I had a hard time getting the referral to see the wound care specialist who gave me the medihoney. I think it is an issue with regard to doctors who don't want a nurse telling them how to treat a wound. So, basically I didn't really get a referral at all, but the wound care nurse is a friend of mine, and she just gave me a sample to try.

I still need to do the dressing change, it is only supposed to be changed daily. She put it on yesterday afternoon, and when I got home, I undressed the upper layers and found that the medihoney had displaced and was no longer in the wound. Replaced it and secured it better, and so I would like to give it more time today before I change it, since it has not been truly in place for an adequate amount of time.

Just a note for anyone who might consider using honey, this is NOT storebought honey, so please do not use honey from the store on a wound. Even medicinal honey is not necessarily formulated for use on wounds. A consumer can purchase medihoney, but it is pricy. However, if it speeds up wound healing, then the cost probably overrides the time involved in healing wounds with less expensive alternatives.

I heard good things about honey ...

I also heard very good things about maggots in wounds!! :-) :-) :-)

LOL

Sarah

Glad you were able to manage this challenging issue of getting your healthcare needs met ...

It is not necessarily an easy thing to do, I do know. Yah that you had this friend who could help! :-)

Sarah

lol maggots! That is true, as well. I have not seen them used, personally, but there is definitely some science behind that! I think I will stick with the honey.

LOL.

Honey is so much more appealing isn't it? :-)

I saw a video of maggots eating a wound. Shudder. But the maggots left the healthy skin and muscles untouched and ate only the decaying or decomposing parts. So by the time they finished cleaning it up, it looked so different.

so, If it was life or death, I'd do it, though ...

Sarah

Well, life and death, or loss of limb, I would do it if I had too... Glad that I don't have to worry about that! Although, a week ago I was very concerned when the wound was opened up and I saw all of the necrotic (dead) tissue. SCARY!

Did you actually have to pay money to get treated in the hospital for a dog bite! I always get so shocked when I hear about US healthcare.
Sure, it looks a bit more glamorous than our free/tax funded hospitals here, judging from TV.... but to ask a sick person to cough up before treating them....!
Are some hospitals more expensive than others, so you have to choose the "level" of care based on your finances or which insurance you bought?
How much did the treatment cost?

I haven't received the bills yet, but hospital care is expensive. I do have insurance, but there should not be anything for my insurance to pay as long as they have a liability policy to cover this. I have had to pay for my medication, but o should be able to get reimbursed for that.

Hospitals vary with regard to what they charge, despite offering comparable services. It is a crazy, broken system that needs repair.

YET, the social system of Britain and Canada is NOT the way to go.
My Wife is from Britain and her mom at 80 is in that system.
And I know several people, two more I met today, who left Canada and a lot of the reason is the gov provided health care.

P.S. The TAX to pay for it in Britain is about 55%!
Your take-home pay after all taxes is only 45%.

John - your information about taxes in the UK are not correct. I live there (normally, not at the moment) and am in the higher tax range. It does not add up to the figure you give. The tax is 20% up to a certain figure, and then 40 on everything above that, and a bit more for the top 5% high income earners and those with a large personal fortune. The UK is still considered a tax haven by many other European nationalities.`

However, you are right that the NHS does not always treat old people as fast as it should, and there is no luxury standard on food or equipment.
You usually have to share a room. In Sweden you get your own room or share with only one person, but the deor is a bit dated, and it does not look like a hotel room, the way it does in a private hospital. The food is not great.

I have heard that there is "horror" stories from British hospitals in American media like Fox News. I just really want to set the record straight.
This is surely angled information, with an agenda! You'd have to look very, very hard to find anyone in the UK who wants to replace the National Health Service with anything resembling the US system. I have never even heard such an opinion expressed. Even the most dyed-in-the-wool Tories support the NHS. There is of course room for improvement within the NHS.

But this system guarantees nobody will ever have to sell their house, get into debt or worry in the least about hospital bills.
We get the treatment that we need from helpful and committed medical staff, but sans the extra touches you might get with a privately run services. You will not be treated like a customer but as a citizen.

