My dog was attacked

Hey All,

I'm mostly writing this so I don't have to keep typing it out over and over again, but you are in no way obligated to read this if you don't want the details.

Yesterday, my friend Kimi and I were eating lunch in the grass of a park. I had Velma on her leash and in my lap. A young boy (8ish?) was approaching with his dog who seemed like he (I think it was a male dog but tbh I am not 100% sure) wanted to say hello to Velma. Before I could even say hi to the dog, the dog had Velma in his mouth. 

It took me and the adult owner of the dog several minutes to get Velma free. We punched and kicked the dog and the owner wrestled him. I got very scared when the young boy said "It's dead." While Velma was not in fact dead, she was severely injured. Once we got her free, I picked her up and moved her several yards away from the dog (the dog at this point was pinned to the ground by the full weight of his owner). I put pressure on her wound and then Kimi gave me a towel to keep putting pressure on the wound. Kimi called the police and a kind bystander (a woman) called Hyde Park Animal Hospital while another kind bystander (a man) helped to coach me to breath. The male bystander also checked on the owner (who I should say literally offered the shirt off his back if I needed it to put pressure on Velma's wound). The owner said that the focus shouldn't be on him right now. Also, at some point, the owner said that the dog was adopted (I believe somewhat recently).

After Kimi got off the phone, she ran to her car to pull around. The owner called his wife to come pick me up and take me to the hospital. I knew I'd take whichever car came first. Kimi came first and then I tried to pick Velma up. This must've caused her a lot of pain and she whipped around and bit my thumb pretty hard. I knew I'd eventually need help for it, but Velma was the priority. The kind lady bystander told me to wrap the towel around her head and after a few tries I managed to do it, pick Velma up, and get in Kimi's car.

Kimi rushed us to Hyde Park Animal Hospital and they took her from me. Unfortunately they told me that they couldn't help her that much because they were closing soon. But they did a loose bandage on her, called MedVet to refer her, gave Velma pain meds that MedVet suggested, and gave her antibiotics. They also gave me a muzzle to use in case Velma tried to bit me again. They just warned that the antibiotics might make her vomit so if she started to do that to take her muzzle off. They also gave me back Velma with the very bloody towel and Kimi and I were fairly confused as to why.

Kimi at this point had called my mom who went to meet us at MedVet and also informed my friends whom I had things scheduled with that they weren't happening. Kimi then drove us to MedVet which felt impossibly far away. I handed Velma over (I couldn't go in with her because of COVID) and then threw the towel out. My mom was already waiting for us so we updated her and I waited for a phone call from the vet (not for long, they are just doing it that way because of COVID). I told them to do anything and everything to save her, the price be damned (Velma has insurance for this exact thing but even if not, I would've given everything). Kimi then hugs me and leaves me in the hands with my mom.

After giving MedVet all the information they needed, my mom drives me to the ER. On the way I call Velma's main vet for them to send MedVet her records. I have to go into the ER alone (again, COVID). They saw me right away. My heart rate was very high (I had at various times during this had trouble breathing, felt like I was going to blackout, and felt like I would vomit), but they still thought I was fine to go ahead and be seen for just the bite on my thumb. I had to soak it in saline for a while, get x-rays taken (turns out you get to ride in a wheelchair to the x-ray room even if it's just your thumb that was damaged), have disinfectant stuff sprayed into my wound (yikes this hurt), have my thumb irrigated (what an odd term), and then have it taped up a bit. I was also given a tetanus shot and a prescription for antibiotics.

Meanwhile, MedVet had called me a few times while I was in the ER and I had to call them back after I left. They went over all of the possible complications and told me that Velma may have sustained injury to her spinal cord. They also told me that she had a 60% chance of making it through the surgery without major complications. I still told them to do whatever it took and so Velma went into surgery.

After I got my antibiotics, I grabbed some stuff from my apartment and went to my parents' house because I was so shaken. As I got ready to take a bath (I still had dirt and blood on me) I got a call that Velma had come out of surgery. They told me that she was an incredibly lucky dog. The vet said that the bite missed most of her organs (some slight damage to her pancreas that was easily fixed and some bruising to the kidneys that was not life-threatening). They told me that while she wasn't out of the woods, things were looking promising. They also said that I would get an update in the morning, but that they would call me during the night if her condition worsened.

I am now waiting for the updated, but I didn't get any calls over night so that's a good sign.

Please keep Velma in your thoughts and/or prayers.

Love,

Velma's Loving Mom

(Prompt by me)