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Thursday, August 25, 2011

Still Smoking - Blisters on Blisters

This is a continuation of "Smoked Ham."  If you are new to my site, please click here to read that post first.





This morning, when I emerged from my drug-induced sleep, the dressing on my thigh had worked its way down to my knee.   So, I cut it off and took a look at my burns.  Not pretty.  Where the blisters had been yesterday, there were new ones, some of them weeping clear fluid, others ballooned out like little jellyfish.  By the time I changed into a skirt and top, most of the blisters had popped, and when I arrived at Urgent Care for my follow-up, my skirt was scattered with moist circles on the right side.
Yesterday, when I was there, I was quite the freak show.  Before I left, several nurses had come into the  exam room to see my burns.  I didn’t care.  The really freaky thing happened when a medical student came in the room and asked me if I would be willing to answer four questions to see if I qualified to participate in an study about alcohol use in patients who present themselves at walk-in clinics.  She promised me a $20 gift card from Kroger if I completed the survey!   
No shit.  The questions were about eating and exercise habits, alcohol and tobacco use.  When I answered “yes” to the one that asked if I drank, I qualified for the study.  
So, while I was waiting for John to get his stuff together to dress my burns, I answered a series of questions about my use of alcohol.  Some of the best ones involved whether or not I had been in jail in the last year, or if I were awaiting sentencing for a felony conviction.  I did not make this up.  Had I missed work or had family problems because of alcohol use?  And so it went.  By the time the young woman was finished interrogating me, I was ready to grab a bottle of rubbing alcohol out of the cabinet and take a giant swig.
Today, after John had taken a look at my burns, he started clucking his tongue and went to get another nurse who specializes in wound care.  She took a photo of the carnage and texted it to the Wound Center.
Then the doctor - not Dr. Patel from yesterday - but Dr. Longacre, who is the grand poo-bah of the facility, came in and drained all the blisters which had popped up since I arrived.  This is getting ugly.  Again, John did his best to dress my wounds and secure them in a manner that would, well, stay put. He even wrapped an Ace bandage around my leg.
I was sent home with instructions to do nothing except rest and to come back on Saturday for a dressing change.  They also gave me an appointment for Monday at the Wound Center.  
But, with all the burn cream smeared onto my leg, nothing would stay up.  By the time I arrived home the dressing was sagging down my leg.
That’s when I became (tah-dah) a genius.  I’m thinking about calling a patent lawyer, so any of you out there who might be tempted to steal my intellectual property, remember that every word on any of my blogs is copy-written!!
I cut the feet out of a pair of panty hose and pulled them on.  Drooping dressing problem solved.  (The fact that I actually had a pair of panty hose in my house is a topic for another post).  I do owe you an explanation for that.


11 comments:

Linda @ A La Carte said...

You have some serious burns here my friend. I think the panty hose is brilliant! Guess what I have a pair still in the pkg somewhere...

I love the questions and hell yes I'm going home after all those questions and having a glass of wine!

Take care and rest!!!!

Linda

Dazee Dreamer said...

I'm not going to slap you again tonight, but damn girl. you are in some major delima mode there. but brilliant use of the panty hose. I can't even imagine the oozing of the blisters. yikes

Viki said...

Good solution to your problem. Wow that sounds like some kind of burns you got going on there. Hope your better soon.

BECKY said...

I'm with Dazee....Yikes! About all of it! And the panty hose...brilliant! Take care of yourself and do what the doc said!

Susan Anderson said...

This is really not good. Be careful of infection, okay?
(Good idea about the panty hose.)

I will be praying for a swift and uneventful recovery.

=)

Sultan said...

God all of that sounds truly ghastly. I hope you will heal cleanly and truly.

P.S. watch for infection!

Aleea said...

CJ,

Just catching up (and WHAT a time to catch up!) on your blog - glad you are receiving the care you need from the Urgent Care and Wound Care folks.

The pantyhose idea was ingenious - however, yes, having panty hose in the hinges-of-hell state of Georgia requires explanation.

Take care of you, relax, buy some Raid (for next time spiders annoy) and just glad this wasn't worse.

--Athena

Adrienne said...

eagerly awaiting the 'why i have pantyhose post!' Plese take care ~ had a friend who went through something similar several years ago after leaning over a gas stove burner at just the wrong angle... she healed very well - had to slow down and be patient with the process, but the healing came.

Katie Gates said...

Hi CJ, I just read these two installments. God, what a frightening ordeal! I'm glad you're getting the medical attention required! I'll be thinking good thoughts for your speedy recovery.

BTW, I didn't even know that they made panty hose anymore...

Melissa Camara Wilkins said...

YIKES! Here's hoping this weekend is entirely uneventful and healing, and that the wound care folks continue to be gentle and helpful.

The pantyhose was absolutely a genius move.

Martha Gates-Mawson said...

Part two now read and enjoyed - laughed out loud at the thought of you grabbing the rubbing alcohol for a big swig. Hope you are feeling better. Take it easy and take care! (Brilliant use of panty hose!)