Scar Face

So it's Micah's turn in the ER. The story behind his cheek has been an emotional one for the family resulting in hurt feelings on both sides. The long and short of it is that he was 'attacked' by one of Grandma Bowen's dogs.

We took off for Colorado Thursday the 26 and spent an enjoyable evening and short day with friends of the family. Friday Afternoon brought us to Vail to spend the rest of the day with Jeremiah's sister. the kids played with dad and aunt while I baked the several cakes that would make up the surprise birthday cake for Jeremiah's mom. Saturday early we packed up and headed to grandparents Bowen. Jeremiah's mom had no idea that we were coming or even in Colorado so that was the first surprise. We spent the day with her keeping her occupied while Jeremiah's sister and about 30 other people congregated at the house for a surprise birthday party for her. The party went beautifully and wound down around 7:30pm. It was dark and the rest of the family that was there: Jeremiah's; brother and his girlfriend, sister and her husband, Uncle, grandmother ( the kids great grandmother) and of coarse mother and father, along with our family obviously were all hanging out on the porch ironically talking about the possibility of it collapsing and the horror stories surround such an event. Jaydon had passed out on grandma's lap, and Micah was mixing in between everyone. Grandma asked Micah for a hug, which he obliged and upon step back out of the hug he tripped over the dog lying in the middle of the porch.

Not only did he fall and hit his head on the porch but the dog for some reason beyond comprhension decided that the small boy was a threat and turn and attacked his face. Micah of course screamed and tried to push the dog away but it took one the several adults to get the dog off. The whole thing was such a blur I couldn't tell you who reacted how. Dad scooped up Micah and took him inside to stop the bleeding. Once the wound was cleaned it became clear how Micah was hurt.

The dog had bit Micah across the face leaving a punture wound on his left cheek, two marks above each of his eyebrows and another mark near his eye on the right cheek.

Needless to say Jeremiah and I were livid. To this day I still don't think Jeremiah's mother fully understands how as parents we feel that our son was hurt by her animal. Heartfelt apologies were made but no action was taken aside from a slight bop on the nose of the dog responsible. No one there besides Jeremiah's sister and her husband grasped the severity of the situation, and that in itself infuriated Jeremiah and I even more.

Sunday Morning 8/29/10

It was decided that night that the wound did not need stitches, so we did not head directly to the ER that night. The following morning upon examination dad and I felt that it deserved a doctors check for fear of worsening infection.

Jeremiah met with friend of the family 'uncle' Gil, (or Gilbert as Micah affectionately prefers to call him) and took him to Memorial Hospital, ironically the same hospital Micah was born at. The doctors prescribed antibiotics and cleaned it really, really well. They gave us instructions on how to care for it.

Tuesday Evening 8/31/10

It is still on the mend going on two months later and will probably scar. It is still makes us sick to think how close he came to possibly losing an eye. As I said it is still a sore subject between Jeremiah and I, and his mom and dad, and isn't really resolved as to how we are to protect against this happening again. Their solution is to just not have the kids up there until they turn 18 and can chose for themselves. Yeah not really a solution considering grandpa is yet to visit the kids here in NE and grandma has been here once in the four years that we have lived here. Other solutions have been offered to them but they are' unsatisfactory. It's hard not to feel like the dog is more important than the grandkids when simple issues can not be solved. But as is life, all families have their dysfunctions.