Hair of the dog that bit you.....
My holiday was really unlike any holiday I've ever had. I spent about ten hours of my precious time in the emergency, spread over the course of three days, on four separate visits. I am writing it all here so that people can read it for themselves.
I was bitten by the Rottweiler that has been residing in my home, under my roommate's care, for the last few months. It was not malicious in nature, nor do I believe it was intentional. Clearly the animal bit me and there was intention enough in that, but I think he was over-stimulated and would not have behaved in such a manner otherwise. For those of you that know my roommate, you know of his craziness and older-brother-type antics. It was in just such an event that the dog bit me. Whether the dog was trying to protect me, or simply got carried away, I cannot say.
What I can say is that I felt the dog sink teeth into my arm and shake it three times. The result is a nasty tear in the skin and several puncture wounds along a bruise that resembles a jaw. I have a total of, I believe, eight stitches. I'm told two of them are "sub-dermal." The nurse that stitched me up was very kind and reassuring. I've never had stitches in my life so this was a very welcome attitude. Miraculously, the sweater I was wearing has shown no evidence of a bite except for blood. It was not torn at all and with a little more soaking and care the blood should wash right out.
It's been a week since the incident and I believe it is healing quite well. I will know more after my appointment with a hand specialist. There was no major tissue damage, but I was encouraged to follow up with a professional to make sure there wasn't any unseen damage and to test the motor functions.* At this point is is difficult to say how the scar will look, but I can't imagine any cosmetic surgery will be necessary. * * I have a very nasty scar on my leg, from a childhood accident, and I give it no more thought than the birthmark that is right above it. I imagine this will be very much the same case, though much more visible to me in my everyday life. Though nothing more than a point of interest when discussing the emotional and physical scars with the next boyfriend.
The dog was immediately repentant of its actions and spent the better part of two days in the corner of the living room. I must confess, I get a little nervous whenever it licks its lips in my direction, but other than that I do not fear this animal. I do, however, believe the dog has a death wish. Not long after this incident, I discovered that it had peed in my room. Of course, it happened to be against my laptop computer which was, thankfully, resting against the wall so all the liquid ran to the floor and ruined my bathrobe instead of my hardware. Then yesterday, we returned home to discover that it had half eaten all the pears that had been in a bag on the kitchen counter. These subsequent events suggest that something is not quite right. Things this dog has been trained not to do are suddenly of no consequence and the dog behaves much as it did when it first came to our house. Though still with a healthy respect for my roommate.
I don't know how it can possibly stay in our house after a mistake this big. I keep trying to think it will be okay; that it didn't mean to do what it did. But these other things make me wonder.
*Follow up from 12/30 Appointment: The Doctor was very surprised that the wound had healed as much as it did. He gave me the glorious news that I would be able to bath as normal, though not to submerge he wound. If all continues to go well I will have the stitches out on 1/6.*
**Follow up from first bath: Kind of concerned about the fatty tissue that was removed during suturing. I noticed in the bath last night that it causes an odd dip under my skin. I wonder if it will eventually even itself out?**
I was bitten by the Rottweiler that has been residing in my home, under my roommate's care, for the last few months. It was not malicious in nature, nor do I believe it was intentional. Clearly the animal bit me and there was intention enough in that, but I think he was over-stimulated and would not have behaved in such a manner otherwise. For those of you that know my roommate, you know of his craziness and older-brother-type antics. It was in just such an event that the dog bit me. Whether the dog was trying to protect me, or simply got carried away, I cannot say.
What I can say is that I felt the dog sink teeth into my arm and shake it three times. The result is a nasty tear in the skin and several puncture wounds along a bruise that resembles a jaw. I have a total of, I believe, eight stitches. I'm told two of them are "sub-dermal." The nurse that stitched me up was very kind and reassuring. I've never had stitches in my life so this was a very welcome attitude. Miraculously, the sweater I was wearing has shown no evidence of a bite except for blood. It was not torn at all and with a little more soaking and care the blood should wash right out.
It's been a week since the incident and I believe it is healing quite well. I will know more after my appointment with a hand specialist. There was no major tissue damage, but I was encouraged to follow up with a professional to make sure there wasn't any unseen damage and to test the motor functions.* At this point is is difficult to say how the scar will look, but I can't imagine any cosmetic surgery will be necessary. * * I have a very nasty scar on my leg, from a childhood accident, and I give it no more thought than the birthmark that is right above it. I imagine this will be very much the same case, though much more visible to me in my everyday life. Though nothing more than a point of interest when discussing the emotional and physical scars with the next boyfriend.
The dog was immediately repentant of its actions and spent the better part of two days in the corner of the living room. I must confess, I get a little nervous whenever it licks its lips in my direction, but other than that I do not fear this animal. I do, however, believe the dog has a death wish. Not long after this incident, I discovered that it had peed in my room. Of course, it happened to be against my laptop computer which was, thankfully, resting against the wall so all the liquid ran to the floor and ruined my bathrobe instead of my hardware. Then yesterday, we returned home to discover that it had half eaten all the pears that had been in a bag on the kitchen counter. These subsequent events suggest that something is not quite right. Things this dog has been trained not to do are suddenly of no consequence and the dog behaves much as it did when it first came to our house. Though still with a healthy respect for my roommate.
I don't know how it can possibly stay in our house after a mistake this big. I keep trying to think it will be okay; that it didn't mean to do what it did. But these other things make me wonder.
*Follow up from 12/30 Appointment: The Doctor was very surprised that the wound had healed as much as it did. He gave me the glorious news that I would be able to bath as normal, though not to submerge he wound. If all continues to go well I will have the stitches out on 1/6.*
**Follow up from first bath: Kind of concerned about the fatty tissue that was removed during suturing. I noticed in the bath last night that it causes an odd dip under my skin. I wonder if it will eventually even itself out?**