08.02.07 A couple of weeks ago - around the 12th or 13th of July - I was sitting right here making an entry in this diary. The timer on the microwave went off to let me know to move the pot of potatoes from the stove and drain them in the sink. So I am making an entry here and I leave it open on the desktop to go and attend to the potatoes. When I lift the pot from the eye of the stove, I realize too late that the handle is searing hot. I drop the handle and the whole entire pot of boiling water spills onto my already burned hand. My first thought was "Oh shit. My diaryland is open on the desktop!" Haha. I drop the pan/potatoes/water and it splashes all over my bulging pregnant belly. It crashes to the tile and bounces several times while throwing potato everywhere. I scream a few profanities before running OUTSIDE (don't even ask me where I was going!) because I think I was "trying to outrun the pain"... Have you ever heard of this? Your flight reflex, I guess? I heard of it but never really experienced or realized what it actually felt like until then! What a realization! So outside is HOT. And I feel stupid so I run back inside... cursing... and repeating the "oh, shit" thing. Finally it occurs to me to run my hand under cold water - whew - feels really good and stops the burn for as long as I keep it under the running water. Quickly I realize that I cannot hold my hand there forever so I start to panic a bit about what to do next. Realizing that I know VERY LITTLE about first aid and here I am about to be someone's mother. Sigh. So I run back into the kitchen and grab a pitcher from the refrigerator. It is full of iced tea, which I dump down the drain in the sink. I fill the pitcher with ice and water and stick my hand deep into the bottom. Now at this point is where I start to look at my hand. It's looking really gross. It is bubbled up with huge whitish blisters. So I panic again. Not knowing anything about burns, I am freaking out. Suddenly in the midst of my panic I begin to have some pretty intense cramps/contractions and remember that I am 9 months pregnant! Haha. Not to mention that I splashed this boiling water all over my belly also! I ran to my car with my hand in this pitcher. I am BAREFOOT. I have been crying and don't even have my purse. Then I proceed to try and drive myself to the emergency room with one hand. Sounds like it might not be that hard, huh? Well, try to do this while you have a 7 lb basketball in your lap. I get to the hospital and just throw my keys to the valet parkers. They look VERY concerned as I waddle into the emergency room. "Ma'm? Are you okay? Do you need a wheelchair?!?" I get in the emergency room and the stress of this situation finally hits me causing me to start crying uncontrollably. Nice. They take me back immediatly. No waiting, no filling out paperwork, no nothing. A nurse takes away my water pitcher and begins to pour sterile water over my hand while it dangles over a trash can. Now if you made it this far in the story, congratulations to you! But it was very anticlimatic. The doctor checked my hand and my baby. Both were "fine". Apparently a burn is NOT severe if it causes pain. A really serious burn will destroy all the nerves in your skin and will actually not hurt that much. Good to know, huh? Well, he sent me on my way with some painkillers and some skin cream. No big deal. But when I arrived back home, I realized that diaryland was still on the desktop with my half-entry open for the whole world to find. I mean, what if I had actually died or something? I can imagine my poor mother coming to clean my possesions out of this house and finding this diary full of 5 years worth of things she really should never have to know. And now that I think about it, it really is scary. Just a thought. |
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