Monday, November 19, 2012

Getting Burned

Recently Paul lit up the woodstove for the first time since last year.  Previously, we'd always had a fence around it, but the twins are older now and we hadn't put it up.  Paul told the boys it would be hot, and then fired it up.  Not ten minutes later, Reid was walking by on his way to the table, and put his hand out to touch the stove.  He got burned.  And it looked bad.

I felt terrible as I ran his hand under the cold water, and he screamed and sobbed, huge tears swiftly tumbling down his cheeks.  Paul and I snapped at one another in our worry over what to do.  I ended up spraying it with Dermablast, applying triple antibiotic ointment, and bandaging it before calling the doctor for an appointment.  Luckily, they had appointments available that Saturday morning.  I held a shaky Reid on the couch while we watched Caillou and bided our time until the appointment.

At the doctor's office, the nurses applauded our treatment of the burn.  They applied some special burn cream (which would alleviate pain and prevent infection) before rebandaging it.  We were prescribed some of the special cream, and told to keep the burn bandaged for a week.  The key thing at this point was to prevent infection. 

Do you think a 3 year old likes to keep a bandage on for a week?  Not so much.  So I drew a cat on Reid's bandage every single day (his request) so that he would leave it on.

Below is a picture of the burn.  If you don't like graphic pictures, you might not want to scroll down any further.  You can see why I was so horrified after it first happened - you know how painful it must have been! 
Around the 4th day, the blister finally popped, and then Reid's hand was able to start draining.  Of course, once it popped it was more painful to him.  But thankfully he seems to be healing up well.  And while I seem to still be filled with Mom-guilt over the incident, slowly as he heals I am recovering too.  These accidents just seem to happen sometimes, regardless of how hard we try to protect our children.  I'm not the only one who felt horrible over what happened.  Pierce came home from school with this picture in his folder:
It's a picture of Reid by the woodstove, with a bandage on his hand.  On the back it says,
Reid hert his hand and has a blistr.  It hrtes rily bad. I got my frst day (aka first aid) kit.  Mom got her frst day kit.  Mom put a banddage on him.  His blistr is big.  Mom put medesin on it.

And every day Cort and Pierce both say, "Reid, is your owie hand feeling better?"  Nice to see some brotherly concern, in the midst of the daily squabbles.  I sure hope that's the last burn incident that we have in this family! 

42 comments:

Karen thisoldhouse2.com said...

OH, the poor kid. but I bet he will NEVER touch it again, lesson learned. And you're so right, we try our hardest to keep them safe from any harm, but that's nearly impossible. One of the hardest things about being a parent.

Melanie said...

I certainly hope that it is the last burn incident!!!! Love what Pierce wrote on the back of his paper and loving the idea of a "first day" kit! So very precious!
Your post reminds me of a Mom-guilt incident of my own. My daughter was about 9 months old and we were sitting in the floor playing. She was laughing and she turned to crawl towards her toys, and slipped bumping her head. I was right there and could not move fast enough to stop her from hurting herself!!! I cried as much as she did!! Mom-guilt happens, we don't want our little ones to hurt, and try to prevent it from happening. Hoping that Reid's hand feels better quickly!

Buttons Thoughts said...

Oh Mom guilt I remember it well.
He is a brave little boy and he will have a nice story to tell when he is in his teens. I am kidding ..... well Maybe my M still talks about the time she burned her hand making popcorn. :)
Love the pic and explanation on the back that is a keeper. B

andy said...

Oh wow! Im sure glad its better! Im sure that was painful for the little guy and very stressful for mama.

Kerri Farley said...

Oh my ..... poor little fella! But MOM you handled it well!!! Kudos to you and DAD! How we respond to things like this is what counts!!
Hope he is on the mend and feeling better soon!

Heather said...

Oh goodness! That does look like a bad burn. But, I'm glad it is healing so well! And good that you knew right what to do for him! Hopefully he is feeling like himself again.

Unknown said...

I am so glad he is feeling better!

Nancy said...

My oldest son burned his hand on Grandpa's riding mower when he was three -- he survived (he's 31 now) and so will Pierce. But I'm so sorry about his owie, though. Poor little dear. xo

Michaele said...

It just doesn't look hot does it? That blister was huge! We had a cat jump on our stove once. Can you imagine!?

Sally said...

Well, Lisa, you certainly knew a lot more about treating Reid's hand than I would have. You're a quick thinker. And, the boys know you and Paul are taking wonderful care of them.

xoxo

Andrea said...

Ow! My knees went weak at that picture. Poor baby! And poor you!! I'm glad he's OK and how cute is that picture done by Pierce. Adorable!

Coloring Outside the Lines said...

Oh bless his heart- poor thing! I know that hurt- burns are so painful.
You handled it so well- hope it heals quickly.

Anonymous said...

Oh! Poor kid. Each of ours touched our fireplace in turn. We never even turned it on for the longest time because it was so hazardous. Oy.

What a sweet brother.

Barbara said...

I am so glad he is feeling better!! I completely understand how you were feeling! That letter from his brother is too sweet.

Sharon Wagner said...

Oh my. I can just imagine the bedlam. It is a good reminder about fire safety. Especially at this time of year. I hope that little hand is good enough to hold a big fork for Thanksgiving!

Tina Fariss Barbour said...

I'm so sorry about Reid's burn! I hope it heals quickly. You responded so quickly and well--that's what's important. Pierce's drawing and words are so sweet.

An Apel a Day said...

That's horrible. :( I feel so bad for him. I do have to say it's cute that he insists on having a cat drawn on the bandage.

