posted
No, really. I was bitten by my neighbor's dog. Okay, I was trespassing, but still!!!
<grrrrr>
Bad Holly!
Smokey (my dog) pulled her retractible leash right out of my hands as we left the house yesterday morning. She did this because she was going full bore across the back of the house to go visit her next-door-neighbor, Holly, who was on her dog run barking like a lunatic. Or like a dog on a chain.
So...I have this giant fear that Smokey will be run over by a car after escaping the leash. That's because she's the kind of dog that will do stupid things like run out into the street and stand there. I was so worried about her being "off the leash" (well technically, I was the one off the leash, but still, she was free!!!) that I just ran into the neighbor's yard to get her back.
Relief spread over me as she and Holly stopped their doggy tussle and Smokey backed up enough but didn't bolt away. I turned and reached for her lead and just managed to hang on as Holly sunk four sharp teeth into the back of my left knee.
I had to admit later to Dana that some of her parishioners might, just possibly, have heard me invoking the name of God and suggesting places where Holly might be sent in the hereafter. I also muttered LOUDLY some words that I hope never to hear from the mouths of our Hatrack little ones.
Then I hobbled over to Dana's place and got her to inspect the wound. It was not as small as I'd hoped. I was asking questions like "did she break the skin..." Dana was saying things like "well, at least none of the holes is squirting."
Sheesh!
So...I called the vet in town to ask what to do. I described the incident and she said "Oh, that's Holly. She's had all her shots. No problem. Just wash the wound and go get a tetanus shot."
So, then I called my doctor. He was sort of noncommittal about squeezing me in because they were thinking of closing the office due to ice storms.
[aside] No matter what is happening, every conversation in Iowa eventually turns to the weather and road conditions. Example: "So, you made it." "Yep." "Nasty dog bite." "Yep. Hurts a lot." "So...run into any bad patches on the way here?" "Nah, it was clear once we got past Story City." "Oh? What route did you take?" "Well...we usually go 175 then south on 35." "Good Route. They just fixed 175." "Yeah, nice and smooth. Um, about my dog bite?" "Yeah, c'mon in back. We'll fix you right up." [/aside]
<the above is not strictly verbatim, but it's close.>
Okay, so we go into the examination room. They take my temperature, BP and weigh me. I've lost 9 pounds since my first visit 3 weeks ago. I'm wondering if it's all just blood loss. I figure I can't have bled that much and still be alive, so I figure my diet must be working.
The doctor comes in and explains why dog bites on the leg are bad news. Like dog bites on other parts of the body are good news. But then he decides I should get some antibiotics because he doesn't want to have my get infected while I'm traveling next week and have to deal with it there. But, just in case there's a problem, he does figure "there's a lot of doctores in D.C., so just go see one of them." ha ha ha.
Then he orders the nurse to clean the wound. The nurse and I have a rapport built up. She likes scrubbing wounds. With brillo. I think she used a dental probe and some sort of acid. Man that hurt!
Then she apologized because the tape will stick to my hairy leg. ha ha ha. I told her didn't matter because that leg was already numb and I was thinking of having it replaced with some knotty pine. Goes good with my pirate outfit. Dana likes poufy shirts...
Hmm...
Oh, yeah, so anyway, then she gives me the tetanus shot. It's never a good sign when they ask what hand you write with before administering a shot. Well, at least she didn't ask which side I like to sleep on, or which buttock I prefer sitting on...
Then it was off to the pharmacy. Look, I totally understand HIPAA rules, but the people I really don't want to know what I'm getting are the pharmacists. I mean, they actually know what the drugs are for, right? So if it's something embarrassing, they'll be behind that counter going "ha! Look at what this guy got prescribed!" And they hand it to you and ask things like "have you ever taken this prescription before?"
"Um, no, I've usually just purchased it and set it in the medicine cabinet in case I might get to sell it on the black market someday."
Anyway, the best part was that the doctor prescribed a generic so I didn't have to pay hundreds of dollars for a drug to treat my dog bite.
Good doctor.
It took all day, but I finally got all treated and drugged. And then when I got home I had to do the whole wound cleaning and bandaging myself.
I stuck a sterile pad on the back of my knee. No idea if it really covers anything. I taped it there with that new sticky ace bandagy stuff. Ever try to put a bandage on the back of the knee? It's not easy.
So, there you have it. Dog bites man.
I found out later that Holly is just a touch radioactive. I've got superpowers now. I can do a lot more leg lifts than ever before. Of course, then I pee. But hey, you don't turn your back on a superpower, right?
