Yep, that's gonna leave a mark

What a day.

Really.  What a day.

All seemed to be going well...until I saw water coming through the kitchen ceiling's recessed lights.  As I ran upstairs in a panic, I was expecting to find the washing machine over-flowed as I had been cranking out the laundry.  Nope.  It seems that I had forgotten to turn the water off when I threw some stinky dishcloths into the utility sink with some bleach.  Somehow with all the noise of the dryer running as well as the washer filling with water and agitating I completely forgot to turn the water off.  It must have taken 15 to 20 minutes for the sink to fill, er, over-fill.

Running into the laundry room I immediately turned off the water.  Did I mention that I only had hot water running?  Looking at all the water spilling over the floor and across the counter tops I just knew I needed to get the water draining--the plug needed to be pulled!  Seeing that the water was hot, I grabbed an old dish towel from a stack I keep for cleaning, wrapped my right hand, thought "this is going to be hot, but I will be fast".  I don't think any amount of "fast" would have helped.  I plunged my hand into the water and didn't even make it to the bottom of the sink before I jerked my arm out, litterally screaming/yelling out in extreme pain.  I remember feeling disbelief at the amount of pain I was feeling!  Unfortunately, the cute green fleece jacket that I was wearing happened to soak up hot water (go figure) and it continued burning my arm.  In more of a reaction than a thought, I pushed my sleeve up my arm and the skin went with it.  Ouch.  It hurts thinking back to that time.

But that's not the only thing that hurts as I recall the events of that morning.  Both D and J were home with me.  D was terrified and crying as he saw me struggling to keep it together.  I ran to the bathroom and filled the sink with cold water and submerged my arm--at least that made the pain bearable and allowed me to somewhat think of what needed to be done next.  A tender mercy was that my cell phone was in my jacket pocket.  I'm not sure I would have known what to do if it wasn't.  I was having such a hard time thinking.  I realize now that I was in some form of shock.  Thankfully I was able to work my phone with my left hand and I shakily navigated my way to my contacts page and called my brother.  The Big Guy Lowe wasn't my first call!  Crazy!  But I knew he was at his Portland office and wouldn't be able to get home quickly, so my brother was my first call.  I was just praying he would answer.  I can't even express the relief I felt when I heard his voice.  I told him something about burning my arm and water all over and all he said was "I'll be right there."  I hung up, feeling a bit of control coming back to me and tried to comfort D.  He would come into me and cry and then run and hide.  I tried going after him to find and comfort him, but my arm would scream in pain--driving me back to the sink.  I realized I needed help right then and made my second call--to our wonderful neighbors across the street; Sue and Gary.  When I spoke with Sue I told her I had burned myself pretty bad and overflowed water and then I started to cry.  She said she'd be right over.  I don't even think 60 seconds had passed before she was coming up the stairs to help.  How grateful I am for wonderful neighbors.  She didn't think once of herself and just ran over.  She was able to help with Drew and the water and calming me.  It was then that I decided I had better call The Big Guy Lowe.  I called three times before he answered.  Often if he is on a call with a client he will call me back, but I knew I needed to talk with him.  He had been away from his desk and when he returned saw my missed calls and picked up on the next one.  I explained the situation and he said he would meet me at the hospital.

Really, when I think back, I wasn't being very rational.  I kept worrying about the kids and the water--not all bad.  I would look down at my arm, see the damage, and think "What could they do at the hospital?"  I was asked a few times when I was planning on going to the hospital or at least the urgent care, and I kept thinking "I'll be okay--I don't need to go!"  It was only after my angel-neighbor Sue looked online and read outloud to me what the correct protocol was for a second degree burn.  She read "You are to soak the affected area in cold water for 3-5 minutes, wrap in a dry dish towel, and then seek immediate medical attention."  After she read that I thought "Oh, I guess I'd better go to the hospital."  That was about 30 minutes after this all started.

I walked across the street and was driven to the hospital by Gary.  I was so grateful for his help too!  I couldn't believe how bad the pain was at that point though.  I later found out that burns will hurt more as they are exposed to the air.  Found that out a bit late, eh?  I walked into the E.R. and they started getting my info, but I was shaking so badly that the person stopped and asked me "Are you now, or have you been in shock?"  I didn't know what to answer.  He found my records from a previous visit, read the pertinant info to make sure it was me and had me sit down.  Gary came in after parking the car and sat down with me.  It was just a few minutes later that The Big Guy Lowe came running in looking for me.  I just started crying when I saw him.  Somehow I just knew I was going to be okay then.  It's amazing the amount of comfort, reassurance and love I instantly felt seeing him.  He carefully sat down next to me and I tried to show him my arm.  From the look on his face I could tell he thought it looked horrible.  It felt horrible.  Gary left to go home then and shortly we were called back.

For the next few hours we waited for what seemed like forever!  I was given some pain meds, but they didn't seem to touch the pain.  The Big Guy Lowe called a few people, looking for another Priesthood holder to assist him in giving me a blessing.  The Missionaries were reached and after a bit arrived.  I am so grateful for the power of the Priesthood, the authority to act in the name of Jesus Christ.  The missionaries stayed for a while and then headed out and shortly thereafter the doctor and nurses came in to take pictures.  They had been conversing with the Burn Center in Portland and needed to send them some pictures to get direction.  After another length of time, they came back and began wrapping my arm.  They said that my arm would need to be cleaned and all the dead skin would need to be taken off, but they wouldn't try to do that then.  We were given a return date on Sunday morning for the dressing to be changed and an appointment was made for us at Emmanuel Hospital's Burn Center on Monday, then we were released.

What a horrible day.  There were a few horrible days that followed too.  Amid all the yuck, there were so many instances of love and service shared with our little family.  Many meals were made and delivered, treats of all kinds were sent and many messages of love and concern were conveyed.  The Big Guy Lowe was amazing at taking care of everything in our home, me included.  I love him so much.

On Sunday we went back to the hospital for the dressing change.  It was pretty discouraging as they didn't seem to know what to do or how to handle my injury.  At one point, the nurse turned the sink on and asked me to come over and wash it off.  When he realized I wasn't about to just put my injured arm under the running water he decided to wrap it again and let the burn center deal with it the next day.  I was okay with that!  I didn't want anyone messing with my arm that still hurt terribly unless I was convinced they knew what they were doing.  I wasn't convinced!  For posterity's sake, here are some pictures from that visit.

Monday was such a better experience!  It was so wonderful knowing the doctors at Emmanuel's Burn Center knew what they were doing!  They were able to clean my arm, remove lots of the dead skin and then teach The Big Guy Lowe and I how to clean and apply the dressings.  We left there feeling a sense of confidence that we could do what was needed.  It was the first time we felt that way since the accident.  Here are some pictures from that visit.

Today, just two weeks after my accident, my arm looks great!  I'll have to take some pictures for comparisson.  Our divinely inspired bodies are amazing.  I have so much to be grateful for and I will write more at another time.  For now all I will say is I'm grateful...very grateful.