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Daughter Attacked by Family Dog
17 years ago
On Sunday of last week, my three-year-old daughter, Kyleigh, was attacked by my parent's dog of 14 years. Comet had been a very gentle animal his whole life but something set him off on Sunday and when Kyleigh hugged him he snapped and bit her face, removing a chunk of her cheek, puncturing her nose and tearing her lower lip.
We took her immediately to the Emergency Room, where the surgeon on staff consulted a plastic surgeon because of where the wounds were. His advice was to sew the wound up, which was AGAINST the better judgment of the on-hand surgeon. They told us they never seal a dog bite, because of how highly infected they are; they want the wound to weep. His instinct was correct, unfortunately, because over night her entire face had swollen beyond recognition. It looked as if someone beat her with a pipe. Her eyes were sealed shut, her lips wouldn't close, and I couldn't even see her nostril. I wanted to cry every time I looked at her. We met with the consulting surgeon the next day. His comment was she was doing "fine" and wanted to see her back in a week. He told us to call him if the redness worsened or she got a fever. By nightfall, both had occured. She shot up to 102-degrees and the redness covered her whole face and neck. I called the doctor in a panic, whose angered-I-bothered him advice was, "if I'm so worried about it, take her to an E.R." As it turns out, Dr. Asshole is also outside of our doctor network, so even though he was referred by the E.R., HAP will not cover it.
We found a second plastic surgeon who immediately upon seeing Kyleigh wanted to remove the sutures. For 20 horrible, horrible minutes, I had to lay on top of her and pin her down while the doctor pulled-free all 8 stitches and proceeded to forceably push and squeeze several vile tablespoons of puss and liquid infection from her face. For 20 minutes tears rolled down my face as Kyleigh is screaming, "please please, he's hurting me, stop, daddy, stop." I swear to God, I will never forget that for as long as I live.
Despite the anguish, Kyleigh's face all but returned within minutes of sitting her back up. Still not back to normal, but at least I could see her tear-welled eyes again.
After that we spent all last week and well into this one seeing the plastic surgeon and various pediatricians to hopefully correct the damage and battle the infection, which had grown violently out of control.
My step-father was so angry with the dog that he had it put to sleep that very night, which as it turns out was doubly-rash since in his haste, the veterinarian neglected to quarantine the animal first, which is customary for rabies observation. Comet was cremated less than 48 hours after the attack, and now the County is investigating the Vet's office for breaking protocol, but more seriously, pressing my wife and I to vaccinate Kyleigh for rabies since they cannot disprove the dog had it.
Comet had been vaccinated for rabies his whole life, but there are cases of animals carrying the virus even when protected against it. Worse, my parents live in a heavily forested area where Comet had regular contact with wildlife, particularly the four species who carry it most: skunks, bats, foxes and opossum. Even though there is only a very slim chance he had the disease, no one can say he didn't.
Rabies is a brain disease which cannot be treated once symptoms appear. It is 100% fatal. The vaccinations for it are extremely painful and lengthy, requiring a series of booster shots to the abdomen and face, the doctor says. The vaccination is essentially a poison, and the nausea it invokes has been compared to chemotherapy. This is not an option to be taken lightly, as a doctor will not request it unless absolutely necessary.
Because of the County's fears, no doctor will tell us not to give the vaccinations to her. And without Comet, no one can say whether she was exposed to rabies in the first place.
Kyleigh has had another appointment with the surgeon at 1:45pm today. He said the infection is clearing up well, but still no ground on the rabies scare. I've taken off work for the last week to get things taken care of, but we're not done yet.
It's not the best update I've ever posted, but I wanted to post something.
We took her immediately to the Emergency Room, where the surgeon on staff consulted a plastic surgeon because of where the wounds were. His advice was to sew the wound up, which was AGAINST the better judgment of the on-hand surgeon. They told us they never seal a dog bite, because of how highly infected they are; they want the wound to weep. His instinct was correct, unfortunately, because over night her entire face had swollen beyond recognition. It looked as if someone beat her with a pipe. Her eyes were sealed shut, her lips wouldn't close, and I couldn't even see her nostril. I wanted to cry every time I looked at her. We met with the consulting surgeon the next day. His comment was she was doing "fine" and wanted to see her back in a week. He told us to call him if the redness worsened or she got a fever. By nightfall, both had occured. She shot up to 102-degrees and the redness covered her whole face and neck. I called the doctor in a panic, whose angered-I-bothered him advice was, "if I'm so worried about it, take her to an E.R." As it turns out, Dr. Asshole is also outside of our doctor network, so even though he was referred by the E.R., HAP will not cover it.
We found a second plastic surgeon who immediately upon seeing Kyleigh wanted to remove the sutures. For 20 horrible, horrible minutes, I had to lay on top of her and pin her down while the doctor pulled-free all 8 stitches and proceeded to forceably push and squeeze several vile tablespoons of puss and liquid infection from her face. For 20 minutes tears rolled down my face as Kyleigh is screaming, "please please, he's hurting me, stop, daddy, stop." I swear to God, I will never forget that for as long as I live.
