August 29, 2009 was a day that I will never forget. The tears on my face were flowing down as if it were the biggest waterfall on earth. The hospital was always the worst place for me, ever since I was a baby. I was born with a heart defect called Tetrology of Fallot with Pulmonary Atresea. That means that I was born without a pulmonary artery and had a hole in my heart. I have had two open heart surgeries and need to go to the hospital every six months for testing. The day that I had to go in for a routine lung perfusion scan turned out to be the worst day in my life.
Checking in the doctor's room I could barely breathe thinking if I would have to get an I/V or not. As my mom and I walked to the waiting room, I asked my mom a bunch of questions, like "What are they going to do to me today? Do I have to get a shot?" As we were casually looking around for seats we finally found one right next to the nurse’s station. Watching my mom as she fills out the forms, I continue to think of the whether I have to get an I/V shot or not. Finally after 10 minutes, that felt like 1 hour, they finally call my name.
We walked through the door slowly. The nurses asked me a bunch of questions, like "How are you doing today?" Answering them quietly as I take off my shoes and step on the scale. After all the check up stuff, we walk into a room down the hall. The doctor came in and started talking to my mom about my heart and lungs and other things. Then he said it, I had to get an I/V inserted so that they could shoot a dye to view all of the arteries in my heart. I look at my mom with uncertainty, then we walked out the door. As we entered the sterile room that smelled like alcohol wipes, I hesitantly jumped onto the table and picked the arm I want them to put the I/V. The first nurse puts the needle in and no blood comes out. She poked another one in my arm and it didn't work out again. She tries about 4 more times. The tears start to kick in as needle by needle went in. I pleaded with them to stop. The nurse finally calls the anesthesiologist to try his luck. Finally after one try he got it! After two hours of being poked eight times, we finally left the room to get the lung perfusion scan. My face was all red and full of tears. When the scan was over, my mom looked at me, feeling sorry for me and asked, "Where do you want to go? We will do whatever you want."
My face finally lit up, as I could feel a change coming. I had a big smile on my face thinking about what to do. Thinking carefully on what I wanted to do I finally got It! I told her that I wanted to go to the Hawaiian Humane Society. On our way there, I hoped I would find a dog that I liked. When we finally got there, I jumped out of the car running from the cat section then to the dog section. As I pass the dog section, there was a cage with about 12 puppies! I could barely breathe looking how cute they all were. I saw the one I wanted, the most fluffiest one there. Running around the whole humane society trying to find my parents, I led them over and asked them if I could get it. My dad said yes. I was so happy at the end of the day.
As we were paying for him my mom asked my siblings and I what we wanted to name him. We couldn't decide on a name. Blackie? Fluffy? Then, as we were driving to our grandma's house my mom finally came up with one. Hachi, because he was born on the eighth month, weighed eight pounds, and I got eight shots! And my mom said that our grandma would approve of the dog if it was a Japanese name so my mom thought of Hachi.
When we brought him home, he jumped out of the car running out to my grandma's front yard. When we went home, my mom started gating everything off: the kitchen, bathroom, upstairs everything! She didn't trust him at all. She always thought that male dogs weren't as smart as female dogs. That's why she didn't want to get him at first. Getting ready for bed my mom only would let hachi hachi sleep in her bathroom with it gated until he was old enough to go off on his own. I remember falling asleep with my hand under the gate so that I could comfort him throughout the night. Now, he comes to sleep in my bedroom and I feel safe knowing that he will protect the house.
The worst day of my life has long been forgotten but having Hachi around to protect and love us is all that we can ask for. Even though this day started out as a really bad and horrible day, it turned out to be one of the best days of my life.
