August 5

Left home at sometime after 6:45 a.m. to do my thrice weekly walk up Princess Road towards LDS College.  I stopped for a short time to talk to Sister and Elder Wells and Sister Updike.  I really did not want to be walking, but after I turned the corner by the temple to go up the hill, I found myself getting into the groove.  I was really hauling--for an out-of-shape 66 year old woman.  I passed the grocery story, MH, in about 15 minutes.  I had just decided to go all the way to the LDS College when I noticed two dogs just sitting in the driveway of a home.  They were just there watching the road.  I did not pay too much attention to them.  I walked about ten feet beyond the driveway when I felt real sharp pain in my calf.  It took me a moment to realize that one of the dogs had bitten me.  I jerked my leg away, and, I hate to admit it, screamed.  I turned just in time to see a black Doberman let go, thankfully, and head back up the driveway. 

I looked down and my leg was a mass of blood.  It was running into my shoe.  A sweet Fijian man who was waiting for a bus came to help me.  When I started looking for something to stop the bleeding, he stopped me and started to take of his shirts--shirt s.  He had on three probably to keep warm.  He gave me the middle shirt to use to stop the blood flow.  I wiped my leg and saw three puncture wounds and one long tear which probably happened when I jerked my leg.  The man told me the dog lived at the driveway house.  I was going to limp home, but decided to take a cab when I got to the taxi stand.  The driver helped me into the car, and while driving me home told me the Doberman lived at the house with the driveway next to the taxi stand.

I got home just as Scott was pulling up from his swim, and we went into the house and cleaned me up, washed my shoe and then Scott insisted that we report it to the police.  They wanted us to drive them to the house where it happened.  When we got to the house, the lady was outside and preceded to tell us that the dog was a stray.  She vehemently denied owning the dog.  We took the police back to their station, Scott filled out the preliminary form and we went to the mission home to have Sister Limburg, the new mission nurse, look at the wound.  She said we absolutely had to go to the hospital which we did.  There we checked in, waited, had my vital signs taken (why?), waited, saw the Doc who gave us a prescription for an antibiotic and at Scott's insistence an antibiotic cream, waited, and then a nurse cleaned up the wound and dressed it.  That was so painful.  She stuck a syringe (no needle) into each wound and irrigated it with iodine. GULP!  We were told to come back in the morning to redress it.  I will have it done by Sister Limburg who wants to watch it anyway and there is no charge and no waiting.

I am in considerable pain.

We spent part of the day helping Edwards shop for ties.  I rested.  Had Dinner at the Wellses.  It was nice to be busy so that I would think about something besides my leg.

I could not sleep as my leg hurt so much.  Turned out the lights at 12:30 p.m., but did not fall asleep until after 2:00 a.m.

The Dog Bite