Thank you all for your out pouring of love and support yesterday. As most of your know my mom was attacked by a dog while jogging in our neighborhood yesterday morning. Mom is here with Nana who is 92. She brought Nana down to see the boys and baby Jane and to enjoy some sun. They planned to be here from Wednesday evening to Monday morning. Saturday was a rainy morning but typical Mom she wanted to run. She got up early and slipped out the front door. We live in a safe neighborhood that is ideal for walking and running. We are a gated community which I always feel keeps the road traffic down and is nice for all the children who ride bikes and play in the cul de sacs. Our community also has rules regarding leashing pets.
Mom was almost to our home at about 6:30 Saturday morning when a neighbor raised their garage door and allowed their two large dogs to run outside without leashes. Mom told me that one of the dogs, a Pitbull, ran across the street straight toward her. Mom slowed to a walk and the dog attacked her. She must have put her right arm up in a defensive position because that is where she sustained the worst of her injuries. Mom was screaming but we didn’t hear her. The dog pulled her to the ground and bit her face catching her lower lip. At some point Mom remember the neighbor lady who let the dogs out throwing her bathrobe over the dog trying to wrestle the dog off of Mom. Mom says the dog’s jaws were so strong she was unable to break free. Finally the neighbor lady gained some control of the dog and told mom to run. Somehow my mom rain to our home and into our front door. She was screaming and covered in blood. She was shaking and going into shock. I feel nauseous remembering this moment because I grabbed her trying to figure out what happened. She just kept sobbing, “Vicki a dog attacked me, I thought I was going to die”. She was in horrible pain. Those of you who know my know she is a tough cookie and doesn’t cry much or show pain. I knew right away she was in trouble.
Mike called 911. I tried to put some pressure on her arm but she was in too much pain for me to do that. Her mouth was bleeding everywhere. I couldn’t put too much pressure on that because it looked so ground up. I just tried to hold her and calm her while we waited for the paramedics. At some point I ran to a neighbor to ask if there was a doctor on the street who might help. I also didn’t know if the dog was still out. Tom, bless him, was so kind to me as I stood shaking at his door step in just my night shirt. Mike stood up the street waiting for the paramedics as the 911 operator said it would be easier for them to find our house if he was there to flag them in. I have to say the Valley Center Paramedics were wonderful. Amazingly, they all looked like children. When did I get old? They did a very quick professional and kind job with Mom and with me. I ran to get some clothes and went into the ambulance with Mom. Eli rushed over to take care of Nana and the kids. Mike followed in our car.
While were were going to the hospital mom was getting an IV and some morphine and (I think) oxygen. She was so pale and crying out from the pain. They had to cut her running top off her arm in order to better work on her wounds. We went to Palomar Hospital. Not the fanciest hospital on the planet but they got the job done. The worst part was watching mom be in such pain and be so confused. She kept saying “Vicki I can’t believe it. I just keep seeing that dog coming at me.” She also said several times, “What if it had been one of the boys? It would have killed a child.”
After they determined that her arm was not broken, the on call hand specialist/plastic surgeon was called. Over the phone from his car he gave instructions for the ER staff to prep Mom’s arm. Not a fun experience as they had to wash out her wounds. I won’t go into too much detail but I was in with her the whole time and her arm looked like meat that had been torn apart. The surgeon came in and gave her more then 20 shots of a numbing medicine. That was tough because those shots went directly into the torn areas and inside and outside of her mouth. Then the surgeon (who the nurses described as an “artist”) went to work. He made the whole area in the ER treatment room a mini surgical room. He said to me, “you can stay if you won’t faint.” and I said “I won’t faint”. I was able to sit in a chair at the enge of the treatment room. He took his time and was kind enough to answer my questions. He wore a special pair of glasses with long magnifying lenses on them. I asked how he could get the tissue together and he said it was like a jig saw puzzle he finds the ragged pieces and puts them back together. It was impressive. He was able to give mom her lip back and pull the wound into a fairly straight line. Her are was stitched all over from the elbow to the writ in the front and back. Several hours later, when it was done we were all exhausted except for the surgeon who looked pleased with himself.
The rest of the story involves lots of pain, a trip back to the hospital in the evening for more IV fluids and more pain meds. The surgeon says this will be a slow healing process for mom and it will be painful. She is here with us for awhile more. We will be reworking flights ect. today. The doctors tell us the biggest worry is infection. She has been pumped full of very stone antibiotics but they say we can only wait and see. The surgeon will see her on Tuesday. If she has an infection he says it’s “a whole other ball game”. The nurse told me Mom’s body is “fighting” all the bacteria right now. She is not able to use her right arm much but she can wiggle her fingers which is excellent. She will not be able to care for Nana for some time. This will be difficult as she does all of Nana’s care including showering and dressing her and taking her too all her appointments. Jeff and I are working on a plan for that now. Mom is home now with us. She looks better today. She has more color in her face and is sipping Ginger Ale. I’ll update on Facebook after the surgeon visit on Tuesday. She is having some problems with flashbacks from the attack. I figure this will all take some time to recover from.
Thank you all so very much for your support. Mom thanked me for staying with her at the hospital and I reminded her that this is what families do. We care for each other.
If you have questions feel free to email or text me. I banned Mom from her phone but she may get back to it today 🙂
Much love,
Vicki
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