The "The Newest Battle Scar" Story

Latest battle scar for son Derek.

It was an ordinary day.  Just got a message from my oldest son Derek which displayed a photo of his newest accident he was involved in that day.  Seems he was playing, rather roughly I suppose, with his dog Julia when she hit him in the mouth with her front paw and cut a nice gash through his upper lip with her toenail.  Julia is a rather large Louisiana Catahoula Leopard dog and packs quit a bit of energy into her playing, thus the cut.  He realized the severity of the accident and called his family doctor to ask if they could repair the cut for him.  Since it was in an area that was tough to do, they told him to head to the emergency room at the local hospital.  There they examined it and told him he would need a plastic surgeon to do the repair properly.  He would have a wait of a few hours before the surgeon was available.  He asked why the ER doctor couldn't stitch it and they said the ridge of the lip requires someone trained in that type of repair.  He told them he had a large scar on his head from playing baseball, another on his neck from having mono and various other ones on his body from past animal accidents and he didn't care what it looked like when it was finished.  So …. the ER doctor stitched it for him.  Needed three stitches on the outside and one on the inside to repair it.  The shot that was placed in his lip to numb it was the worst part of the ordeal.  His note attached to the photos he sent read: Boy in next cubicle can't poop.  I'll take this anytime to not being able to poop. He is recovering nicely and the lip will look great when it heals.   He was questioned about how it happened and he told them he was playing with his dog and she caught him with her nail.  

Waiting in the ER for repairs.  That gotta hurt!

They said they are required to report all dog bites to the state.  He explained to them one more time that it wasn't a bite, but happened with her paw.  Didn't matter and the next day the state called asking about shots the dog had and that she would have to be kept under watch for ten days to make sure she doesn't have rabies.  Once again he explained to them what had happened and that she is the family pet and not a stray dog.  I'm sure his explanation isn't going to be the end of this.  Will be interesting to see what happens in the next week or two.  Derek isn't a stranger to the ER.  They knew our names at the ER when our three children were young.  Derek's sister hit him on the head with a metal play cash register which required a trip to the ER.  When Derek was a senior in high school he was pitching in the championship baseball game and after winning it was mobbed by his teammates.  The catcher's mask caught him in the head and knocked him down, cutting his head open.  I can remember running onto the field and seeing blood coming from his ear.  Scared me, until the trainer said it was running down his head and into his hear from the head cut.  He saw a plastic surgeon for that accident.  So, as he told the ER doctor, he doesn't care how it is patched, as long as it is done quickly.  Another battle scar will not be noticed on this guy. I can hardly wait for the next phone message displaying his next ER visit.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.