Things have been awfully hectic since I last wrote. Tony got some pretty significant chemical burns at work a couple of weeks ago. His right leg and arm, got it the worse, and a couple of lesser areas on his back, spots on his hands. When I saw them again the next day, BIG blisters and max redness and peeling skin, I knew that was more than I could help with so I told him to go to the doc.
He went to a local clinic and they decided he needed to go to a diabetic wound care clinic. There they fixed him up with antibiotic ointment and bandages but didn’t suggest anything else and told him to replace them daily. Well, that wasn’t something he could do for himself and we didn’t have bandages and stuff, so he talked them into having a nurse change the dressings daily. By this time, of course, he’d told them at work so he wasn’t working any more but he still had to drive in to the clinic every day to change dressings.
After about a week of that, another doc saw him and wasted no time in admitting him to the local hospital around noon, I guess. I went to visit him shortly thereafter. I left around five or so and took his wallet and stuff with me, thinking I’d come back with them the next day. But the doc who saw him later decided to send him either to Dallas or San Antonio to a specialized burn hospital and he left about midnight by ambulance to San Antonio.
It all happened so fast we didn’t have time to think about it. Thank goodness for cell phones and texting or I wouldn’t have known anything. They took him to the big military burn center there. It’s famous for its burn care so that was good. Only he had no ID, no money, nada. I had his wallet and I was home while he was "traveling!" LOL He joked about being "broke and undocumented" but the situation was a little too surreal and yet realistic at the same time. He got some strange looks now and then. When you have an accent and brown skin and no ID, well, it can be scary.
So he was there for several days while they removed the burned skin every day, slathered him with ointment, and considered surgery for skin grafts on his elbow and knee. Thank goodness that didn’t turn out to be necessary. After a while he convinced them he needed to go home because he figured I needed him here since I don’t do so well on my own. I can do everything that needs to be done, of course, it’s just awfully hard and takes me a really long time and I can’t convince him that’s OK. But they acquiesced.
Of course, San Antonio is 150 miles to the south, he didn’t have a car and couldn’t even rent one without his drivers license, which I had up here. So Workers Comp, which had by this time been notified of the situation, sent him home by cab. Whew! I certainly didn’t look forward to driving down there and back, though driving is generally fairly comfortable for me. That’s a big city and I’m not familiar with it and trying to get around in it and figure out where the hospital was didn’t thrill me.
So for the past week he’s been taking warm showers and then we scrape off the dead skin and schmear him with antibiotic ointment and wrap him up like a mummy. At least the burn hospital sent him home with bags and bags of bandages and ointment. *G* Today was supposed to be the last day I had to wrap him up but he somehow managed to get the essentials taken care of by himself and those bandages will stay on until he has his followup appointment tomorrow. Again, they’re sending a cab for him. Whew!
It’s been an exhausting week or two. Thank goodness his skin is looking pretty good now, though still really red and purplish, but it looks much better. It never did pain him as much as I’d expect it to but the itching nearly drove him crazy. I’m hoping they have something else that can be used from here on out without the daily mummy-ing again. Maybe vitamin E oil or something like that. They gave him three special shirts that are treated with silver to combat any potential infection, as well as oral antibiotics, so maybe if we can figure out how to keep the skin from drying and shrinking and being painful we won’t have to wrap him.
I’ve never had much to do with burns and even so, things are way more advanced than when I had any reason to learn about them so I don’t know what’s the protocol any more. But I’m glad they sent him to San Antonio because that burn center is famous for their burn treatments.
So, I guess we’ll have some answers by tomorrow evening when he gets back. By cab. *G*
And that’s all the news that’s fit to print! LOL
I am so sorry, Sam! Rating the mending continues.
K
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Praying
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Thanks, Mary Ann. It’s been hectic but he seems well on the mend and every so often I remember that it could have been so much worse. Since he’s diabetic we have to be really careful about infection since so much skin area is involved but it’s going much better than I’d have expected. Whew!
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Wow, Sam. That’s some news. A hard situation for you guys. I was about to see if you and Tony want company for Thanksgiving. (Did you know that silver nanoparticles are the most common nano material known to be included in a variety of products?) Look forward to talking with you soon.
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It has been a very full and hectic time, fershure. I’m currently waiting for him to return from his followup appt in San Antonio. Usually he keeps me updated with texts but nothing, today. :>( He did say to tell you that your room is still ready :>) so that sounds like Thanksgiving is a go. Didn’t know that about silver nanoparticles. I’ll have to see if Silvadine contains them. I suppose it does and there will be another disappointment. :>(
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C’mon – nano be good. 😐
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Well, if it’s the only thing that works it’d be hard to say no to, but if Bacitracin will do the trick I suppose it’s best to stick with that. I don’t wanna contribute to the nanoparticle mess unless there’s no other option. :>(
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Glad he is doing better, Sam. It sounds like it was significant burns. Nancilynn
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Thanks, Nancilynn. Yes, the burns were significant but happily not as bad as they could have been. We’re past the mummy-wrapping stage now and into the Eucerin/lotion stage to keep the skin soft and smooth and as itch free as possible. I’m just so grateful that it’s not been nearly as bad as it might have been. Not fun but definitely not tragic, etc.
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