Re: hazards... /burned my arm

[Guest guest]

To: MSersLife <MSersLife >Sent: Thu, August 5, 2010 3:24:39 AMSubject: vacation hazards... /burned my arm

We had dinner guests this past Friday, a nice couple, really down to earth kind of people and with a great sense of humour. They have a small farm, the wife is a veterinarian and the husband is a plumber. We were making pasta bolognese ( loves to cook it for guests, it takes 5-6 hours to do it "the right way", and it really is delicious). delish

In any case, when the guests were seated and I lifted the lid to the bolognese sauce the steam burned my arm. I really don't know how a meat sauce could produce that amount of hot steam, but it did. And it burned it kind of badly, it was an area of about 4 inches wide and across the inside of my arm right above the hand that was affected, and it was dark red, and had blisters too. I ran some cold water over it and then grabbed some ice from the freezer, when the cold water didn't really seem to do the trick. That's when the lady stopped me, took hold of my arm and put the ice in a towel and then wrapped it around my arm. I was a bit surprised, but in an amused way, that she just went ahead and did it like that, without saying anything, like she went into "mother mode", or perhaps rather, "veterinarian mode"... When she was done she said "Oh.. I am sorry...was it ok that I did that." I said that of course it was, and thanked

her, but added: that is what happens when you train for something - you follow the procedure and fix it - sorta mom + doc

"Your usual patients don't talk much, do they?"...

The ice really was necessary, because it did hurt like hell all evening, even despite the ice (and despite that the veterinarian lady changed the ice pack a few times), so I don't really want to know how bad it would have hurt without the ice. pain means you didn't get the nerves - a good thing - when I was 10 we were on the economy in Germany in a 3rd floor apartment - that was a hoot - I was arguing with my little brother and walked through the cord to the coffee pot - the hot coffee hit the back of my knee and took the whole calf - being more than 50 miles from the dispensary we finished supper - my angels were watching me - Grace grabbed the diapers off the dryer (after diapers they became dust rags) and the vaseline - not the right combination - the medics couldn't understand why I was watching them debride (pull the dead skin off with tweezers) - I wanted to be a nurse - the nerves by then

did not hurt - when we got back home in the wee hours - it started hurting and burning - this was the night before we moved into temporary quarters in Kaiserslautern (biggest army housing kaisern/city in Germany) - there was a minor hitch - we lived on the 4th floor (no elevators) - I had to walk a block and go up two flights of stairs to cross the bridge over the autobahn - then two flights of stairs to the huge parking lot - and you guessed it - my class was on the second floor - two round trips a day during the week - I ate lunch at home - every week for six weeks we walked a mile or so to the medics to have the dressings changed.

I did have it checked on after the weekend, since my sister urged me to. And it now has a fancy bandage, or dressing might be the word, known as "mepitel" (I am guessing the name comes from epitel – as in Swedish for epithelium, which is the tissue type skin is, – and with an "m" added for "medical"). Sort of a sticky silicone net that should act as a temporary replacement for the top skin layer, doing roughly what the skin normally does, leaving the actual skin to concentrate on healing. I couldn't help but hearing my grandmother' s voice in my head saying "Oh, the things they come up with these days" to that… And on top of that a normal cotton dressing pad (the moist absorbent kind), and then some gauze bandage to hold it all in place.

It looks kind of neat. Especially compared to the ice+towel package… The dressing pad and the gauze bandage needs to be replaced on a regular basis of course, but I can do that myself with the help of , so it won't impede our vacation plans much (except that I am not really supposed to go for a swim until it heals, because of burns being susceptible to infections).

It is itchy as hell, but I take that to be a good sign (indicating healing), and it hurts a little bit at times, but nothing like the night when I got the burn. It does, however keep me away from the computer some, since it's located right where I'd normally rest my arm on the desk, to use the computer mouse and/or the keyboard, and that hurts to do now. Despite the fancy dressing ; ) (and I have tried to switch the mouse to the left side, but I am really not at all good at using my left hand for that…). itching means that it is healing

Well, the hazards of vacations…

love

/Reb