No dog bite. Just a tiny cut (like a 2 mm paper cut) that swelled up my finger double over night, bright red, hot, weeping.
And the finger looked pretty bad, too.
Some kind of nasty invasive bugger got in there, so I'm on antibiotics as well. Didn't get to curse any dogs, though.
Posts: 2919 | Registered: Aug 2004
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The worst part is that Smokey didn't do anything to protect or avenge me.
Okay, in hindsight I'm glad she didn't. But wouldn't it be nice to know that ones dog is on ones side in a dog fight?
I mean, shouldn't she have ripped out the throat of the offending animal?
In truth, poor Holly was more surprised than I was, if that's possible.
I talked to her owner today and made sure she wasn't feeling ill or depressed after the experience. Poor thing. She got cussed out something terrible.
Anyway, the leg feels fine and aside from going around town admitting that I'm not smart enough to know to stay away from two dogs growling at each other, I have suffered no ill effects.
Holly's owner and I exchanged dog bite stories. He used to be a garbageman. The vet and I also exchanged dog bite stories.
I really think I should get a t-shirt out of this or something.
I don't want any "hair of the dog that bit me" though. Yuck! I have enough dog hair, thanks very much.
Sara...sorry to hear about your flesh-eating bacteria from a paper cut. Sheesh!
And why do they call it a "weeping wound?"
ElJay...I was singing that song all the way home from the doctor's office.
posted
Bummer. I got bit by a German Shepherd, as Forrest might say, directly on the buttocks when I was 10 or 11. Nothing broke skin, but I had a symetrical blood blisters on my cheeks, one for each tooth in the damn dog's mouth.
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Sorry to hear that Bob! Is there much bruising around the bite?
Sara, good lord! I'm glad you're on antibiotics. I had thought, though, that teatnus wasn't really something to be concerned about unless there was a deep puncture wound that couldn't be cleaned out, and that wouldn't be exposed to the air. Is this not the case?
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
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Bob, really sorry to hear about your experience. I certainly hope this won't sour you on dogs. (Fraemie and Chrissy say woof, meaning "hello and I'm sorry our cousin bit you.") What kind of dog is Holly, anyway? I don't think you said, but then again, I'm falling asleep here at the computer.
Posts: 676 | Registered: Sep 2002
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Bob, you might want to chain yourself up with steel chains or something next full moon... you know, just in case Posts: 3295 | Registered: Jun 2004
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Bob, bob, bob, bob. Don't you know how to act. When you get bit by a critter, you are supposed to bite it back.
I had a friend who did that with a snake. Poor snake.
Feel better Bob. We won't use "my old Dog Bite wound" as an excuse for being unable to walk down the aisle.
Posts: 11895 | Registered: Apr 2002
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quote: I was so worried about her being "off the leash" (well technically, I was the one off the leash, but still, she was free!!!)
My cousin tells me that in Port Townsend WA, a local ordinance says all dogs must be leashed, but a local dog trainer has helped residents to train their dogs to hold their own leash, folded butterfly style, in their mouths. Apparently, the ordinance does not state that a person must be at the other end of the leash
Posts: 3735 | Registered: Mar 2002
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Dog bites are pretty serious injuries, I still carry numerous scars on one wrist from a dog bite, and have permanent nerve damage. One tooth went all the way to the bone and I suffered a crush injury. All this from a dog that only weighed about 40 pounds. I couldn't imagine being bitten by a bigger dog!
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Bob, could you tell dkw I finally checked my e-mail? (or, dana, if you are reading this, I'm really sorry!)
Posts: 9871 | Registered: Aug 2001
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Okay that was funny. The ad at the bottom of the page was "fix dog leash aggression." And something about the Oakland Raiders. If they needed to include a football team, I would have picked Cleveland with their dog pound and all.
Posts: 9871 | Registered: Aug 2001
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I got bit by my parents dog when I was a kid. For some reason it always hated me (they did get me my own dog that liked me as well). I think she was just jelous that when I was born my parents paid more attention to me than to her.
One day when we got back from vacation, the dog forgot that it hated me, and started acting friendly. I was all excited since she was letting me pat her and everything (it doesn't take much to excite a 10 year old I guess). Unfortunatley, she suddenly remembered that she hated me and bit me. I thought it really hurt at the time, but it didn't break the skin or anything.
Posts: 1901 | Registered: May 2004
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Bob, I hope you didn't make a poodle of blood. When it attacked, did you daschund try to get away? The memories could hound you for a long time; you may suffer night terriers. At leash you didn't need stitches, since the wounds weren't mastiff. Your protection may have been heaven scent.