I follow a ladies blog that got in an airplane crash. Her body was burned terrible. 85% of it was burned. :( She had 4 kids. 2 wouldn't go see her because they were afraid. Her youngest didn't remember her. She was in the hospital for months. She's doing well now. She actually had another baby. It helped stretch out her skin to use it in other areas of her body.

My mom gets burned a lot. She accident pron with that I guess. One time she spilled or dropped a whole coffee pot on her arm/hand at work. Then she was talking on a phone and ironing at the same time. She had to go potty. She came back and answered the iron. OUCH!

Thankfully my boys haven't been burned. But one had a staph infection. One had meningitis. One was born with a cyst under his tongue. His tongue was skinny on one side and normal on the other. One had a really bad fall. He had ouch mark that went down the center of his face. The last to heal was right under his nose. He looked like Hitler for a whole season. It was not fun to wipe his nose. We've had our issues you could say.

LOVE MELISSA:) said...

Oh my goodness Lisa. I hope he feels better! That is a horrible blister! Poor baby!

The Cranky said...

Ow! Poor wee guy.

Still, remember in the midst of that Mom guilt that you did the right things and he is getting better.

TexWisGirl said...

awww! first day kit! so sweet. but glad he's doing better!

renae said...

Lisa! hi! o dear - big blister. the pic of it was a bit tmi. i imagined it just red. ooooowwwhheee!

Hayley said...

Back in fall/winter '09 when Cade was 2, he touched the glass on our gas fireplace that had been running all morning. He knew not to but just wasn't paying attention and was picking up a ball that had rolled that way. The twins were just babies, not even crawling, and Cade had always been really careful... I felt awful and we've not had it on since. There's a pic of his hand somewhere on my neglected blog...

Just gotta say- that blister is huge! Poor kiddo! Good thing his momma has good instincts!

Kim@stuffcould.... said...

This is so painful looking...It hurts me to think of it

Gail Dixon said...

Poor Reid! I admit the photo of the blister made me wince. He'll probably never look at that stove the same way again. As parents, it's painful to watch our children suffer or make mistakes. Accidents do happen though, despite our best efforts. Sounds like you guys handled it all appropriately. And it gave the siblings a chance to show their love for their brother. That part of the story was very sweet. Hope his owie is still improving.

Are We There Yet! said...

Oh Ouch!! Poor baby. It looks like it hurts. Hope it heals fast.

Our Neck of the Woods said...

YIIIIKES! That's a bad burn! Poor guy :( Good for you for treating it right away. I bet he never touches it again!

Mary said...

Oh sad for Reid...mom and dad, too. I am glad it is not worse. Thanks for coming by. A Silver Certificate is, or was at the time, back in the olden times of US mint...backed by a particular amount of silver...at that time worth $5 in silver. But now money is printed without silver backing...backed by inflation, I guess. This was was dated 1953...and the internet said between $6.50-$22.00. I pays to watch for them, to gain some extra value. There are very few silver certificates out there.

Clint Baker said...

Oh Dear Lord! We will be praying for a quick recovery!

Michelle said...

Bless his heart! So sorry to hear about this. We have a wood stove too and really used to stress about using it when the kids were younger.

Betsy Banks Adams said...

AH---poor baby!!!!! Bet he'll never touch that stove (or anything hot) again... Oh My--the joys of raising kids. That's how they learn. Bless his heart... Glad it's getting better.

Happy Thanksgiving.
Hugs,
Betsy

Chatty Crone said...

Well first of all I am so sorry he got burned. I know you feel bad too. I hope he heels.

We were getting my son his big bed in preperation of his new sister - and we had the light shade off and he grabbed the light bulb. And had a blister like his.

And then Kelly leaned against a motorcycle and burned her thigh.

It is so hard to get through childhood without any injuries.

Have a good Thanksgiving.

sandie

Grandma Bonnie said...

Oh poor baby. I can understand the mom gilt. My son reached up and grab a hot iron once when he was two I was right there ironing and did not move fast enough.
I am glad Reid is healing well.

Lin said...

OWIE!! Gees, that is nasty...I'm glad he is okay.

Kids do stuff like that---we can't protect them from everything. Heck, my 17-year old fell down the stairs at school and broke her ankle. Sigh. And the nurse calls me at work and asks why I let her wear high heels to school. Criminy. Okay, can the mom NOT be to blame ALL the time????!

I want to be the dad next time around.

I hope he heals quickly!

Debby@Just Breathe said...

Ouch! I am so sorry he got burned. It looks like it really, really hurts. I'm glad he is going to be okay. Give him a ((HUGS) from Debby.

Marie said...

awww! your poor baby boy! I know how helpless you can feel. My son always wanted mommy to kiss his boo boos. :) Do you have any aloe plants? Mine just grow and grow. I tear off pieces and plant it in small pots for friends and neighbors, can come in handy. :) I'm glad he's better. :)

Liz Mays said...

I can only imagine how painful that must have been for him. It just hurts my heart to think of it. What a trooper he has been through the week of healing though!

Anonymous said...

Oh poor boy. That looks pretty sore.

Lexie Loo, Lily, Liam & Dylan Too said...

Ouch! Poor little guy!

Unknown said...

Bless his heart! This will heal soon. I can relate! :)

Cuby said...

Brave chap your son Red! :)

Sonya @ Under the Desert Sky said...

Ooooohhh! Poor li'l guy. Man o man, that must've been painful. I'm glad he's on the mend.

Valerie Boersma said...

Of merciful heavens Lisa! How awful! I'm so sorry this happened! Poor sweetie!!! Hope he is all better very soon:)