Burn Update

The burns are actually looking really good. I took off the bandages a few days ago and was surprised to see so much healthy pink skin! The healing process just increased so fast, every day there was such a difference in the way they looked.

We made the decision to not put the bandages on that day and we haven't done it since. Beth took a shower that same day and said the water on her back felt so good!

Every day they look better than the last. The worst is over. Yaay!!
 

 

Thank you all for your prayers and concern!

The Burn Story Continues - On To The Wound Care Center

We saw the doctor again on Monday. The nurse 'S' came out to the waiting room and called Beth's name. We walk to the back and she weighs her and directs us to the room. She's talking to Beth a little differently, not bad or anything, just different from the usual, "Hi, I'm so-and-so and I'll be your nurse today." 

We sit down in the room and S says, "I have a sister who looks... exactly... like... you!" 

My face lit up! "You do?! You have a sister who has Down Syndrome?!"

"Yep! She's older than you are Beth but yeah, I do!" Awwe! What an amazing visit we had with her. Her sister is 45 and lives with their mom. She's beginning to slow down now but they still enjoy going to concerts.

S was so good with Beth. You know when you meet someone who just knows how to communicate and engage your child? You just wanna hug them and make them part of your family! 💖

Well, back to the reason for the appointment. When the doctor came in, we removed the bandages and we both agreed the burns don't seem to be healing like they should. Today marks 13 days since it happened and they're still very raw and oozing.

So now we have a referral to the Wound Care Center at our local hospital. They were closed when I called so I'll call again to get an appointment. Please pray with us that these burns begin to heal. I'm so, so thankful Beth isn't in a lot of pain, but oh, this can't be fun.

(I'll add a photo to the very bottom of this post. If you don't want to see them, stop reading here.) 😅
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If you're not squeamish, you can click on the photo to make it bigger.
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How A Pulled Muscle Turned Into Severe Burns

Beth pulled a muscle in her back on Tuesday and was walking v-e-r-y carefully. I use a hot water bottle on my back sometimes so Wednesday morning I filled it up, wrapped it in a towel and put it on her back. She always says, "Ooooh!" and lets out a big sigh. The heat feels so good!

Chuck and I headed out for our Anniversary (celebrating 36 years this week!) and just drove around Kirkland, went out to lunch and shopped at their Farmers Market. It was good to spend time together.

Seattle is surrounded right now by fires in Northern California, Eastern Washington and British Columbia so our air quality has been very poor the last couple of weeks. That's not fog, that's smoke.

I had to buy flowers! It wouldn't have been a Farmers Market if I didn't buy flowers!

We were gone a few hours and when we got home I went downstairs to see how Beth was doing. I saw she had refilled the hot water bottle but I didn't see the towel. She had put it over on her bookcase and said she didn't want to use it.

I should have known better. I should have forced her to use it but I didn't.

The next morning I asked how her back was and she said, "It stings." I wondered how a pulled muscle could sting so I asked her to show me. She pulled down her shorts and Oh. My. Word.

She burned herself with that hot water bottle! I don't know how she didn't feel it and pull the bottle away! I was on my way out the door to go to work, so I cleaned the sores as best I could, put some neosporin on some gauze so it wouldn't stick and then taped it to her. That's all I could think of to do at the time.

As soon as I got home from work I took her to the doctor. The Physicians Assistant was actually grimacing as she looked at the sores. It looks like two giant blisters formed and then popped. I'll spare you pictures but the 2 that broke open are about 3-4 inches in diameter. Plus there are many other smaller blisters that haven't opened yet, some black and blue areas... it looks really bad. 

The PA said all we could do is put on some Lidocaine with Aloe. Everything I found though said 'do not use on raw surfaces or blistered areas'. I ended up just putting it around the blistered area, but man, this is gonna take some time to heal. 

This is my arsenal of things I'm using or thinking of using or wondering if I should use... I honestly don't know what to do. The PA did tell me not to use the neosporin anymore.

Thankfully she isn't in much pain, I hear her downstairs laughing and yelling at the TV. Every time I check on her she says she's doing 'okay'. But this is gonna be a long healing process.