Diagnosis: 2nd Degree burns covering the majority of my right hand and forearm, with the possibility of 3rd degree in certain spots.

Wednesday, 24th October I was rehearsing for a fire show on the Amherst commons. The rehearsal had been going pretty god-awful, especially for a show to be performed in two days. Towards the end of the rehearsal, the scene change before the final act we had a kitchen pot with a small amount of white gas in it, which was used for lighting eating, and as a general light source in other scenes; the pot was suppose to move forward a little bit. I picked up the pot by the handle; the wind pushed the flame towards me, so I tried to reposition myself and then I went to put it down. Putting the pot down again caused the flame to shoot towards me, so I dropped the pot, which caused the lit fuel in it to splash onto my right arm. I was holding a duv in my left hand, and made one feeble attempt to put the fire out, but was quickly consumed by the pain of it and began screaming for help from the safeties. One girl was nearby holding a sheet that had been used as a prop, and got to me in a little over 5 seconds, tackling my arm. Some of the fuel had dripped onto the bottom of my pants, so when they saw that my arm was being taken care of, two others dove at my leg to put it out. I later found out most of these details from a friend who saw what happened as they’re pretty fuzzy to me.

Once I was put out, it took a few seconds for it to register what had happened, and then I crumpled into tears because of the pain of it. In the dark, the skin on my arm looked like it could be completely charred, but someone shined a light on it, which showed that the parts that looked black were really rolls of dead skin. I was able to keep my mind clear enough to know that I needed to get to a hospital, and I was able to tell those around me where I had placed my keys, cell phone, and wallet. Sarah, who is a trained EMT for my school, helped me keep my breathing under control and had someone phone 911. The police came first, and I was able to tell them my name and birthdate, and then I was walked to the ambulance.

First entering the ambulance was agony due to the 5+ degree temperature difference between outside and the ambulance. I was set on a gurney the paramedic asked what happened, and took down my information. I was told that, while I should do what was most comfortable, they had laid sterile sheets on my, so it would be safe to rest my arm on my chest; the only position I could bare to hold my arm in was lifted high in the air above me. The paramedics put an IV in my left arm and immediately dosed me with a four of morphine. He explained that they would be taking me to Baystate ER, 30 minutes away in Springfield instead of a closer hospital because of the severity of the burn. Over the 30minut ride, they gave me two more fours of morphine, making a total of 12. It didn’t make any difference to the pain.

Upon arriving in the hospital, I was wheeled into the main ER; a chorus of “yeeshoowwoch” followed me, which I must admit made me smile a little bit. I was given a different drug through the IV, which I was old was a synthetic, and therefore stonger, version of morphine. It wasn’t until the second dose of that I began to feel pain relief. Within 5 minutes of my arrival I was wheeled into my own room.

The nurse told me that the trauma team would be in to see me soon; she had me change into a hospital gown (she had to cut off my shirt), saying that they would cut off my clothes to insure that my arm was the only thing burned. She explained that I was considered a trauma patient because of the severity of the burn, and it would simply mean that I would be treated with a greater priority. They were so concerned about the burn because it was circular (went al l the way around my wrist, and part of my forearm) and because it was over a major joint (wrist). There was also the possibility that small portions of the burn were 3rd degree. I was told that they were considering sending me to the burn center in Boston (an hour and a half away) – in the end they opted not to. I was also told that there a small chance (10-15%) that I’ll need a skin graft, which will be determined at my check up visit on Monday.
The doctors washed the burn with surgical sponges soaked with saline, then they used scissors to cut away as much of the dead skin as they could. They covered the burn with Silvadene using a tongue compressor stick. Then they dressed it by applying surgical sponges on top of the cream, loosely wrapping my hand and forearm in gauze, then fitting a netting sleeve over it.
I was released from the hospital a little before 3am, and driven home by the three friends who followed me to the hospital. I was prescribed with silvadene creme, Ibuprfen, and oxycodone; but the nurse gave me a few single doses of the oxycoden to get me through the night and morning. Continuing through the next day, I had trouble keeping anything in my system, including water. My guess is that it was a reaction to the large amount of morphine that I was on, and the oxycoden. I have since taken both drugs with a full glass of water, and something to eat, like toast or crackers. While my stomach is not completely back to usual, taking the pills with food has helped a lot.
I have to wash, apply the silvadene, and redress he burn once a day. We start by cutting of the outer netting. I then submerge my arm in tepid water, to allow the bandages to unstuck from my arm. I then submerge my arm in the water, and my roommate will use a surgical sponge to carefully dab away loose ski and remaining crème. She then applies a new layer of crème with a tongue compressor, and bandages my arm as the doctors instructed. The first two days the guaze had been almost entirely stained yellow from the pus of the burn, but the yellow has started to decrease. The cleaning and dressing process is by far the most painful part, even when I have take the oxycoden 30 minutes prior. Mornings tend to be really painful, too. Apart from that, the pain is kept under control with the medication. This is the most painful thing I’ve ever been through, and that’s including the major jaw surgery I had 2 ½ years ago. I will update again after the check up on Monday.

I have included links to photos from today, day three, of my arm:
During bandage removal: img.photobucket.com/albums/v..._2110.jpg

The burn:
img.photobucket.com/albums/v..._2112.jpg