# Where I've been since Monday



## ABbuggin (Nov 13, 2008)

Well since I saw this thread: http://mantidforum.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=12432 I figured I had better let everyone know I didn't die.  

OK, where to begin lol. It's a long story (and funny at times) so please read all of it.  

Everything started on Monday evening. I was getting ready to dye some plastic parts and a requirement for dying is boiling water (a rolling boiling). I had decided to dye my parts in the house by the front door since it was cold outside (I didn't want the water to cool down too fast). Well once I had boiling water, I poured it into my dying tub (I don't dye in my dad's special pots  ). Well, apparently my dying tub had been weakened from previous dying jobs because as soon as I poured the boiling water it it it started to crack all over! As soon as I noticed it was cracking I realized I had better do something so I wouldn't make a mess and get is some REAL BIG trouble with my mother. I decided to pick the tub up and throw it out the front door. This was a BAD mistake because just as soon as I started to throw it out of the door it shattered and 3+ gallons of boiling water poured all over my right hand/arm!!!  Well needless to say, I was in a LOT of pain very very fast.  I immediately put my hand/arm in the sink with cold water (ironic huh?). I had instant blisters all over my hand/arm. By the time all of this happened, my mother came downstairs wondering what the comotion was all about. Fortunately for me, I'm very well trained in first aid and new exactly what to do (my mother didn't  ). My Mother quickly called my Dad (he was close to home thank God), and just as soon as he arrived, I was in the car with my arm in a cooler full of water with my Dad speeding all the way to the hospital. After a 15min. trip to the hospital (which is usually 30+ min.) we arrived at the ER waiting room desk. The receptionist took one quick look at the burn and I was instantly ushered into a room with a nurse and doctor. (please realize that while my arm is in the water, I'm in very little pain, but when out of the water its a much different story)

(next post)


----------



## ABbuggin (Nov 13, 2008)

Well after the doctor had her fun of poking me to make sure I still had feeling in my arm she said that I would have to be transfered (by ambulance) to a different hospital (close by thank God) because they specialize in burns (the doctor was concerned because my hand, a vital function in life, was badly burned). She also said in ordered to be transfered, my hand arm would have to be out of the water. To prepare for this, they gave me 2 units of morphine. Once they gave me the morphine, the took my arm out of the water and my current pain level (a 4) instantly skyrocketed to a 25!!!! I was in instant and overwhelming pain. Over the next hour, the doctor kept trying to stop the pain. After an hour I had received 6 more units of morphine and a total of 30 units of tremedol and I was still is the same amount of overwhelming pain!!!!   Thats when the doctor FINALLY decided to put my arm back in the water (I hated the doctor by now  ). By now, it was time for the ambulance ride to the other hospital. During the ride, I received 4 more units of morphine and 4 jugs of poured water on my arm. Only the water water worked to stop the pain (but only until it warmed back up).  

When I got to the second hospital I was immediately given 2 pills of percocet. This is when I went out to left field into woo-woo land. Basically I went to sleep for the next 14 hours.  

Fast forward to now, and I'm actually off pretty good. The doctors were saying that if I hadn't put my burns under cold water asap I would of ended up with 3rd degree burns. I have to have my dressings changed x2 a day with special creams/bandages etc. Since I'm right handed lots of things are much harder to do now.  (ex. type lol)

So, I'm back.   (please excuse any typing errors, I'm not the best at one handed typing)


----------



## londonmantid (Nov 13, 2008)

take care of yourself m8

you have to be ready to keep my T elegans ooths  

seriously had to be a bloody painful experience

really sorry


----------



## ismart (Nov 13, 2008)

Wow! quite an ordeal you have had these last few days. Hope you recover soon.


----------



## Katnapper (Nov 13, 2008)

ABbuggin,

I'm really glad you knew to put your hand/arm in the cold sink water!  Poor guy.  That will probably take a bit to heal completely. I remember when I had carpal tunnel surgery and couldn't use my right hand... among other things, it was a bugger wiping my butt, lol.  You never think of all the little things when something like that happens! Hope you get through it without infection and not too much pain and trouble. Glad you're relatively OK... and back!  

Is your mom or dad going to buy you a new dye tub... and dye your parts for you now?


----------



## hibiscusmile (Nov 13, 2008)

Dear God , Andrew, I think u need instant help, I will take the pain pills and you just rest while I type! also do not touch those flies I sent, have mum or pop handle them, the worse thing is to get them on u and their germs, also if u need maggots for excavating the dead skin, just let me know, I'm your man! or should I say woman!!! hope u get a smile out of this post. Boy the stupid things we do not to get yelled at.


----------



## ABbuggin (Nov 13, 2008)

Thanks so much guys! My hand/arm doesn't unless it is touched.   What REALLY hurts now is when its time to change the dressings. When I take off the old dressings, I have to wash, scrub and cover the wounds in soap! Talk about pain!    



hibiscusmile said:


> Dear God , Andrew, I think u need instant help, I will take the pain pills and you just rest while I type! also do not touch those flies I sent, have mum or pop handle them, the worse thing is to get them on u and their germs, also if u need maggots for excavating the dead skin, just let me know, I'm your man! or should I say woman!!! hope u get a smile out of this post. Boy the stupid things we do not to get yelled at.


