Updating for Future Remembrances

These past few weeks have been a whirl-wind for my family. I've come to rely on my blog as personal journal and have been lack in adding any new entries. So the following might contain gory details of what has transpired lately. If you have a weak stomach, you might want to skip this.

Two weeks ago, our Church conducted Vacation Bible School. On the very first day we had record numbers of attending kids, a great thing for a small country Church. I led the Opening Worship and taught the 10 and up class (we averaged 13 in my class). It was turning into a fabulous week for all involved.

Until Wednesday.

Our VBS started at 6:00 and ran until 9:00 which meant that Brian had to leave work early everyday and rush to the house, pick us up by 4:30 so that we could get to the Church by 5:30 and get all our gear ready for the night. By the time we got home in the evenings it was around 10:00 and we were EXHAUSTED!

Wednesday night was going to be our lazy night. Brian had taken Thursday off so that we could stay at the Church, get to bed early, and sleep in on Thursday. We were going to play on Thursday and just enjoy being together as a family, all 6 of us, Tex included.

The house we stay in at Thomastown is right beside the Church, with a huge field directly behind the house. We've attached a running line for Tex going from the back porch of the house to the field that allows him the freedom of roaming (albeit in a straight line). Our Recreation for VBS is also in that field. Wednesday we had attached Tex to the runner ~ Brian was in charge of rec and was going to keep an eye on Tex (plus Tex loves watching the kids play ~ he's like the mascot of the Church).

My group was the last one in rec on Wednesday night. We were out there from 8:00 to 8:30 and had a great time playing. After our rec. time was over, we went into the Church for snack. Brian came in as well and was going to leave Tex out on the runner for a little longer, nothing unusual, we've done that many times. We had not been inside for 15 min. when a Church member came running inside to get Brian ~ Tex was being attacked. This man had just stepped outside to make a phone call and heard something screaming, he thought it was a child. He went around the corner and saw a bull mix on Tex. By the time Brian got to Tex, the bull had Tex on his side, had one paw on Tex's side, and his mouth on Tex's neck trying to pull it off. Brian saw red and charged.

I had heard that the bull was over with Tex but didn't think it was bad, I seriously thought that Brian was going to take care of it...we've had problems with that dog before. Not two min. later a lady came to get me saying that it was bad and that I needed to get over there before my kids saw it.

I took of running not sure what I would find. Brian had grabbed Tex and put him in this big laundry room at the house so he could get some help from a few men. I can not tell you the amount of blood that was in that room when I opened the door. It was a literal blood scene. I don't know why Tex wasn't in shock from the massive amounts of blood he was loosing.

We made some phone calls, wrapped Tex in towels, and jumped in the car. By now it was 9:00 and we had found a vet in Kosciusko that agreed to meet us and look at Tex. My poor kids had to walk into the house, see the gore, and just wait. Thank goodness for my friend who stayed with them and cleaned up the mess.

We met the vet who was surprised that Tex wasn't already dead. There were numerous DEEP puncture wounds on the right side of his neck and the inside of his right ear had been shredded to pieces. When the vet would put a stick of gauze in Tex's ear to find where all the blood was coming from, the stick would come out of his neck. I am so grateful for that man, he worked on Tex for 2 hours before we left. If Tex lived through the night he might just have a chance. We decided that since there was still a lot of bleeding, and Tex was sedated, we would drive back to our own home and take care of him there.

By the time we drove back to get the kids and our stuff, and then drove home, it was after midnight and we were exhausted. I put everyone to bed, made a pallet for Tex in the living room (we've got tiled concrete so clean up is easy), and then started my nursing career. Tex came home from the vet with a drain tube and open wounds that leaked, no poured. My washing machine and dryer worked over time that first night.

So, from Wednesday night until Monday morning, someone had to stay with Tex. We needed to make sure he didn't scratch at any of the puncture wounds and rip them open further, keep an eye on the drain tube in his neck, and clean up behind him whenever he left the pallet. It was a family act of love. I would usually carry Tex, or walk with him in case he couldn't make it outside; the boys were on "blood detail", having to clean and sanitize the floor from anything that dripped out; and Meg was on scratching detail, making sure he wasn't opening any new holes. Definitely gross, something that not all people understand ~ Tex is just a dog after all, but we did anything and everything because Tex is a member of our family.

This past Monday the drain tube was removed but the puncture wounds are still open and leaking, though not as bad. We took Tex to our vet the Thursday after the attack so they could begin treatment. It was their advice that none of the wounds be closed, that they be allowed to stay open and drain out instead of keeping all that fluid in and risking possible infection. Tex is more mobile now, still not eating much of anything, there's still swelling around his right jaw, and he's lost hearing in his right ear. The vet is talking possible reconstructive surgery in his ear because the ear canal is destroyed. They want to see how well the ear is going to heal before we take that step, though.

Here it is Saturday, a week and four days since this ordeal began. I would post some of the pics I took but they are definitely too gory. We've always said that Tex was more cat than dog. If that's the case then he's about out of lives. This is the same dog that almost went blind in one of his eyes due to a thorn scratching it. This is also the same dog that was run over ~ ON HIS HEAD ~ and lived. This is also the same dog that smiles when he's with his family, that likes to sing, "I love you" with his mom, that loves to go riding in the truck with his dad, and will spend a little of each night making the rounds to check on his kids.

Praise the Lord that our friend went to make that phone call and heard Tex.

Praise the Lord that it wasn't a child that was attacked.

Praise the Lord that we found a vet that would see us after hours.

Praise the Lord that Tex is still with us.

Praise the Lord!