There ARE private hospitals and insurances for those who want them. You CAN pay your way if you want, so it is not the USSR...
In the UK, private health care comes as a perk with most jobs that I had, but I would not worry overly if it did not.
I forgot to mention the fact that I had private insurance to my regular NHS Dr the one time I could have used it, and got an appointment for to do a rather sophisticated procedure in the local hospital a fortnight later.
I called the Dr and explained, and he said I would have ended up with the exact same surgeon performing the surgery, no faster, only at a different (less accomplished but more pleasant) hospital, under the private plan.
So I did not bother changing.

There would be a REVOLUTION in the UK if there was any notion that free healthcare would cease - it is unthinkable.
In Sweden, you have to pay medical fees up to about USD 150 a year, and medicines to the same level - so it does not become free until you paid that sum.
These prices are completely symbolic and not related to the real cost at all. It's supposed to deter people from going to the Dr unnecessarily and make sure they turn up to appointments.

I just stayed in a Swedish hospital for one night, when I had Sarcoidosis and went to the emergency room in panic because I did not know what was wrong.
I forgot to pay when I left, so they sent me the bill which was for about USD 10. It must have cost more than that to process the silly payment....

Anyway, I would not dream to suggest how the USA should run its internal affairs, it's 100% the business of the American people, but I am telling you - practically everyone in Europe is horrified at your system, particularly reading about people and families that are financially ruined because of illness, or refused treatment for economical reasons.

If you subscribe to the idea that a society is judged by how it treats thre weakest members, then you don't get much weaker than being seriously ill and in need of care.

@Cranberrycat
I just think this is a really terrible thing to happen to a person when visiting friends.
If they haven't even called to ask how you are and apologise then I wouldn't say they are very nice people...
I can see why you don't want to sue them, and that you are only interested in getting back the money you lost. That's commendable.
But what happened is more than a person should have to put up with in the name of preserving good relations.
It must have been a psychologically very unpleasant thing too - hope you have not developed a fear of dogs etc.
Lots of people don't bother using a lead when walking their dog... and the dog jumps on people. It's usually nice, but what if 1 in 100 attack you instead, like this pitbull did.
Scary!

Thanks, Hannah, for the update.
My data was based on my wife, who has not lived there in a number of years.
(She still has her British citizenship and her mom and sister are still there.
Though her sister moved to Ireland because she was not getting enough or good care for her MS.)

Thanks Hannah for that info, very interesting!

In the US, everyone has access to healthcare, just not at all levels. Anyone can go to the ER and be treated, and it is against the law to ask about payment until after the patient's condition has stabilized. The big issue is not really access to healthcare, but rather access to insurance. I have insurance, I am lucky. But not all insurance is the same, coverage differs from plan to plan.

I don't really know if I will be scared of dogs just because of this incident. I will be wary of big dogs, but I just hope the next dog that wants to bite me gives me some warning!

Update, saw the doc again today. Still some concern for infection, so they are extending my antibiotics once again. Swelling and redness are way down, but still somewhat of an issue, can't wear my shoes, etc. My wound is healing but some slough in the bottom, so will need to work more diligently at cleaning it out. The others are closed, and the largest of the closed puncture wounds seems to be more concerning to the doctor than the others.

And, I still have discomfort in my ankle with range of motion, flexion and extension. I think I am more concerned about this than the doctor is! I worry a lot about potential infection that is brewing on my tendons. But, he says it is just the tissue inflammation.

Surprisingly, being on the antibiotics for 2 1/2 weeks already, the side effects of them have not been an issue. I had been taking a probiotic, but I actually was feeling worse taking it, so I have stopped it for a few days.

Doc said I could get back on my bike, so at least that is making me a happy camper!

Well, then congrats on enough progress to ride again!
Oh, when I can Hike again.
No worries, its hot, and I won't worry about it until the Fall when I really start to hike, again, anyway.
Mostly just kayak, now, a few bike rides on the rare cooler days.
Chiro says healing of Piriformis muscle is slow, so not worried - yet! -- lol
Still can't believe all this trouble from sitting in an airplane for 23 + hours, plus 7 hours in airports.
Who would have thunk airplane seats were so uncomfortable and bad for the body -
({{{ dripping sarcasm }}}

Yeah, I was starting to feel that shower of criticism! LOL

Hope yours starts to improve soon!

Dog bite slowly improving, swelling is WAY down, only have redness around the wound edges, not sure if that is inflammation or underlying infection, so doctor wanted to extend the antibiotics for 2 more weeks. That will make it 5 weeks of antibiotics!

