ER Visit **Warning: Graphic Photos**

I've been thinking a lot lately about how our lives can turn on a dime. You can be floating smoothly, and then in a moment, everything changes. We had a moment like that yesterday.

Ethan's friend is moving-- to Washington, actually. I had a few boxes that I wanted to drop by their house to help them out. It was just a small act of kindness for a family that is leaving. As I pulled into the driveway, they were leaving somewhere. I told the dad that I had a few boxes for them. As I went around to the trunk, Ethan got out of the car. He wanted to say hi to his friend. He was standing there petting the dog and all of the sudden the dog growled. Ethan screamed and was on the ground. When I got to him, he was holding his mouth. When we pulled his hand away, my heart just dropped. It looked like the dog had bit off half Ethan's lip. I was sure we'd have to take him to the next town to see a plastic surgeon, but when the doctor got there, he said that the tissue was all still there, it had just broken open. He said he could stitch it back up. If the scar is too big later, we can see a plastic surgeon. So, Nathan stayed with him while he got stitches. It still looks pretty gory, but this is how it looks today. The stitches are black, so the lines are dark and that looks bad. Our biggest concern is that the pink part of his lip may not line up after it heals. The doctor didn't do stitches on the lip itself because he said that tissue heals so well, he thought it best to let it heal on its own.

This was such a terrifying experience. I've been counting my blessings because I know that it could have been so much worse. Ethan has been a trooper about the whole thing. My main concern was that he would look disfigured, but even if it scars, he should look normal. Right now he can't smile, so we're not sure what his smile will look like after the stitches come out. One thing is sure, he's got a heck of a story to tell.

And I wanted to mention one thing about the pictures. When Earlgirl's boy split his head open to the skull, I showed Nathan the post. He said, "If our kid is in the ER and you stand there taking pictures to post on your blog, I'm going to smack you." (He always talks tough.) So, we're in the ER and I asked Ethan if he wanted to see how bad it looked, and he said no. I told him I'd take a picture on my phone so that after he was all fixed up, he could see what it looked like before. That's what I did. One picture. So, I get home and Nathan is talking to his dad on the phone and sends him the picture HE took with his phone-- there are like five of them.

I was too shaken up to tease him about it. I could have cried all night, but when Ethan fell asleep I finally started to wind down. I've been carrying a knot in my chest all day. It isn't sorrow; it's an overwhelming love I have for my kids, and even a small tragedy like this makes you realize how much you love them-- how hard it is to see them suffer.

Ethan said, "It's too bad this didn't happen before Halloween. I could have been a pirate and said I'd had my lip eaten off by a shark!" The nurse couldn't believe what a stoic he was in the ER. After the initial scream, he didn't cry at all on the way to the hospital or during the stitches. Even the sheriff deputy (yes, they had to call the sheriff) said how tough he was about the whole thing.

As far as the dog is concerned, I'm not concerned. The family was so upset about it, they were ready to put him down last night, but the sheriff recommended they wait until after the 10-day quarantine period. This family has four little kids, and they are moving out of state. The dad asked me if I wanted them to kill the dog. I said it was totally his call because he's the one whose kids are going to be around the dog, not mine. I really don't blame them at all. It was such the freak thing. The dog is a lab, and totally gentle. Sometimes there just is no reason why.