And a visit to Urgent Care ends it

 

Another front comes through.  Before this one hit, Ember and her hu-mom got a walk in, watching the cloud bank approaching.  It held off for a little while longer, as hu-mom prepared and consumed her own breakfast, then Ember put herself into her den, mom gave her a cookie, and we both got a nap as the rumbles went overhead, and the drops fell steadily!

The coolish "Fall preview" appears to be drawing to a close and we'll have a HOT weekend ahead.

Wednesday, we got a second walk in before it got sticky in the afternoon.  We went for a ride in the car to get Dexter (the car) a drink, and a treat for mom and pup.  The puppy napped on Mom's lap giving a warm sense of peace to the house.

Public school starts here tomorrow (August 11th) for some of the kids.  FGC doesn't start until Wednesday.  I will be doing a "grandma visit" to FGC between other things on my schedule, because he'll be hanging out at home while DIL does a work from home day, the last two days before his own school start date.  Other Grandma gets Monday; I get Tuesday for a visit.  It's not really babysitting, because "mom" will be there, but she has work to do, and it gives FGC something to do as well.  I'm thinking let him teach me something, for example, or play a game that he likes.

I did not sleep well Wednesday night.  I planned to nap on Thursday while Ember was in day care, and I did a little, but I also puttered around gathering the trash that goes to the curb Thursday nights.  

Anyway, the challenging weather was not over.  Early Saturday morning (4-5 a.m. hour) we got belted with high winds and rain.  I didn't get up until after 5, and it was still raining in the 8 a.m. hour.  The wind had blown over the patio chairs I have on the deck, blocking the sliding door. It had also blown a trash can down to the street. The chair I had out on the front paver patio got not just blown across the yard but also broken.

As the sun rose, we had "red sky in the morning" (sailors take warning!)  Sirens in the distance accompanied this view to the East.

Center of the city lost power for a while, out here in the suburbs, we had the lights flash but did not lose power even long enough to reset the microwave clock.

Ember was grumpy about the weather but did get out to take care of business during one break.  She was missing her morning walk.  She started getting into mischief while I was fixing my own breakfast.  About 3/4 of the way through my bowl of oatmeal, she started stripping the slip covers off the couch and attaching the "new" couch cushion, and that tripped MY triggers.

I was not able to distract her and made the mistake of trying to intervene and get it away from her.  OUCH!  Managed to get her calmed down, but not before a huge bloodstain was blooming on my left sleeve.  

I got Ember outside and closed the door while I went upstairs to clean the bite and bandage it.  I was amazed at the depth of the wound.  I could see my muscles working under the flap of skin that was torn in a corner shape.  "Fascinating, I get an anatomy lesson right here," floated through my brain, followed by, "this is going to need stitches".  Fast forward to the process of getting Ember calm enough to cooperate in going in the crate.

Aside here:  I don't know how many of you are TikTok followers, but there is one doctor on there whose comic content came to mind.  Dr. Glaucomflecken.  He has a hilarious video about rural medicine and the farmer.  I was that farmer, as before I presented myself at Urgent Care I put the couch back together, and rebuilt the X-Pen around it.  

As I was getting Ember into her crate, my phone had a voice talking at me.  Alicia's voice.  While I was putting the couch back together and getting Ember settled, I had butt-dialed her!  Serendipity, right?  I quickly told her what had happened, and that I was headed for urgent care, so at least one human would know that Ember was alone at home while I sought treatment.

Here's my one handed job of patching it up.  Took the photo while waiting at urgent care.  I didn't bother with photos of the underlying wound, even though it was indeed fascinating.  It was "of medical interest" according to the second doctor who came in just to compare with his stitching job of the morning.  With all the fallen branches and such, Urgent Care was an interesting place Saturday morning.  Guys who got in a hurry with their mini chain saws, shall we say?

The lovely PA who came to treat me started out with "I don't normally suture dog bites, but... in this case..."  8 stitches, in the end.  Prescription for antibiotics.  Instructions for pain management were the normal OTC things.  She numbed the area well before stitching.  That, too, was fascinating to me.  I guess I was mostly just interested in the whole process.

Even though it was a very warm day, I wore long sleeves over the final bandage all day, to avoid having Ember drawn to it!  I took this photo when heading out on my own to try to pick up the prescription for antibiotics (but the pharmacy closed at 5 on Saturday and they texted me at 4:58 that it was ready).  

They did poke me with a tetanus booster, since I could not remember exactly how long ago the last one was.

In the aftermath, I came home, took Ember out for a walk, and we settled in for the day.  Some training "on the fly" related to manners while I'm fixing food.  

We both napped a bit.  Don't you just love that dogs live in the present?  No memory/guilt associated, no grudges... appeasement face that we humans call "she's sorry", but she doesn't wallow in it.

Final outing of the day was to get batteries for the TV remote, so I could put on her puppy calming music for bedtime.  At last call we sat outside on the deck and soaked in the peace before the next round of storms.   

Seeing that the forecast included a storm warning with up to 70 mile an hour gusts, I went back downstairs after tucking Ember in and moved the deck chairs into the garage.  I spent a couple of hours from about 1:30 to 3:30 on the couch watching the weathermen covering the front and the various weather warnings as they swept through.  Saturday night was not as severe as Friday night's storms, but more people lost power.

Got the prescriptions filled Sunday morning.  We get to try Clindamycin, and Cipro, to avoid penicillin family, and we know I'm allergic to.  

I wrapped the dressing in saran wrap and took a shower.  Felt MUCH more human.  I'm on my second dose of Clindamycin now, and will take the third and the first dose of Cipro with supper at 6 p.m.  I put reminders on my phone so I can keep the four times a day and twice a day schedule on track.  It's only for a week!

I have not taken much in the way of pain meds, but I did down one Advil a short while after my first pill, as I had a bit of a headache.  Nothing since.  

Life goes on and is good!  Keep Sparking, friends!