Burn, Baby, Burn

On Saturday, March 5, I was in the yard doing some cleaning up. We have a good size burn pile, and it's been dry enough that I knew I could get them burned and cleaned up.  All the kids except Alex were off on a playdate, so it was a perfect time to start a raging fire.  And he was busy with his friends in a different part of the yard.

I grabbed what I thought was a can of diesel fuel.  I've started dozens of fires using diesel fuel, because it burns fairly slowly.  I had, in fact, grabbed a can that had regular gasoline, and dumped a quart or so on the sticks to get the fire going.  I leaned in close to light the fire, and immediately heard a loud "whoosh" as my sight filled with flames.  I was blown backwards, and almost immediately I knew what had happened.  I heard my poly-pro jacket burning, so I quickly dropped onto into the dirt and rolled around to make sure I wasn't on fire. 

I grabbed the gas can to make sure it wasn't near the fire, made sure Alex wasn't anywhere near, and ran inside to get my face and arms in some cold water.  Our friend Lillian was inside with the baby, and I had her call 911. 

Within a few minutes, I was in an ambulance, heading to our local hospital.  The medic knew I was in a lot of pain, thank goodness he gave me some morphine as soon as I was in the ambulance.  My wife met me at the entrance of the ER. 

Once they stabilized me at the local hospital, they moved me to our regional burn center, Harborview Medical Center in downtown Seattle.  I had 3rd degree burns on both hands, and on most of my face.

I spent the next 24 hours in Intensive Care, where they closely monitored swelling and breathing to make sure I hadn't damaged my airway or lungs.  Within a few hours my parents arrived from Salt Lake City.  My sister offered some of her family's frequent flier points, and they were able to catch a flight almost immediately.  It was very comforting to see my mom and dad, and know they could help with the kids for a few days, and spend some time with me in the hospital. 

I spent the next week in Burn Center making sure I'd heal up.  Even though I had to share a room with a stranger (something I haven't had to do for years!), I was able to get some rest and deal with the daily pain of cleaning and dressing the wounds.

I've been home from work for almost two weeks, and I can't wait to head back in on Monday.  I've been sleeping a lot, and have been weaning myself from the pain medication they gave me, so I can stay awake more than an hour or two at a time!  Mostly, I've been getting restless and bored, though I can't find the energy to do anything for more than a little while before I want to head back to sleep. 

I've been overwhelmed with the amount of support, prayers, and well-wishes from my family, neighbors, co-workers, and people from our church.  We've had someone helping around the house almost every day, and Jeri's been able to spend a lot of time with me in the hospital, and as I've recovered.  I'm amazed at how kind everyone's been about helping, bringing food, watching the kids, and more.  And I've gotten flowers and cards and email from so many folks I work with, that I feel more connected and cared about than I have in months.  Thanks, everyone...

I had a clinic visit yesterday, and I was told I'll heal completely (though they're looking at one of my hands to see if I'll need a graft, but it looks unlikely).  Hopefully, there will be no scarring, and as long as I stay out of the sun, the skin will grow normally over the next few months.  In fact, everyone's pretty amazed at how quickly my skin is healing up (hard to believe the difference in the photos from just a week ago). 

Enjoy the pictures, hope they don't gross you out too much!  I'll post a few more photos on our family web site.

Day One, Intensive Care

Day One

 

Day One

 

In the "tank room" of the burn unit (not a fun place).

   

At home, on day Seven

The hands hurt the worst...

After about ten days (taken Wednesday)

Comments

[Linda W.]

My goodness, I have tears in my eyes after reading this. Glad you're ok!

[Jenny]

Holy crap, dude! Good to know you're healing, but damn...

Take it easy and label those inflammables!

[Ian Betteridge]

Glad to hear you're on the mend.

[Byron Gaum]

I'm so sorry to hear this. Get well soon man... rest up.

[Rosa Say]

Oh John, auwe! I hurt for you looking at these pictures.
Malama: sending aloha your way,
Rosa Say

[peter caputa]

glad you are ok.

but, i think you should learn a bit about composting.

[Josh Bancroft]

Holy cow, John!

Glad you're getting well. Hope everything heals up soon!

I'm sure I don't have to say this, but be careful with teh fire! :-)

Josh Bancroft
http://www.tinyscreenfuls.com
http://www.gadgetfamily.org

[johnza]

My God John, you are lucky to be alive. So sorry to hear about this
horible mishap. Sending all kinds of thoughts your way for a complete
and speedy recovery.

[Dylan Greene]

Wow John - I'm shocked and amazed. I can't begin to imagine your strength and courage. Besides the pain and scaring, I'd be afraid of not being able to type.

Here's to a great recovery and a hearty welcome back.

[Julie Leung]

Wow, John. I'm so sorry but at the same time I'm grateful to hear how your community has cared for you. That's a story in itself. I'm inspired by your positive perspective. Thank you for sharing. May your recovery continue to be quick and amazing. May you find strength, hope and purpose above the pain. Peace, healing and blessings to you and your family.

[Brian Jones]

Not exactly the way I would go about teaching the kids not to play with fire, but I'm sure it worked. Good luck over the next couple of months. That warm sun is going to feel like an oven for a while.

[Luca]

In my spare time I am a volunteer firefighter. We sometimes commit the same sin you committed: we think of a fire as something "routine", and we underestimate it. As a consequence firefighters die every year of horrible deaths, especially in wildland fires that sometimes started as something apparently harmless, like a campfire or a hot car parked in tall, dry grass.

Fire is a deadly, dangerous beast. Thank you for sharing your horrible experience. Please go to your local fire department and offer a few hours of your time to help them educate children. You may save a life.

[cliff]

Glad you're making it through this - we're thinking about you.

[Michele Miller]

Good Lord, John, you are one lucky guy - my heart goes out to you and I'm just so happy that you're OK. Having been through something similiar with a member of my family, I know how fantastic the people who run those hospital burn units are and it looks like they did an awesome job.

Rest up and be well very, very soon!

[John Walker]

John,

I came upon your site about a year ago and read your blog often. This is an unbelievable story. My thoughts and prayers are with you. Very happy you are recovering quickly. Take care.

John W.

[mike w]

Holy! Dude. I read about what happened on Heather's blog and couldn't beleve it. Makes the food poisoning I had pale by comparison. Geez! Sending the good vibes from up North to you. Get well soon.

Mike W.
http://work4bandwidth.blogspot.com

[Arjun Singh]

Happy you are recovering John. I enjoy your blog!

[Arjun Singh]

Happy you are recovering John. I enjoy your blog! My praers are with you as well.

[Johnnie Moore]

John What a truly awful experience. I am so glad you have found such resilience and what a blessing that the outlook is so good. Wishing you well for a good recovery.

[Marc Orchant]

John: You'll be in my thoughts and prayers. I hope your recovery continues to go well. You are indeed fortunate to have such a loving family around at a time like this. And, as you can see from these comments, all of us you have touched with your writing are like an extended family hoping for the best for you. Hang in there and be well.