The End

  

...at least we hope this is the last of Bryce's injuries. They say they come in threes, as depressing as it is to think you always have to experience three we just don't need to experience more. Six weeks after he cut his arm I was in the exact location he had called before and my phone rang again. Bryce needed me to take him to the hospital because a dog had bitten his nose.

The dog had been hit by a car and they had just taken an xray of its pelvis. Because the dog was generally not friendly they had muzzled it. As Bryce leaned down and lifted it off the table it turned and bit through the end of the muzzle. Bryce's reaction was normal, he pulled it off his face and the bite tore through his nostril and the center part of his nose.

Stitching it back together was awful and he didn't even cry. They could lift up the entire end of his nose it was so deep. To numb it they gave him probably 20 or more shots inside the bite. Just imagine sticking a needle an inch deep in the end of your nose. The doctor kept apologizing and Bryce's whole body was flexing it hurt so bad. They even had to give him shots on the inside of his left nostril back into his face. He had 15 stitches I could count and 5 more inside his nose that would just dissolve.

Dr. Nielson has worked in the ER here for many years and we were so lucky he was there to stitch Bryce up! The first week it was healing was pretty miserable. It was swollen and hurt. The inside was really swollen so he couldn't breathe. He also had a weird reaction to the sulfur antibiotics and he was so sick. He was on call that weekend and had several calls he had to go on while feeling crappy. Poor guy was so exhausted. Since then it has been sore and itchy but much better. He actually healed really well. They say it can take up to a year for the scaring to finish healing and that using sunscreen is a big deal. Really, we are just gratefully that it didn't take the end of his nose completely off. And for good friends that help us in our crazy emergencies!