Hunter (5 yrs old) attacked by stray dog

Long overdue update!

2009-12-15T06:49:00.000-08:00

Hey everybody! Sorry it has been so long since I posted an update on Hunter, but he has been doing sooooooo well that there hasnt been a whole lot to blog about. He has been back at school since the end of October (still wrapped in bandages). At his last Dr.'s visit his Dr was sooooo astonished at how well he was healing that he had to bring in other Dr.'s to see the progress. They have called off the skin graph's as of now! He is doing so well that they dont feel he needs them. The Dr.'s do still plan to put the balloons under his scalp to help expand his hair growth, but this is nothing compared to what he would have had to go through with the graphs. As you can see above I have included 2 pics of Hunter and Rosebud! She has definately became his constant companion since he has been home...she was as happy to see him as he was to see her. Hunter's next Dr.'s visit is December 17th, the family will find out then when the balloons will be implanted. So definately continue to inclue them in your prayers!

Update

2009-11-02T10:10:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to let everyone know how Hunter is doing since he has been home. At his last Dr.'s appointment they said everything is healing as planned, and Hunter's mom is doing a great job taking care of his wounds. He has been back at school for a week now (of course he is still all wrapped up) and he is doing really well adjusting back to normal. I will let everyone know when his next surgery is scheduled.

He's Home!!!

2009-10-20T10:08:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody! Hunter is home!!! This is a big step for him after being in the hospital for so long. He still has some surgeries ahead, and a docter's appointment this Thursday to discuss where he goes from here....but he is home!!! Everyone was so happy to see him, especially Big Hunter, and Rosebud! Rosebud (his lab) literally wrapped her front paws around him like she was hugging him! And of course he gave her a HUGE hug! I will continue to keep everyone updated on how he is doing...and hope to post some pics soon of him playing! Thanks for all the prayers!

Going home

2009-10-19T05:36:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to let everyone know that Hunter should be coming home today, Monday Oct. 19th. He had a really good weekend and was able to actually leave the burn unit a few times and walk around the hospital! Of course he still has a long road ahead of him, and the next surgery for skin grafts. But his mom has been taught how to wrap his wounds and they said he is ready to come home! I know he is excited, as well as Lisa, im sure she needs some REAL sleep. We all know that sleeping at a hospital is not really SLEEPING! So everyone pray that things continue to look good, and they get to come home today!

Surgery went GREAT!

2009-10-16T11:52:00.000-07:00

Hunter's surgery went really well...and fast (only took about 45 mintues)! The Dr. said that he was able to repair 80% of Hunter's original scalp (which is more than they thought). So they means he will only need skin graphs on 20%! They only did the scraping of his skull today, and are going to do the skin grafts when that heals. They are even talking about letting him come home by MONDAY!!! We are all praying that he does get to come home, but worried as well. Im sure most of you know how active Hunter is, it's going to be very hard to keep him out of trouble :o). I think at this point his mom needs as many (or more) prayers than he does! Big Hunter (his BFF, and my son) is about to make him some cupcakes and a welcome home banner. He is sooooooo excited to see him, he misses his best buddy so much! You never realize that kids have these kinds of emotions until something like this happens. Big Hunter is constantly talking about how much he misses Little Hunter and how much he wishes this had never happened. And from what I hear Little Hunter is constantly talking about Big Hunter too! So say a few prayers for Hunter and the family over the weekend, and hope that he gets to come home!

Surgery Today 10/16/09

2009-10-16T06:26:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to let everyone know that Hunter is in surgery right now. He went in about 7:45 this morning, and did great going. This pic just shows how strong he is. Any other kid i know would have been screaming and crying for there parents if they were on there way to another surgery! He is determined to get well! I will keep everyone updated on how the surgery is going, I will post updates as I get them.

