Member-only story
CW/TW: Graphic photos of wounds on face from a dog bite, proceed with caution if you are sensitive to such images.
I recently started a support group for dog bite/facial trauma survivors, after spending years messaging privately with survivors who read my first essay about my experience recovering psychologically and physically from my dog bite to the face. I get many of the same questions over and over; when will I look normal again, when will the swelling go down, when can I start scar treatments, what should I do to help my scars, etc. I am NOT a doctor or nurse, and I am not trained in any way to to provide medical advice, all I can advise is based on my own PERSONAL experience, and what worked for me. Every person’s treatment plan will be different based on their skin and how they heal, what level of injury they had, and what their medical team recommends. With all that being said, it seemed a visual timeline of my process would be somewhat helpful for my community, and as I endeavor to help as many survivors as I can, I decided to finally put together a clear timeline for everyone. Remember, this is just one story, one experience, and if you or a loved one are suffering from facial trauma, it will not be like mine as no two injuries will be exactly the same. Now all that is out of the way, let my visual guide commence.
The stitched photo is from 2:43AM July 1, 2017 in the ER at Cedars-Sinai, taken by my plastic surgeon. The bite happened the evening of June 30, 2017 after dinner.
