dogbitevic
Junior Member
What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? Pennsylvania
My 3 year old daughter was bitten in the face about 6 months ago. She had stitches in her upper & bottm lips, above & below both lip lines. I was extremely upset with the Plastic Surgeon (PS) the ER brought in b/c he didn't allow enought time for the lydocaine to take effect. My daughter screamed in agony & while 3 nurses had to hold her down. He told me to bring her to his office in a week to remove the stitches. I didn't want to ever see him again even for the simple taks of removing stitches. I made an appointment the next day with a PS I had dealt w/ before & had good results. He said he'd take on my daughter as his patient & to bring her back in a week for the stitches to be removed. When we went back (8 days after initial bite) my daughter started crying as soon as he went near her face with scissors. He said he didn't want to traumatize or risk nicking her if she moved while he worked. He told me to keep soaking the stitches as many times a day as I could and hopefully they would loosen & fall out on their own. If not, after another 10 days he would sedate her to safely remove them. I soaked them as instructed & they remained intact. After 10 days I called & scheduled her to be sedated. Ultimately, it was 2 1/2 weeks before her stitches were removed. I know it has only been 6 months, but I'm not happy with how her scars look. Upon advice from my pediatrician, I made an appointment with a Pediatric Plastic Surgeon. As soon as he looked at my daughter's scars he asked how long the stitches were in. I told him 2 & half weeks & he just shook his head. He said facial stitches should come out after 3 - 5 days to avoid the "railroad track" marks which my daughter visibly has on both sides of her scars. I just feel sick to my stomach over this. The Pediatric PS said she could get dermabrasion performed when she is a teenager to blur the tracks but they are permanent & didn't need to be. I am already suing the dog owner's howeowner's insurance which is a slam dunk for my daughter since this is the dog's 2nd bite & witnesses testified that my daughter didn't provoke the dog in any way. I've never sued anyone in my life but no one has ever hurt one of my kids before. I am so upset with the 2nd PS for allowing the stitches to be in for so long. If I had known the consequences I would have snipped them out myself...but I am not a doctor. Shouldn't he have know? I probably won't take any action, but I'd love to hear some of your thoughts/advice. Thank you.
My 3 year old daughter was bitten in the face about 6 months ago. She had stitches in her upper & bottm lips, above & below both lip lines. I was extremely upset with the Plastic Surgeon (PS) the ER brought in b/c he didn't allow enought time for the lydocaine to take effect. My daughter screamed in agony & while 3 nurses had to hold her down. He told me to bring her to his office in a week to remove the stitches. I didn't want to ever see him again even for the simple taks of removing stitches. I made an appointment the next day with a PS I had dealt w/ before & had good results. He said he'd take on my daughter as his patient & to bring her back in a week for the stitches to be removed. When we went back (8 days after initial bite) my daughter started crying as soon as he went near her face with scissors. He said he didn't want to traumatize or risk nicking her if she moved while he worked. He told me to keep soaking the stitches as many times a day as I could and hopefully they would loosen & fall out on their own. If not, after another 10 days he would sedate her to safely remove them. I soaked them as instructed & they remained intact. After 10 days I called & scheduled her to be sedated. Ultimately, it was 2 1/2 weeks before her stitches were removed. I know it has only been 6 months, but I'm not happy with how her scars look. Upon advice from my pediatrician, I made an appointment with a Pediatric Plastic Surgeon. As soon as he looked at my daughter's scars he asked how long the stitches were in. I told him 2 & half weeks & he just shook his head. He said facial stitches should come out after 3 - 5 days to avoid the "railroad track" marks which my daughter visibly has on both sides of her scars. I just feel sick to my stomach over this. The Pediatric PS said she could get dermabrasion performed when she is a teenager to blur the tracks but they are permanent & didn't need to be. I am already suing the dog owner's howeowner's insurance which is a slam dunk for my daughter since this is the dog's 2nd bite & witnesses testified that my daughter didn't provoke the dog in any way. I've never sued anyone in my life but no one has ever hurt one of my kids before. I am so upset with the 2nd PS for allowing the stitches to be in for so long. If I had known the consequences I would have snipped them out myself...but I am not a doctor. Shouldn't he have know? I probably won't take any action, but I'd love to hear some of your thoughts/advice. Thank you.