10th Day after Release from the Hosp

Missy has been continuing down the path to recovery. All the areas on her hands and forearms are healing as expected. She has a couple slight problem areas where she broke open the skin in her sleep by scratching thru the dressings. She says that the itching is unbelievable. Since she has been itching in her sleep those two areas are now quite painful so she has gone back on pain meds as needed. She had been doing real good without them her first week out of the hospital. The itching is due to the nerve endings regenerating, which is all a good thing- but none the less quite bothersome! Most of the burned areas are now a whitish purple color, except for the broken tissue area which (according to Missy) looks like ground meat! We went to the burn clinic today for her second visit. As I mentioned, the Dr. said that it is all healing the way burns do and that now we can stop putting on the Bacitracin ointment and only use Hydraphor on the purple areas and then Hydraphor and the Xeroform sheets on the broken skin area. On top of that she has now been fitted for interim pressure gloves and sleeves. These are quite tight, so you can imagine quite painful to put on. They have to be worn inside out so that the seams don't irritate the burned areas. Missy was in tears during the whole process of putting them on. Once on though, she says that it feels pretty good. Boy, I'm going to have fun tomorrow doing the change! Her left hand has a full glove and then a sleeve over that. On Sunday, we will remove the four fingers from the glove and only have her thumb on the left hand covered. The right hand has a sleeve on, with a hole cut out for her thumb to go through.

Missy did ask the Dr. if he would release her to go back to work on Monday, 1/19 and he said fine, if she thought that she could do her job. She is very excited to get his release. It's a major step in getting back to some normalcy. She has her next app't back at the Burn Clinic in two weeks. Hopefully, the new meds that he gave her for the itching will help her keep her hands off the burn areas while she sleeps.

Took some pics of some of Missy's "get well" cards and two lovely bouquets of flowers that Missy received!

Missy's 3rd Full Day Home- 1st App't @ The Burn " Clinic"

Today was my 1st day back at work since the accident. Lot's to catch up on but had to cut it short to get Missy to her first app't at the Burn Clinic. Missy was pretty concerned how rough they might be during the dressing change there. The first gal that Missy saw took off her dressing in a fairly aggressive manner so Missy was really getting a bit panicky. (I've got to digress for a minute to talk about "who's who" at the hospital! When I was a nursing student so many long years ago, you knew who the nurses were, they wore the starched white hats- still have mine from Purdue by the way! Dr's wore white coats and nursing assistants wore something totally different. Today in the hospital setting you have absolutely no idea who you are talking to. They all wear scrubs!) Anyway, I'm not sure what that first gals position was, but the second was a nurse and she cleaned the burned area very gently, infact, she told Missy that she didn't have to scrub anymore just dab the area. The Dr (in scrubs) came in after and said that the areas are healing nicely. Lots of new little pink skin buds are popping up all over the 3rd degree area. He is very pleased with how fast she is healing. Missy asked if he thought that she could be back to work on the 19th and he said very possibly. He doesn't want to see her again until a week from now, next Wednesday. So he will let her know then if he will sign off on her return. Of course, she will have to be off all pain meds in order to drive herself but she is determined. I also don't have to use the silver med on the 3rd degree area anymore, just the Bacitracin. Next week, the Dr. will also fit her for a couple of pressure garments for the burned areas, if he feels that the scarred areas are raising.

Missy's 2nd Full Day @ Home

Yesterday I took Missy out to do some bank business and we were in search of soft sponges and baby washcloths. It's actually very hard to find soft sponges. Missy did her debriements at the hospital with soft sponges but they said that they don't send those home with patients because they want them to be a little more aggressive with scrubbing the eschar off. They sent home a huge bag of dressing change material with us when she was released on Sunday. I have done two dressing changes so far and all went well. These pics are from after her debriement tonight before I dressed the areas. Missy has almost cut in half the pain meds that she had been taking in the hospital. She is so anxious to get back to her life! We went out today for another Dr's app't that she had, then we went up her work in Scottsdale as well for her to check in. She has given herself a goal! She told work that she would be back on Jan. 19th. Things are going well but we'll see what the Dr's say. She has her first app't at the Burn Clinic tomorrow afternoon.