Now, another problem...my gut!
I have actually tolerated the antibx pretty well, having had some initial diarrhea, but then started some probiotics and that resolved to the point that I actually felt like it was binding me up. I do have 1/2 cup of plain nonfat yogurt in my smoothie every day, so I am getting some cultures already, and so due to the lack of symptoms, had assumed that the yogurt was enough. Stopped taking the probiotics.

These past few days, my lower abdomen has been crampy/painful. I have also felt achy, almost "flu-ish", felt feverish, was 99.6. I had to take some Ibuprofen to feel better, and it does help. But, as soon as it wears off, it is right back to where it was. No real noticeable change in stool consistency, except that I did pass some mucousy stuff today (sorry for the graphics). I did re-think the probiotics, and started taking again today.

Have an appointment to see someone tomorrow--my doc has been on vacation through all of this, and so I will actually be seeing the 6th provider since the day of the dog bite. Crazy!

I can't believe this is still going on! This must have been quite some bite!
These people owe you some compensation, I think.
I can't believe they didn't even call you yet.
As the terrible Christian that I probably am, I'd be very angry about this if I were you.
Kudos to you for being so understanding and patient about it.

Yes, the wounds are healing up much better, infection is going down nicely. The gut reaction was due to the antibiotics and is resolving.

Thanks, I do try to stay "objective" through all of this, as I believe that if I allow my emotions to get the best of me, it will not help the situation at all. And, I don't want this to impact the relationship that my daughter and their daughter have as friends, although I think there has already been a negative impact, as my daughter just found out that she was not invited to her friend's birthday party coming up. Its for the best, they still have other dogs, one being a rottweiler, which is not a very trustworthy breed, either.

Good healing going on now. The open wound is filling in with healthy tissue. I got word that there was bacteria in my wound that had to be sent to a reference lab for identification. They were also having difficulty figuring it out. I am guessing that perhaps the reason why this thing took so long to improve is because the antibiotics were probably not fighting it well. Anyway, it looks like water under the bridge now, as it is getting better.

However, Mama Bear (aka cranberrycat) is not happy and is coming out of her cave! (that is what my daughter said)

I received a copy of the police report yesterday, and I also saw pictures posted on FB from a party this weekend. Apparently the dog still lives on. I am not happy about that at all... but when I read the police report, I went ballistic! The lady (former friend??) is accusing me of trespassing onto her property! WHAT?!? That night, after the police took my report, they went to her home. She refused to give up her dog, and lots of swear words that can't be repeated were written into the police report. She also accused me of trespassing onto her property--I was there visiting for 10 minutes and never was told that I was not welcome there... my daughter and her daugher were best friends, and I was a parent who happened to stop by and was casually chatting in the driveway with the other parent. TRESPASSING?!?

Like my daughter said, Mama Bear is coming out of the cave, and she is NOT happy at all!

Glad to hear the wound is healing nicely.

Grrr!!! re: the police report ...

Alexy

very distressing re hearing about what the other party is saying now... My son was involved in a car accident few years ago, he was a second car out of four. In the first car was his best friend and 3 other friends. Obviously all involved people were distressed etc etc. After few days my son learned that this "friend" of his is spreading the lies about how it all happened. We though it will go away after few weeks as nobody had any injuries (our car was a complete wreck though and his car just a bumper damage). But no, it did not. I think he was building up a case for insurance claim and health damage claim but it felt particularily for my boy (17 at the time) terribly unfair and he could not understand how you can spread lies about things and from one day being best friend turn enemy the next day...

I agree, Bozena. It is difficult to know how to feel in this situation. I really sympathize with my daughter, who is seeing her best friend relationship dissolve over this. Prior to my receiving this new information, I had suggested to her that she open up the lines of communication and call her friend, invite her over, etc. She ended up getting the cold shoulder from her friend.

I was not at all close with these people, but I never dreamed that they would actually make up stuff like that... I was hoping that we could just keep this all low key and keep the girls out of it. But, I don't think that is their message to their daughter.

I have had a mild fever all week, which seemed to become a more significant fever the other day. I have also had some other complaints/issues, but the symptoms have kept changing and the only constant was the low grade fever. The bite area actually looks pretty good. Talked to the doctor, and he thinks it is a drug fever, so we are stopping the antibiotics and let my body get back to where it should be!