Despite the anguish, Kyleigh's face all but returned within minutes of sitting her back up. Still not back to normal, but at least I could see her tear-welled eyes again.
After that we spent all last week and well into this one seeing the plastic surgeon and various pediatricians to hopefully correct the damage and battle the infection, which had grown violently out of control.
My step-father was so angry with the dog that he had it put to sleep that very night, which as it turns out was doubly-rash since in his haste, the veterinarian neglected to quarantine the animal first, which is customary for rabies observation. Comet was cremated less than 48 hours after the attack, and now the County is investigating the Vet's office for breaking protocol, but more seriously, pressing my wife and I to vaccinate Kyleigh for rabies since they cannot disprove the dog had it.
Comet had been vaccinated for rabies his whole life, but there are cases of animals carrying the virus even when protected against it. Worse, my parents live in a heavily forested area where Comet had regular contact with wildlife, particularly the four species who carry it most: skunks, bats, foxes and opossum. Even though there is only a very slim chance he had the disease, no one can say he didn't.
Rabies is a brain disease which cannot be treated once symptoms appear. It is 100% fatal. The vaccinations for it are extremely painful and lengthy, requiring a series of booster shots to the abdomen and face, the doctor says. The vaccination is essentially a poison, and the nausea it invokes has been compared to chemotherapy. This is not an option to be taken lightly, as a doctor will not request it unless absolutely necessary.
Because of the County's fears, no doctor will tell us not to give the vaccinations to her. And without Comet, no one can say whether she was exposed to rabies in the first place.
Kyleigh has had another appointment with the surgeon at 1:45pm today. He said the infection is clearing up well, but still no ground on the rabies scare. I've taken off work for the last week to get things taken care of, but we're not done yet.
It's not the best update I've ever posted, but I wanted to post something.
Well I do hope the best for you, sending my regards to ya and yer daughter. v.v
I even got a three part series of booster rabies shots before leaving the country last year and they were (once again) in the arm. :)
If they're telling you she needs them in the stomach, I'd seek a second opinion.
I know I am not a doctor, but I would say, the dog probably didn't have rabies. It was 14 years old, and when people or animals age, their tolerance level does change. He was probably just very upset, possibly in pain.. maybe even confused due to age.
I also suggest getting an attorney and dealing with Dr. Asshole.
Again, I hope your daughter recovers from this.
The reason for my thoughts being with your parents is that, for whatever reason that Comet reacted the way he did, it is always hard to part with a family pet, especially under such circumstances.
I hope you all have better luck soon, I'm just glad that you've managed to take quick action for your daughter's welfare.
With regard to the doctor's decision, I must play devil's advocate and say that we are all human and all make mistakes. That doesn't make what he did right and proper, but if he's as human as the rest of us, he'll be feeling considerable amounts of guilt and probably even questioning his professional career. Discretion is, after all, the better part of valour. I'm sure you'll deal with this in the mature attitude I've come to expect from you, my only regret is that there is nothing more than these words that I can offer you.
Some times I hate animals. But at least your both fine now : )
Regarding your dog however, I haven't been around dogs long enough as I've lived with cats my whole life thanks to the fact that my family doesn't want to get a dog because my mom thinks they're stupid. Whuch I find is total and utter bullshit. I'm not so sure if you'll recover emotionally because now your dog is dead because of the attack.
Meanwhile, you should sue Dr. Asshole Doctor for being a complete douche. I've noticed that doctors nowadays don't seem to care for their patients much anymore like they used to. But if it were me, I'd stab him ten thousand times with a rusted box-cutting knife blade, hoping he'll die of some obscure rust disease or something.
Please keep us posted
Something similar happened to my brother (2 years older) when we were kids . . .
120 stitches in the face, and now you would never know: so there is hope.
Iām terrified to imagine the living hell you and your wife are going though right now . . .
Just know that I and others are pulling for you two and Kyleigh.
My love and prayers for Kyleigh.
Hang in there kross,
John
That poor child.
Sometimes dogs just snap and no one knows why, it was a shame it had to happen. My heart goes out to you and your family, and I hope your daughter recovers from this without too much mental and emotional damage. With today's science and whatnot she will likely recover without too much physical damage (hopefully), but it's the other stuff that is longer lasting.
I'm sorry you have to go through this and that she does too; I don't pray, but my thoughts will be with you.
Take care.
The poor thing needs alot of time now. Such thing is really traumatizing.
I got bit from a dog on an age of 2years. Although it wasn't nearly as fatal as it sounds with your child.
Best wishes to Kyleigh.
The first plastic surgeon needs a swift kick in the balls. Like...duh. I understand that in general the move would probably be to reattach the skin, but as you said, with a bite wound you shouldn't ever do that.
May things start looking up for you all.