Hunter's next surgery

2009-10-14T07:51:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone! Just wanted to let you know that Hunter's surgery is scheduled for 1:00 friday, Oct. 16th. They were planning to only do the bone scrapping on friday and then schedule him for the skin grafts at a later date, but Hunter's mom text me this morning to let me know that the Dr. had a change of plans. The Dr. is impressed with how well he is doing and says that he would hate to not take advantage of that, so they are going to do the bone scrapping and possibly some skin grafts tomorrow. Which is a good thing b/c that puts him that much closer to being better, and getting to come home. Of course we definately want to keep him in our prayers through this surgery and pray that everything goes well. I have some pics to add later of Hunter playing at the hospital, so check back later for that!

Doing so much better!

2009-10-12T16:56:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to give everyone a quick update, not a whole lot to say today. But i do have these amazing pics that i wanted everyone to see! Just shows how amazing Childrens Hospital is. Hunter is healing sooooo fast. Of course he does have another surgery this week, so we will wait and see how well he is doing after that. But if I know Hunter he will be just fine! We do not have details on when the surgery will be yet, we are hoping for Wednesday, but it may be Friday. We should know for sure tomorrow. So here are the pics, and keep comenting I love to hear from you guys and I know Hunter and his mom does as well!

Word's of Wisdom!

2009-10-11T18:52:00.000-07:00

First off, as I promised I am posting the pics of Hunter riding his tricycle so that everyone can see that regardless of what he has been through he is a STONG little boy. We all are so proud of how well he is handling things, and as his mom has said, we should all take notes from his courage and strength through this difficult time!

And second, we have had some issues with PETA saying that something should be done to the person who shot the dog (which is my husband). Im not angry, b/c i know there are selfish and foolish people in this world and none of us can change that. But I would like to make my feelings known on this situation. And I have spoken to Hunter's mom about this as well, and we are definately in agreement that it was the right thing for the dog to be killed. The way I see it, this was a DOG. It does not have rights and does not need anyone to stand up for it! Now if this was a nice sweet little dog that actually had a home and a family to care for it and had done nothing to harm anyone and somebody just walked up and shot it, for no reason at all, then I might be upset or say that it shouldnt have been done. But do these people not realize that this dog almost KILLED an innocent little boy? This child was in his own yard, minding his own business, not hurting a soul, and was ATTACKED. But is there a group standing up for him to all the dogs in the world saying, what are we going to do about stray dogs? No, there isn't. So that's exactly what my husband did, he wasnt trying to be a hero, or make himself look good, he was standing up for this defensless CHILD! HE DID WHAT WAS RIGHT! And I know that probably everyone reading this agrees with that, so im preaching to the choir in a sense! But i really needed to get this off my chest. We Love you Hunter, and can't wait for you to get home! Big Hunter (my son's name is Hunter too so we call him Big Hunter) says that he knows you are getting bored at that hospital so hurry home and play with him!

Just a quick update!

2009-10-09T12:41:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to give everyone a quick update on Hunter's condition. And to correct my last blog, the scraping on his scalp has NOT been done yet. They are planning on doing it next week. He has not had a fever in over 24/hrs so they are trying to get his surgery scheduled for the beinning of next week instead of the end of next week, which they originally planned on. He is up and about and running his parents and the nurses to death. He has been riding tricycles around the hospital, and playing playstation, so he is well on his way to recovery. I don't have any new pics of him to add right now, but we do have some of him on the tricycle that I will be adding after the weekend. Also to answer some recent questions about Rosebud (Hunter's dog that saved him). She is fine, she had a few cuts behind her ears but Hunter's dad has put medicine on those and shes ok. She is about to drive herself crazy though looking for Hunter. I think that she knows the last person she saw him was in my front yard b/c that is where she has been since he has been in the hospital. And when Hunter's dad comes up she tries to get in the car with him. So Im sure she will be so glad for him to be home, as will the rest of us.

Pic's of Hunter before surgery

2009-10-07T15:52:00.000-07:00

These are the pics of Hunter before his surgery today (Wed. Oct. 7th). He is getting stronger every day! He has stolen the hearts of MANY nurses and Dr.'s. As you can see in some of these pics he has his surgeons iphone! He is playing a game on it on his way to surgery.

