WARNING, this is a graphic post...

If you are in the least bit squeamish with blood, don't read this post.

It has been a really bad 2 weeks here.  There has been a continuing family situation, that is finally coming to an end.  Well to top it off, this is what happened yesterday.

I pulled into my driveway from picking up Emma from school.  I get out of the car, and take Emma out.  Ava is still in the car.  Emma sees my neighbor outside with her dog, a one year old German Shepherd.  I swear, this is the biggest shepherd  I have ever seen.  We hadn't seen him in awhile, since he was a much smaller puppy.  They have another shepherd, who we know, who's docile and sweet.  So I am not feeling alarmed at all.  

Emma walks near the fence to say hi to the dog, and he comes running over.  He still acts like a puppy, so he is all excited and barking.  My neighbor, Stacey, is calling for the dog to come back.  The dog comes around the front of my fence towards myself and Emma.  I am in awe at how big he has gotten.  Stacy follows him around.  He comes near me, and trys to jump, so I put my knee up.  I have never felt threatened by a dog, and thus far, I still am not.  Emma gets nervous, and hides behind me.  We don't have a dog.  She loves dogs, but she is used to being around little dogs.  The dog wants to go near Emma.  So now I have Emma, who is shrieking, and the dog, circling my legs.  I am trying to keep the dog from her.  Again, he is huge, and now Stacey is nervous, and she is calling the dog, but he is not listening.  Now I am getting concerned, because this dog is huge, he is not listening, and he is continuing to try to get near Emma.  Stacey tells me to pick up Emma, because she is really nervous.  Now this all ensued in a matter of 1 minute.  I block the dog, and reach down to pick up Emma, who is completely terrified and crying, and the dog latches into the back of my left arm.  The pain was intense.  The kind that gives you chills and makes your stomach hurt.  He bit into my arm with his whole mouth, and held down for a good few seconds.  The force of the bite was so intense.  I don't know if I pulled away, which I probably did because I was trying to keep Emma away.  The dog finally lets go, and yelps.  Now I am realizing the severity of the situation.  I know that he hurt me badly by the pain I am feeling.  Stacey grabs him, and drags him into her house.

I grab Emma, who had fallen when I was bit, and rush her up the steps into my house.  My mom is here, and was inside, and immediately opened the door having heard commotion.  Emma is terrified and crying, and I am grasping my arm, fearing the worst.  I didn't know if he took a chunk out of the back of my arm, if I was bleeding, or what.  My mom is not aware of what happened, when I come in saying I was bit.  She goes to open the door to get poor Ava, who was still thankfully in the car.  I don't think I would have been able to shield two of them.  I tell my mom to look at my arm, and tell me how bad it is.  I can't look.  I do not want to see.  I pull my sweatshirt off, and she gasps and tells me it's bad, and that I need to go to the doctor.  I asked her if I was bleeding, and she said only a little because it was a puncture wound.  I remembered punctures don't bleed from when I was a lifeguard.  But it hurts like you know what!  I call the doctor immediately, which is 1 minute down the road, and tell them what happened, and they tell me to come right away.

My mom has now gotten Ava out of the car, and Stacey is in my house.  She is so upset and feels so terrible.  I am trying to calm Emma down, since she has now hid in her room.  I tell her I am alright, and that everything is ok, and I am going to the doctor so they can fix up my arm.  My mom keeps the girls home, and Stacey takes me the doctor.

Now usually, you would wait hours at the doctor's office to get in, but it was almost their lunch break, and they knew how badly injured I was.  They took me in within 5 minutes.  Plus, a girl, sitting in the waiting room, with a kitchen towel wrapped around her arm, isn't so great for other patients to be seeing.

I still have not looked at my arm.  I saw that it was oozing, and I looked away.  I can handle things better with my own body, if I don't know the severity.  Poor Stacey, is so upset, she feels so bad, and she is more of a wreck than me.  I am claming her down.  So far, I have calmed down Emma, my mom, my husband who just happened to call right as I was going to go the doctor, and Ava, who had been crying in the truck.  Funny, I am the one who should be freaking out.  Ok, this is the graphic part, so don't say I didn't warn you.

The doctor told me it looks like a 22 caliber bullet hole, which my brother-in-law, who is a cop, confirmed when he saw the picture.  His exact words were, " Holy sh*t, it looks like a slug hole!"  Yes, he is the funny man.;)

All I keep thinking about is how thankful I am that it wasn't Emma, and it's just my arm.  I'll heal over time, Emma's face would not.  I think because I was so relieved Emma was ok, and my adrenaline was pumping, I remained completely calm the whole time.  I am sitting there on the exam table just continuously thanking God.  Not that I wouldn't have done everything in my power to protect her.

Now they are concerned because I a running a fever, well do you think, it's because my nerves are shot, and I might be in shock, maybe?  They clean up the wound, and I will spare you the details, in case you just ate something. ;)  They draw blood, give me a tetanus shot, a pain killer shot, which they insisted on, and bandaged me up.  I am on antibiotics, or horse pills, as I like to call them, and I have to go back today.  They couldn't stitch it because it is a puncture.  And quite deep I might add.

It took 6 hours to stop bleeding profusely.  I had to keep layering gauze pads and tape.  I was told to change the dressing at night, and place a soaked pad with hydrogen peroxide on it for a few minutes.  That is when I took these pictures.  The picture taken at the office is far worse, but it's in my cell phone.

I think I have nerve damage because I didn't feel him cleaning inside the puncture at all, and surprisingly, even after the pain shot wore off, I don't have any pain, just soreness if you touch the area.

I couldn't sleep last night because I kept replaying the scenario in my head, and thinking about what could have happened to Emma.  It's makes my stomach turn.

My neighbors feels horrible, and is paying for my medical bills.  We are friends with them, so I want this handled as amicably as possible.  I am not going to file a report yet.  They have assured me the dog will always be fenced in the back yard, which has a 6 foot fence around it.  I told them, if I ever see the dog out front, I will have to call the police.  I really don't anticipate it being a problem.  They are good people, and it was an unfortunate incident that could have been far worse.  

So I will heal eventually, and have a lovely scar, which will always remind me of what could have been, and I am grateful that it was only me.

I now feel very differently about large dogs.  I never had a fear, I never had reason to.  But I can guarantee you, I will never let any large dog within 10 feet of my girls ever again.  And I don't think we will ever get a dog bigger than my 20 pound cat.  I am a bit jaded now.