The car spun a 180 and had me going the wrong way on the mountain. I was so,so lucky that I hadn’t gotten hit by upcoming traffic, or didn’t end up over the cliff. I still have a bit of a panic attack when driving in snowy conditions.
by Cathy M June 25th, 2008 at 12:45 pmI’m glad to hear Sam is doing better. Little kids getting sick or hurt are some of the scariest moments for the adults in their lives. I’ve watched it happen with my nieces and nephews.
As for scary moments in my life, I have two that are at the very top.
The first one was the day of my oldest nephew’s first birthday party 7 years ago. I had just picked up a friend to go to a movie that night and was starting to get onto the highway. We’d had a bit of snow recently and there was still some snow off to the side of the on ramp and some black ice on the on ramp. Now, having used that same ramp earlier to get to my nephew’s birthday party, I didn’t think it would be that bad. I was wrong. On the second curve of the on ramp, just before joining traffic, I hit a patch of black ice, lost control of my car (a Geo Metro) and flipped it onto the driver side. It skidded along the rode for about 100 feet before flipping back onto the tires. Neither my friend nor I were hurt, aside from a tiny piece of glass I found embedded in my palm during a volleyball tournament the following day.
The second happened almost 5 years ago on the first night I was alone at my house, having dropped my parents off at the airport earlier for their trip to San Francisco. After getting home from class that night, I was sitting in the living room when I heard what sounded like gunshots right outside my house. Living in a quiet suburban neighborhood, it was a sound I’d never heard before and haven’t heard since. So, I decided to peak out between the blinds before calling 911 since I didn’t want to call them for nothing. Well, it was definitely something. There was a man standing in the middle of the street even with my driveway facing up the street and shooting a gun into the air. I immediately dropped the blinds back into place and called 911. The police got there pretty quickly and I ended up having to ID the guy they had caught. He was subsequently evicted from the house up the street he had been renting. Of course, I think it might have scared a few years off my uncle’s life when the nextdoor neighbor called him (he lives up the street and around the corner from me) to have him come check on me since the police wouldn’t let her leave her house to do so. He arrived just as I was being led into a patrol car to go ID the shooter.
by Karin June 25th, 2008 at 1:37 pmHaving five children I have had my share of scary hospital visits, but the fact that the emergency room staff knew my middle son by sight and name, gives you some idea of what I went through with him!
by Ilona June 25th, 2008 at 2:13 pmIn three years he had almost 30 x-rays for various accidents!!
However the scariest was the time we were together and got hit by a car at a pedestrian crossing. We had just left physiotherapy for his shoulder and got rushed off to a different hospital for x-rays on his legs :(
So glad that Sam is home now, and getting some rest along with his parents and that you were able to see him for yourself last night. Anytime you have to go to ER with your kids it is a scary and bad time for all. I know I certainly did enough trips with my son - He seemed to be forever hurting himself - it got to the point that I was afraid they would start to investigate these accidents. Thank goodness he outgrew them or became less accident prone……
Please do not include my name in your draw, Alison, although it will be a great prize for someone. Thanks.
by Cryna June 25th, 2008 at 5:16 pmWhen my oldest son was six months old, he tipped his walker over and bit half of his tongue in half. After a trip to the ER where nothing could be done but get the bleeding stopped(can’t sew the tongue) I had to listen to him cry for his bottle because he couldn’t suck on the nipple. Had to try and get him to drink out of a cup. I was afraid he wouldn’t get enough nourishment. Everything was ok in the long run.
by Estella June 25th, 2008 at 6:03 pmJust wanted to say hugs to you and your family, Alison! I’m so sorry you’ve had some scary times recently but am glad everyone’s on the mend! (Please don’t enter me–no scaries for me ;))
by Fedora June 25th, 2008 at 6:29 pmSo glad Sam is alrigh. i know going to the hospital with kiddos is not fun in the least. My scrary moment would be a toss up as to the time my hubby called me and said he wrecked my new van. I was okay till I saw the van it was on it’s side in the ditch. Scared the crap out of me. A 17 yr old pulled out into him and knocked him off the rode. The other time was 2 yrs ago my 10 was climbing a tree and the grandparents house. My mom’s step son said he turned around just as jacob my son came flying out of the tree and bounced off of their chain link fence. We thought he’d broke some ribs. or his neck. He didn’t but boy does he keep trying.
by Pamk June 25th, 2008 at 8:12 pmI have a nickname for the dog, ya know.
TacoMeat
by Walt June 25th, 2008 at 11:46 pmScary? There was a time (years ago) when going to school 5 days a week was scary -because of the bullies, both on the way to school and back home and at the school itself. And I had to put up with it from the first grade until the nineth grade.
by Minna June 25th, 2008 at 11:57 pmGlad to hear Sam is okay. Scary way to spend the weekend though!
One of my most scary moments was when my nephew was 2 yrs old (he’s now 14). My friend & I was taking her son and my nephew to see Sesame Street Live. We decided to go to McDonald’s before the show for lunch. It had a big inside playland, so we let the kids go play. As we sat and talked, I suddenly noticed that I hadn’t seen my nephew in a few minutes. I look around…no nephew. I asked my friend’s son where he was…he didn’t know. I yelled his name…no answer. Then I noticed the two exit doors that lead from the playland to outside. I started worrying that either someone had snatched him or he had wandered outside. Just as I was starting to get frantic (not to mention wondering how I was going to explain to my brother and sister-in-law that I lost their baby) another child mentioned a little boy was up in one of the very top tubes. I couldn’t get up there so we sent my friend’s son up and he brought him down. Turned out some bigger kids scared him, so he ducked into a little side area and stayed there. He was too scared to come down…or answer his freaking out Aunt! I’m thinking that’s when I started getting grey hair.
by Dawn M. June 25th, 2008 at 11:58 pmMy most scariest moment was having a F4 tornado got right by my house. 7 people were killed across the street from me. I am petrified of them to this day.
by Kris June 26th, 2008 at 11:04 amI feel scared every time my niece or nephew falls. We’re like regular visitors to the doctors.
by Mona June 26th, 2008 at 5:45 pmI hope little Sam is feeling better by now - how scary for all of you.
by Laurie June 26th, 2008 at 6:41 pmTurns out Sam has / had roseola! My kids have been grown so long that the thought never crossed my mind!
by Alison June 26th, 2008 at 7:15 pmI don’t know what roseola is, but I’m glad Sam’s okay!! Scary stuff.
by Jess June 26th, 2008 at 7:42 pmAlison, I’m glad that Sam is feeling better. The scariest thing that happened to me is when my second son was diagnosed at 5 with hydrocephalus. Fortunately, he is doing well. But at the time, it felt like a nightmare.
by sandy l June 28th, 2008 at 2:17 pmThe pic of the dog you see is from last Tuesday, when he was in the best of health.
Right now, that same dog is very ill.
by Walt June 29th, 2008 at 9:32 am[…] winner of THE LAST VAMPIRE and AT RISK is: […]
by Alison Kent » Blog Archive » And the winners are . . . June 30th, 2008 at 3:05 pm[…] our only having one car, well, huge adjustment. And then in June came Casey’s surgery, and Sam’s hospital visit, and Takumi’s near death, and those three things were nothing if not […]
by Alison Kent » Blog Archive » Intensity October 1st, 2008 at 12:05 am