Very Scary Day

On Tuesday I learned how hard it can be to be a mom. I took Madison with me to do my visiting teaching. While we were there she got bit in the face by a boxer dog. It was a horrifying experience for both her and me.

I was sitting on the couch visiting with the sister and her dog ran into the laundry room and Madi ran after the dog shutting the door behind her. Within seconds of hearing the door shut I heard a loud scream from Madison and ran to grab her. Her face was gushing with blood and I wasn't sure what had happened since the dog did not bark. I heard a loud bang and thought maybe she hit her face on something. I grabbed a towel to put on her face to stop the bleeding and saw one of the cuts on her face and realized that it was a dog bite. I called an ambulance and we were rushed to the hospital where they brought in a plastic surgeon to stitch her up. She has some pretty big stitches on her face, but it really could have been so much worse. The surgeon was able to stitch up the cuts very well and he predicts no permanent scaring. She has a cut on each cheek as well as under her nose (which went through to the mouth affecting her gums, but luckily not the teeth). She did not suffer any nerve damage and luckily the bite was not near her eyes which could have been much worse.

She is such a resilient little girl, and has bounced back very quickly. In fact just moments after the doctor finished stitching her up and she started to come out of the sedation they put her under, he got his camera out to take a picture, and she smiled at him and said "cheese." That made me feel a lot better! In fact if it weren't for the cuts on her face you would never know that she went through. She was back to her old tricks the next day, climbing on everything and running around the house and everywhere we went. She will get her stitches out on Tuesday and from there we will lather her with medication until the scars are gone!

I am so grateful for the support that we have received through all of this. We have such great neighbors and friends who sincerely care and have been there for us. It is just nice to have someone to talk to about it. Madison is a loved little girl and we will always remember the love and concern shown to her.

David took some pictures with his phone the right after she got stitched up and then today so you can see the progress.

This is the night we got home from the hospital.
Here she is on this morning, showing us her best "cheese." She is already doing much better and we are comforted by her continued improvement.