Lucky Day 13- Missy's Last Day @ the Burn Center

As I mentioned yesterday, the Dr's reviewed Missy's progress and decided that she could be sent home today. She called us around 10am this morning and said that I needed to come in at visitation to assist in her debriement and dressing. I got there about 11:30am to find the hospital parking lot filled with fire trucks and more sirens on the way. I didn't see anyone running out so I continued on into the building. I had tried Missy's cell phone but she had it turned off and I didn't know the number to her room phone. The elevators are located at the front lobby so I asked there for her room # and called her. She didn't realize that anything was going on. One of the security guys said that it involved the ninth floor, well there is no ninth, the Burn Unit is on 7th, which is the top floor. Alot of confusion, and tons of Phoenix's finest with oxygen tanks on and axes in their hands. They were coming down the stairwells as I was going up. I had to stop at the 5th floor for a few minutes to let my heart calm down. Talk about needing to exercise more! Remind me to put that on my Resolution List for 2009. Got to the 7th floor to find Missy and nurse Kay waiting for me to assist for the dressing change. We went into the treatment room where Missy took off the dressing herself and then got into a tub of warm water. She gently wiped off the silver meds with a sponge (which they no longer want her to use). They would like her to try to be a bit more aggressive in wiping the meds off using a wash cloth. I forgot to mention that I put on gloves and a mask to do the dressing change. She needs help with bathing the rest of her body and hair so I will be doing that. After we had finished that part she got out and I dried her off and then she sat down for the dressing of the burns. The 3rd degree area is very burgundy in color, with a kind of slimey white area on top (which is the eschar). On top of the eschar goes the silver meds, lightly laid on top of that area. Next I take this yellow like thick film which has like a vaseline substance all over it and I add Bacitracin to it and wrap it on top of all of the 2nd and 3rd degree area, cutting sizes to fit. After that I cut 2 finger stockinets to fit on her index finger on one hand and her thumb on the other. Then I wrap the dressed areas with gauze and then cut a length of the stockinet stuff for each hand and cut a little hole for her thumbs and stretch it down around the wrappings. Missy says that the yellow film feels so good because it is so moist and does not dry the areas out. I will be doing this dressing change once a day. She will be calling the burn clinic in the morning to see when she needs to be seen down there. I am hoping that it will be Friday, either first thing in the morning or late in the afternoon. I will be returning to work on Wednesday, so want to minimize missed time as much as possible. It will really help with Missy down to one dressing change a day.

Anyway, back to the rest of the day. We finished the dressing change around 12:30pm and then sat around until almost 3pm before they could get everything they needed to do to release her. When we finally got set free we worked our way back towards home and stopped in at our favorite coffee shop and grabbed our usual- iced mochas. From there we dropped off Missy's prescriptions and then proceeded to Missy's condo for clothes and toiletries for her stay at our house. Missy warned me that she had left garbage that probably would be smelling up the condo. I didn't notice it but I did see a sink full of dishes that had food cemented on it. I did a quick soaking and then washed them. I decided that I should probably check the refrigerator. Oh my God!!!!!! There was the smell. Two gallons of milk that had full separation, raw chicken!!!!, black and green cheese, liquified lettuce and cucumbers and so much more. I carried 4 bags down to the trash bin! Wow, should have thought to check the condo sooner. I also had to bring home 2 bags full of clothes. The washer was full of wet clothes from two weeks ago that smelled mildewy. After leaving the condo we stopped back at the drug store to pick up her pain meds and finally made it home around 6pm. Once home, she was anxious to see what news I had been posting since she was hospitalized. She also did a quick video call with my folks in MI. My mom shed a few tears when she saw that Missy was going to be okay. After the call, Missy was ready for some meds, ate some dinner and shortly after that went to bed. She had far too much activity today. But she is so grateful to be out of the hospital and at Dad and Mom's house. We were also talking on the way home about what good care that she got at the Burn Center and what nice staff (for the most part) that they have there. She had some real angels there with their gentle hands helping her thru the worst of it- Kim, Kay. Tony, LouAnn, Kevin and so many others. She got hugs on her way out today!

Phil had been busy over the last two days getting the change of flooring done in the front bedroom. It had been sitting around since we redid the flooring in the some of the other rooms, which I think was around August. He hadn't had any time to do it since then so was looking forward to this short time off period to get it done. Since I've been up at the hospital daily, not much has happened at the house either. Christmas decorations will probably stay up until this weekend since I need to get Missy in tomorrow or the next day to some of her other Dr's as well. There are still unopened gifts under the tree that will need to get opened at some time. I am so anxious to get back to some state of semi-normalcy.

Day 12 @ the Burn Center

Today was the best day so far and she may have met her requirements for release from hospital care. I got in a little after 12pm and she was busy stuffing aquaphor down her dressings. She only puts it on the second degree areas because the third degree areas have the silver medicine on that and that medicine debries the dead area away. Since she is down to one dressing and debriement a day it happened around 2:30pm. They brought her in pain meds in pill form and then waited 1/2 hour and then took her back to the bathing treatment tubs. She cleaned the burned areas herself and required no additional IV pain meds. She did need help dressing the burns which will be my job when she comes back to stay with us. I should be able to do this when I get home from work every day. The day nurse today said that there are three requirements for release- no IV pain meds during dressing changes, burns have healed enough where the possibilty of infection is low and that the patient is being sent home to somewhere- where minimal care can be given. She meets these, so hopefully the Dr's in the morning will agree and we can get her home. She will be sent home with enough dressings and pain meds for us to do at home until she is due back at the burn clinic. She will be monitored every so many days at the burn clinic for possible infection and whatever else is involved in her continuing burn care. She is very anxious to get on with her life and get beyond all this.