Hunter's back

2009-10-07T15:48:00.000-07:00

These are the pics of Hunters back. SCARY!!! The Dr.'s said that this shows how the dog was standing on his back holding him down while it ate at his scalp! So sad! What a brave little boy...I admire his strength and courage.

2009-10-07T14:11:00.001-07:00

I just got home from the hospital. Hunter's surgery went very well. They did not get to do the skin graphs yet, but the surgeon was very impressed with what he did see today. He said that the back of his head really looks good and is ready for the skin graph as soon as they are ready to do it. And the top left portion of his scalp that did have a softball sized portion of scalp missing is healing up really well. They did find some infection when he got into surgery, but they were able to get all of it out...the dr. said it is completely gone now. There was also some dirt and hair left and they were able to clean all of that out as well. The reason they were unable to do the skin graphs today was b/c he still has a gash on the side of his head that is pretty large (the dr. said he could probably fit his thumb in it) and you can still see the bone. B/c they are unable to attatch a skin graph to the bone they did some extra cleaning and scraped the bone so that the skin cells would be able to grow over it enough that they could attatch the skin graph to it. The Dr. was still very confident that everything was going to go well...and said that they should be able to do the skin graphs by the end of next week. They also were able to remove all staples and leave him only with dissovable stitches. Check back later tonight, I will have more pics to add from today and lastnight. Also have some pics to add tonight of his back (you can actually see were the dog was holding him down and chewing at his scalp).

Update on Hunter

2009-10-07T08:22:00.000-07:00

Hunter is doing better. As of last night he was sitting up on his own. He can now open his eyes, and they have removed his cathader. So he is able to walk to the bathroom own his own. He is still really sore though. His dad picked him up to help him on the bed and he made a grunting noise. When his dad asked what was wrong he said "don't you know i have bites all over my back". He is definately a trooper though. He still has not shed a single tear since the accident.
As you can see in the pics here he is definately in good spirits. He is smiling for us, and holding his eye open so he can see the book his daddy is reading to him. He does have another surgery today at 1:00 (wed the 7th), and the docters said that they feal very confident with what they do have to work with. So everyone please continue to pray for him, and of course i will keep you updated.

Hunter (5 yrs old) attacked by stray dog

2009-10-06T18:00:00.000-07:00

This poor little boy was attacked by a stray dog on Saturday Oct. 3rd, 2009. He was simply playing in the yard with his own dog when the stray dog came up and attacked him. From what he has told his family since he has been alert the stray dog came up and started biting his head and knocked him down on the ground. The dog continued to bite him as it drug him back up his driveway. During the fight the dog ripped off his pants, one shoe, and his jacket. Somewhere during the fight with the dog Hunter's dog (Rosebud, a lab) attacked the stray dog and started fighting him off. This gave Hunter time to get away from the stray. Rosebud then went and grabbed Hunter by the arm and drug him up the steps to his porch, and went back to fight the dog. Hunter was then able to get up and walk inside his home where he told his mom he had been bitten. During this whole time Hunter never cried or screamed, he is one tough lil boy! When his mom realized what happened she immediately put him in the car and drove him to my house right up the street, where his father was. His father contacted 911 while his mother and I talked to him and made sure we kept him awake until the paramedics arrived. While his father was on the phone with 911 my husband immediately got his gun and went and took care of the dog. Hunter was in pretty bad shape. He had a gash down the front of his face that started at his hair line and went down to his left eyebrow and down beside his eye. He had about a 2 inch square piece of scalp that was completely torn from his head (this was still in the dogs mouth when my husband shot him). The back of his scalp from about mid-way down was completely torn loose and rolled up at his neck. The Dr.'s were able to pull this back up and re-attatch it. The Dr.'s have done an outstanding job at repairing his face as well. He does have another surgery this Wednesday Oct. 7th at 1:00 to start doing some skin graphs to repair the parts of his scalp that were missing. This is an amazing little boy, and we are so thankful that he is still alive. And thankful for Rosebud (his lab) for saving his life!