Posts: 26071 | Registered: Oct 2003
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My husband has a scar and some nerve damage on his lower lip courtesy of one of our ferrets, back when we first acquired her. She decided she didn't care for this "bath" thing one bit, so she managed to get her back feet up on his hands, launched herself at his face, and clamped on. She wouldn't let go until I ran into the bathroom and pried her jaws open. Paul still finished bathing her though, it was important that he not let her think she'd achieved dominance over him.
So yeah, the wound required superglue to stop it bleeding, and the area between the scar and the corner of the lip is numb, so he has to be careful not to dribble when he drinks. The ferret's had lots and lots of training and is much better-behaved now. *sigh* The things we put up with from our loved ones Posts: 957 | Registered: Aug 2002
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Swelling down enough that I've regained most of my range of motion. Limited redness and heat -- very circumscribed, unlike yesterday (was spreading to the back of my hand, almost as I was watching).
Noemon, the Clostridium bacteria that cause tetanus are anaeorbic, so you are correct that it really isn't an issue for superficial scratches that are completely exposed to normal air. However, this itty-bitty 2-3mm papercut of a scratch was behaving very oddly* (I was thinking of necrotizing fasciitis, too, Bob, and I know we've seen a case in this community before), and with the swelling, pockets of tissue might easily have been closed off. Plus, I needed a booster anyway.
*It was actually quite fascinating, and I was wishing you could see it, Noemon. I noticed pain on my knuckle just before going to bed, and all I could see was this little tiny cut. Not very deep -- looked like a papercut. Thin, crisp edges, almost surgical. But it felt like I'd poured lemon juice on it -- pain very much out of proportion to the cut.
I took some ibuprofen and went to bed, then was up two hours later, congested with a cold. Meanwhile, the cm or so around the cut had puffed up and turned bright red. I slapped on some Neosporin and went back to bed, tossing and turning through much of the night. When I got up, the entire finger had swollen and turned hot & red. There was an area of ulceration at one end of the cut where the skin had just sloughed off.
I made an appointment at urgent care over lunch, and by the time I got there, the cellulitis was speading down onto the back of my hand.
[ January 05, 2005, 12:17 PM: Message edited by: Sara Sasse ]
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Bob, may I say that you define grace under pressure. Even with the verbalage, you showed great restraint. Kudos to you. Posts: 2919 | Registered: Aug 2004
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Sara, something like that happened to my mom. She burned herself and the red tracks started going up her arm, it had gotten very infected. At first I was really worried about it, but then after she got better I was disappointed that I didn't get a chance to see it spreading up her veins and all. You don't get to see stuff like that that often nowadays. I was curious.
Posts: 4816 | Registered: Apr 2003
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Sara, I'd have loved to have watched that progress--sounds fascinating! I'm sorry you had it happen, but at least you got to observe something interesting. Glad the symptoms are abating. Keep us posted.
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
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Yeah, it was pretty interesting. Noemon likes that stuff, too, so part of me was going "Hey! I'll get to tell Noemon about the possible flesh-eating bacteria!" I sort of took notes in my head.
On the other hand, I know too much to be trusted with making my own diagnoses. Merck Manual Syndrome -- if it's listed, I've considered it. So I waited until I couldn't flex my finger before making an appointment, just to make more objectively sure that I wasn't simply being a wuss.
[Noemon: My new Year's present to you. *bows]
[ January 05, 2005, 12:26 PM: Message edited by: Sara Sasse ]
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I don't detect any sign of nerve damage. I was a bit worried about that actually, but then I don't know how deeply buried the nerves are at the back of the knee. I just figured punctures are probably not a good thing.
No throbbing last night, so that's a good sign, neh?
Thanks all! It's been interesting hearing about your various animal attacks too. I think I got off pretty lightly now that I read some of your stories.
Posts: 22497 | Registered: Sep 2000
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(to go with the bite story theme) I have not been bitten by a dog, but I was bitten by a human. I worked in a group home with a man who was deaf, blind, and severely retarded. We had to hold his hands to sign to him, and he would occasionally chomp into us, or scratch our hands. I was a mess of scars. One day, though, he got my whole hand in a giant chomp, and to this day, nothing has hurt more than that. So, while I feel the need to tease you about the walk home thing, I feel for you, Bob.
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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I've also been bitten by a human. HUGE bruise...nearly my entire forearm. So many shots. Ugh.
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My new Year's present to you. *bows]
