Time for the hard graft....

I won't bore you or sicken you too much with the details of a burn injury. Let me just tell you this; it really hurts. You feel sick, dehydrated and very, very tired. You look terrible, covered in weeping scabs that have to be cleaned off. You're taught to leave scabs in order for your skin to recover but with burns, they only harbour infection. Rigorous care is required; cleaning and massaging several times a day. Between the scabs there is the redness, a vivid, angry red where your skin has been scorched.

My face was covered in scabs which I had to clean 3 times a day. It took up to 45 mins to do. There was a massive scab on my lip and above my lip where I had a third degree burn and a really horrible one on my forehead. I took a rolling combination of drugs, Oxycodone, Paracentamol and Ibruprofen.

My ear was horrendously painful and wasn’t showing much improvement. The scab on my lip was massive and what was worrying was I had no feeling in that area, where the nerves had been burnt. My face was very puffy. I couldn’t wash my hair and some of it had burnt off and some had been shaved so I just tied in back out the way.

By this time I really should have been making more progress but my arm was still an open wound on the shoulder and under the arm. The surgeon said I would need skin grafts this week. It would be painful as the donor site has lots of exposed nerves in it and there was a chance that it wouldn’t take. I asked them not to tell me lots of things but instead just what I needed to know, I couldn’t bear to hear what they were going to do to me and how it was going to work.

They called me the next morning!!!

Now, having a skin graft is scary. The donor site does really hurt.

BUT!

I had the grafts about 2 months ago and they already look like normal skin. Yes they are red and yes they are not as aesthetically pleasing as I would like......but they have taken beautifully. Eventually (the 2 year point!) I should have very little scarring.

If you are having skin grafts you must prepare yourself for some pain after the operation but focus on how wonderful it is that you have been repaired with your own skin. After a week I had my bandages off, huge progress compared to my own bodies slow, three week attempt to heal.

The accident

The accident was the scariest thing in my life. It was the most painful thing in my life. I felt like I couldn’t breathe with the fear of what had just happened. I was freezing cold because they were pouring water on me and I was shuddering violently. My teeth were so clenched for some reason, I couldn’t speak. The ambulance seemed to take forever to come. I kept asking for it. I was panicking about my face. The panic rose and rose in my throat and I wanted to scream continuously but I knew it wouldn’t help so I laid there and concentrated on pressing the water soaked materials to my face and breathing deeply. The ambulance came but they didn’t speak to me enough. I didn’t know what was happening. I was terrified. The gas and air didn’t work because they didn’t tell me I couldn’t overdose and I was worried. I was in fear of them telling my mum because she would be really scared and upset.

During the ambulance journey I asked for more pain relief and was given morphine. I hurt unbearably and the fear was choking me and rising in me like a physical rolling wave of panic.

I was taken to the local hospital and put in a recovery room. I was waiting to go to a specialist burns unit. I heard that someone had put something on the BBQ and there had been an explosion. I could see fear in my Mum and Dad’s face when they arrived. The nurse removed my contact lenses; they had melted.

After reaching the burns unit I had to wait in a recovery room whilst my 'official' room was prepared. My arm and chest were covered in clingfilm and my face in a mask whilst they drew my injuries on a board and labelled the depth of each area. They were discussing the percentage of my burns to see if I needed to be debrided awake or asleep. I cried in terror as I knew what the procedure entailed. As an avid reader, I'd read 'The Gargoyle' http://www.the-gargoyle.co.uk/ and was all too educated.

They decided to wait until the next day and they wrapped me in clingfilm.

Luckily I had the debridement under anesthesia. I couldn’t eat anything and felt very sick and was told if I couldn’t start eating the required calories I would need a tube. I was also really dehydrated due to losing water from my damaged skin.

I had a bandage up to the ends of the fingers of my right arm and all across my chest. My face hurt when there was a breeze on it.

I had 14% burns or varying degrees on my arm, shoulder, chest and face and a long road ahead.

Friday 22nd July

On the morning of Friday 22nd July, I was excited about the 6 weeks holidays.

By the afternoon of Friday 22nd July, I was in hospital with 1st, 2nd and 3rd degree burns on 14% of my body.

The recovery process for burns is a long, long time. It's not like leaning over an iron and catching your skin. It takes up to 2 years for the skin to repair itself as much as it can. After 2 years, what's left is what you're stuck with.

I've set up this blog for a couple of reasons.

1) To share all the useful info I've found out already. It might save another person some time and effort!

2) To document what has been a terrible, painful time; raising awareness of burns and safety when using BBQs, bonfires and other sources of heat.