Tonight, when visiting hours were over Phil, Missy and I went down to the cafeteria for a bite to eat so we could visit a little longer. She can leave the floor at 6PM , we just can't stay on the floor. It was a nice change for her. No Vanilla Custard Soft Serve Yogurt tonight for dessert, they had Dutch Chocolate instead. That was pretty good too. She seemed to enjoy it!

Day 11 @ the Burn Center

Today I got in about 11:30am. As I was gowning up at the nurses station, LouAnn came in around the back office area and stopped to talk to me. She had been in the treatment room this morning during Missy's debriement and said that the left hand is starting to look better. She said that there is a thin layer of eschar but she could see some new skin buds popping up around the area so she is not planning on grafting now. Thank God! The poor woman in the bed across from Missy had her first grafting late Monday night. She has been crying in so much pain since then after every change of dressing. She'll be going into surgery in the morning for her second grafting. LouAnn had said early on, that grafting would be used as the last alternative if possible because of all the pain at the donor site. When I got into Missy's room she was sitting up in her bed eating some of her lunch. They had just given her a Benadryl injection so she was getting pretty sleepy. She went to sleep and I lightly dozed myself in the chair (my neck is feeling it about now too!). About 2:30pm Kevin, her OT, came in and was working with her on her range of motion. Since she pulled off all that thick skin yesterday, the fingers move so freely, which helps with the stretching that she needs to do. He was real pleased with her range. The stretching really is painful, yet in a good way (kind of like when you had a tooth almost ready to come out, so the OT told me). Around 3pm this afternoon- Sharon, Jeff, Kim and Sal stopped by to visit with Missy. The floor was regulating the number of visitors today, so I came out and Sharon and Sal went in for awhile and then I took Kim in to see Missy. Jeff decided that he would stay off the floor. It was well over 10 years ago now- wow how time flies, that Jeff was in the hospital himself for months because of Leukemia, he beat it and has been in remission! After they left, Mike stopped by after work for a visit as well. We stayed until 6pm and said our goodbyes. Julie and Justin were coming by @ 8pm. We are definately on the road to recovery and with Missy's determination to get back to her busy life it will be a speedy one.

Day 10 @ the Burn Center

Today was the best day so far! We are making headway. I got in around noon today. Turk and Sandy were already there for a visit. I guess that the nurse had come in shortly before me to give her Benadryl by IV. That put her out like right now. She dozed thru most of Turk and Sandy's visit. Aunt Gail got in right when they left and was there about 15 minutes before Donna got there. Missy slept thru most of that too. Phil got there and she was still sleeping but he said something about Missy and suddenly she commented to that, so she must have been listening at least to some of the conversaion! Although you wouldn't have known that. Donna left after about an hour or so (I lose track of time in the room) and then I decided that I better wake her up or she wouldn't be able to sleep tonight. I brought her in a bathrobe today so Aunt Gail, Missy and I went down to the cafeteria for a bowl of vanilla custard soft serve frozen yogurt. We took it out to the children's play area and ate it at a table in the beautiful weather. It is a large covered outside area, so Missy was protected from the sun. The Dr. said that she has lost the pigment on her face so it needs to be protected. She was bright, alert and totally enjoying being outside. While we were there today Missy did not ask for any additional pain meds. She gets pain meds by mouth every few hours anyway but up until today she has asked for additional meds during the day by IV. (she still needs the pain meds for her debriements though). She also said that for the third time she has cleaned the areas be herself during the debriements. We should find out shortly if she still needs the grafts. If so, that will be a little setback. Today she also was able to remove all this thickened skin on the palm side of her fingers. This thickening of skin has prevented her from straightening her fingers out. She feels totally relieved about that. The OT told her yesterday that it would come off easily when it was ready, and today was the day!
When Missy and I got back to the room from our visit outside with Aunt Gail, Mike was there. We stayed until the end of the first visitation today (a little after 6pm) and then went home. She was a little upset last night about being alone in the evening but it turns out that Chris and Pam stopped by to visit and I believe that Damian stopped by as well. I guess that she was a sleep when they got there and didn't want to wake her up. As the intensity of the pain decreases, it has been easier on her to be alone there. Not sure if I had mentioned it early on or not, but she is in a room with two other patients. The gal across the room from her speaks no English at all. So there can be no visiting there and up until two days ago no one was in the other bed. Two days ago, the patient from hell arrived! She is definately hurt, no doubt about that but she also wants to make everyone elses life miserable as well. Today she was talking to someone (quite loudly) demanding that they come in to see her because she needed a hug. We quietly chuckled on that one. (she's probably in her fifties). Anyway, it's good to be home by 7pm instead of 11pm, as it had been. Again, to all that have called and sent emails of concern and best wishes, thanks for thinking of my daughter and my family.