Injury sidebar - Part II
So, Jim is taking advantage of the volume going to his blog by just posing questions now and letting the viewers respond in comments, instead of posting original thought.
And Luke is busy trying to get his hit counts up by posting a bunch.
Meanwhile, I'm still weathering my daughter's freak 2nd degree burns on the soles of her feet.
Since we last spoke, we went to the pediatrician the next day after the accident so that they could change the dressings and monitor the progress. After she removed the dressing and exposed these HUGE blisters, she quickly gave the local Shriner's Hospital a call to see if they wanted to take over the care. Apparently, the Shriners are THE burn specialists, and let me tell, they are. They aren't just the filler in all the parades, there is a method to their madness.
We made an appointment for the following day at the Shriners, and in the interim, the pediatrician left the blisters in place and put a new dressing). At the Shriners, they decided to pop the main blisters and each big toe, while leaving the other 4 toes on each foot. As you can imagine, this was NOT a pleasant experience. Catherine was taking tylenol/codeine, which was already knocking her for a loop, but there was still a LOT of crying and screaming as they cut away the blisters and the dead tissue and all of the 'pulp' that had accumulated. They then reapplied a huge dressing, saturated with bacitracin, and we made an appointment for the next day to change out that dressing. Oh, and meanwhile, they also mentioned that it might be quite some time before she started walking again, with up to 2-3 weeks of healing time for the actual skin, and then possible scarring and rehab.
Well, that afternoon, Catherine was a changed woman. She was crawling around on her knees, moving around with no problem and what seemed to be no pain, and rejoining the world. Relieving the pressure of the blisters totally transformed her.
We went back in Wednesday morning and they finished cutting away one of the heels, and then applied a new type of dressing called Aquacell, which hopefully wouldn't have to be removed for over a week, and was a silver-impregnated material which was supposed to promote healing. Next appointment was TWO days later this time on Friday to check it out before the weekend. They had to swap out some of the aquacell, and they finally cut the blisters on all the small toes and applied aquacell on them also, and set an appointment for Tuesday.
Lo and behold, on Saturday morning, Catherine stood up for the first time as we sat there watching her and cringing. By that afternoon, she was slowly walking around as we attended a birthday party. As of this morning, she is walking somewhat easily, as any awkwardness seems to be more of a result of the size of the dressing than any pain she is having (she refers to her feet 'tickling' at times, but no real pain).
The doctors at the hospital said that they were not applying any limitations on what Catherine physically wanted to do, other than to make sure the dressing did not get wet or really dirty (they gave her these really cute sock/booties). It is truly incredible to see the resilience of children, as you will see from the pictures below. It is hard to believe that she was walking so soon after injuries that horrific.
And if you have a strong stomach, you can check out some pictures here.
And Luke is busy trying to get his hit counts up by posting a bunch.
Meanwhile, I'm still weathering my daughter's freak 2nd degree burns on the soles of her feet.
Since we last spoke, we went to the pediatrician the next day after the accident so that they could change the dressings and monitor the progress. After she removed the dressing and exposed these HUGE blisters, she quickly gave the local Shriner's Hospital a call to see if they wanted to take over the care. Apparently, the Shriners are THE burn specialists, and let me tell, they are. They aren't just the filler in all the parades, there is a method to their madness.
We made an appointment for the following day at the Shriners, and in the interim, the pediatrician left the blisters in place and put a new dressing). At the Shriners, they decided to pop the main blisters and each big toe, while leaving the other 4 toes on each foot. As you can imagine, this was NOT a pleasant experience. Catherine was taking tylenol/codeine, which was already knocking her for a loop, but there was still a LOT of crying and screaming as they cut away the blisters and the dead tissue and all of the 'pulp' that had accumulated. They then reapplied a huge dressing, saturated with bacitracin, and we made an appointment for the next day to change out that dressing. Oh, and meanwhile, they also mentioned that it might be quite some time before she started walking again, with up to 2-3 weeks of healing time for the actual skin, and then possible scarring and rehab.
Well, that afternoon, Catherine was a changed woman. She was crawling around on her knees, moving around with no problem and what seemed to be no pain, and rejoining the world. Relieving the pressure of the blisters totally transformed her.
We went back in Wednesday morning and they finished cutting away one of the heels, and then applied a new type of dressing called Aquacell, which hopefully wouldn't have to be removed for over a week, and was a silver-impregnated material which was supposed to promote healing. Next appointment was TWO days later this time on Friday to check it out before the weekend. They had to swap out some of the aquacell, and they finally cut the blisters on all the small toes and applied aquacell on them also, and set an appointment for Tuesday.
Lo and behold, on Saturday morning, Catherine stood up for the first time as we sat there watching her and cringing. By that afternoon, she was slowly walking around as we attended a birthday party. As of this morning, she is walking somewhat easily, as any awkwardness seems to be more of a result of the size of the dressing than any pain she is having (she refers to her feet 'tickling' at times, but no real pain).
The doctors at the hospital said that they were not applying any limitations on what Catherine physically wanted to do, other than to make sure the dressing did not get wet or really dirty (they gave her these really cute sock/booties). It is truly incredible to see the resilience of children, as you will see from the pictures below. It is hard to believe that she was walking so soon after injuries that horrific.
And if you have a strong stomach, you can check out some pictures here.
posted by Alex de Frondeville at 10:08 AM
6 Comments:
actually i'm driving my hits by having a caltech student write a program to repeatedly hit my site.
and i'm working dilligently drive up visits by including words like 'pornography' 'gambling' and 'drugs'.
shriners? you know that they are much more than weird little old men in monkey hats.
these innocuous buffoons are actually 33rd degree freemasons!!!
be warned.
Really? I thought they were Stonecutters. I guess I'll have to warn Nicholas Cage.
I'm driving hits by showing gruesome pictures and catering to the rubberneckers out there.
Seriously, though, the Shriners Clinic has been awesome, and amazingly enough in this day and age, it is completely free (although we will be giving generously to their 'campaign' this year).
Here's hoping that Catherine's speedy recovery continues, Alex. Please wish her well from the bloggers.
Wow, that is awful! Thank god she's doing well now!
Have you thought about going to a newspaper? That's just a horrifying story. It will help warn other people and may help increase the settlement.
[Note: When I was 7, kids fooling around in the lunch line ended up spilling scalding soup on my leg. It was ludicrously hot --and I received 3rd degree burns. The skin just peeled off. I spent the night in the hospital -- and needed the dressing and cooling liquid applied frequently. Alas, those were the days before lawsuits...
We're keeping our options open for the moment. It is a little late to go to a newspaper, and that seems almost inflammatory. We did get it all cordoned off by the MIT police/facilities people (with appropriate before/after pictures).
I'm willing to testify, for whichever side offers me a larger cut.
"Yes, Your Honor, I saw the plaintiff trespassing. I think I heard her brother tell her to take her shoes off, in fact. That new car I'm driving? Oh, MIT didn't want it, said I could have it."
One would hope that there have not been any previous incidents of burns on campus, that this was truly a freak accident.
The girl seems to be doing well now. I was surprised to see how walking around last night, kicking a soccer ball.
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