First ER Visit

We were wondering when this event would take place in our lives, as Avery is very daring, athletic and fearless. Sometimes a bad combination. Our little girl got bit by a dog! No, this dog wasn't a wandering dog on the loose trying to find a victim. The dog was actually safely in its own FENCED IN backyard. Avery was the one that approached the dog. She went up to the fence because she heard a dog barking and there happened to be a perfect hole for a two-year-old finger, and that dog took a chunk out! "Doggy SO mean!" As Avery says.

I was sitting on the couch, enjoying some quiet time, when Travis ran inside with an inconsolable Avery. There was blood all over! I grabbed her insurance card, some diapers and a bottle of milk and we were off to Children's Mercy ER. When we got there, the ER was very quiet. There were a lot of kids waiting, but they were all very happy (compared to Avery), so I was thinking for sure we would be triaged (not a word) right in. Well, we were, but just to get her vitals, then they sent us back to the waiting room because there were no available rooms.

Avery all of a sudden decided to be happy, and happy she was. She was loud and giggly and chatty. With that attitude, we waited for over an hour to be put in a room! I know this sounds bad, but I kind of wanted to poke her in her wound so she would cry really hard, and they would admit us. Like I said, the ER was full of happy kids, common logic meant that all the sad kids were being seen.

We finally got in, and a resident came into the room. You could totally tell that he was green because he was asking Avery questions that she of course couldn't answer. He also asked her to take a deep breath in. Um.... she's not even two, we are lucky if she doesn't eat her own boogies! After he looked at her wound, he looked at us and said, "uh, let me go and talk to my boss, and I'll be right back." He left, and I just looked at Travis and asked, "are you like this when you go to work?"

Another funny thing was, they were showing Clifford, you know, the big red dog on the TV. You'd think Avery would be afraid of watching this, but she was really into it.

After they x-rayed, cleaned her up and decided she didn't need stitches, they gave us some antibiotics and a NARCOTIC for the pain. Man, its really easy to get those these days! We left the hospital 4 hours later, minus a fingernail and plus some growling stomachs. Wendy's fast food has never tasted better!

A lot of people have said that this experience is probably a good one for Avery because it will make her more cautious. Well, that next morning, we were outside, and our neighbor was walking her dog. Avery was so excited, she ran right over to the dog and pet him with her bandaged finger. I have a feeling there will be plenty more ER visits for us in the future! We love our girl.