Don't worry, the doctors banned me from ALL of my insects (I don't just keep mantids  ) unless I am wearing gloves. I dont need your maggots to remove the dead skin, I have to rip it off my self.


----------



## sidewinder (Nov 13, 2008)

ABbuggin,

Hang in there!!!

Scott


----------



## cloud jaguar (Nov 13, 2008)

Hope you heal well and feel better!


----------



## Rick (Nov 14, 2008)

Wow. I hate even small burns so I can only imagine. I hope you get better soon with no permenant damage. Sounds like you're in good spirits though.


----------



## idolomantis (Nov 14, 2008)

wow andrew... that's going to take a while to heal :mellow: 

better a mess than a messed up arm...

i bet you're afraid of coffee now huh  

but take care and relax mate..

i can barely imagine how it feels with only that tiny burn on my elbow


----------



## Peter Clausen (Nov 14, 2008)

Are your parents taking care of all your bugs?

Thanks for the update and sorry to hear about your predicament, Andrew!

(Rebecca, you crack me up! You need to meet my mom someday...crazy bug-lady http://lesgobuggin.blogspot.com/2006_10_01_archive.html )


----------



## d0rk2dafullest (Nov 14, 2008)

good to hear u are still well =)


----------



## darkspeed (Nov 14, 2008)

Wow Andrew, That sucks. So sorry to hear that. I get burned alot in my line of work and even small ones suck, much less over such a large area. I can only imagine what you went through. Best wishes through the arduous recovery process.


----------



## ABbuggin (Nov 14, 2008)

Thanks again guys! I really appreciate it.  



idolomantis said:


> i bet you're afraid of coffee now huh


I dont like coffee, but I can still use my soldering iron with my right hand.  (being VERY careful right now though since I can't solder with a flip using my left hand)


----------



## ABbuggin (Nov 14, 2008)

Peter said:


> Are your parents taking care of all your bugs?Thanks for the update and sorry to hear about your predicament, Andrew!


My brother took care of my bugs for me while in the hospital. When I finally came home, I got my self a rubber glove because I couldn't go one more minute without seeing all my babies. :lol: I actually asked one of the nurses at the hospital if I could have one of my parents bring me one of my mantids (g. gongylodes to be exact) but she said I couldn't, so I remained board the entire time there.  I do think that was the first time anybody has ever asked to bring a "pet" bug to the hospital! :lol: (you should of seen the nurse's confused face when I asked her  )


----------



## The_Asa (Nov 14, 2008)

Glad you're alive! :lol: Heal up fast


----------



## Katnapper (Nov 14, 2008)

ABbuggin said:


> My brother took care of my bugs for me while in the hospital. When I finally came home, I got my self a rubber glove because I couldn't go one more minute without seeing all my babies. :lol: I actually asked one of the nurses at the hospital if I could have one of my parents bring me one of my mantids (g. gongylodes to be exact) but she said I couldn't, so I remained board the entire time there.  I do think that was the first time anybody has ever asked to bring a "pet" bug to the hospital! :lol: (you should of seen the nurse's confused face when I asked her  )


**giggling to myself, imagining the nurse's face... and what was going through her head**


----------



## Peter Clausen (Nov 14, 2008)

I'm very familiar with that reaction. Recently, a new guy at work lost a pet cat. After listening to his sad story, I asked him if he was going to get a replacement soon. He said no. I told him I keep pet bugs and asked him if he'd like me to bring him in a praying mantis the next day. He gave me that "look" you're referring to, like "what would I do with a mantis?"

Glad you're doing better. I do know one member here that has been able to take their mantises to the hospital for overnights.

What kind of parts were you working with, by the way?


----------



## ABbuggin (Nov 15, 2008)

I was dying some parts for one of my R/C vehicles. The R/C's that I have are not the "Wal-Mart" type, I'm talking about the real ones.  The vehicle that I was dying parts for is electric and goes around 55-60 mph. B) 

Maybe I'll post pics/vids in the near future.


----------



## Peter Clausen (Nov 15, 2008)

Ah, cool stuff! I never got into the gas ones, but I relived my childhood last summer with a simple battery powered unit I bought for my son (and then played with more than he did). It was hard to wait before his birthday came around, so I played with it at night after he went to bed. I still have 3 units I got when I was a kid. Still LOVE my Turbo Hopper!


----------



## hibiscusmile (Nov 15, 2008)

Peter, would love to meet mama! Abuggin, I know it hurts to clean that arm, I cut two of my fingers in the lawnmower a few years ago, broke them both in two places, tore the nails almost off and everytime the bandages came off they stuck to the blood and had to be soaked and pulled for almost 1/2 hr and I cried the whole time and gulped my pills too! So cleaning is not fun, so u don't want my maggots huh, fine just throw me aside like a piece of meat :lol: ! pss Peter, is earthmama your mom on the blog? my sister is mamaearth, though that was funny two girls with similar names.


----------



## Katnapper (Nov 25, 2008)

How's your hand/arm now Andrew?


----------



## Katnapper (Dec 1, 2008)

Katnapper said:


> How's your hand/arm now Andrew?


Still wondering....


----------



## ABbuggin (Dec 1, 2008)

Katnapper said:


> Still wondering....


Sorry! I forgot about this thread. :blink: Anyway, my hand is doing great. All the skin has grown back, it is still fairly pink where I got burned. I'm also now wearing a constrictive glove to help pump the blood out of my hand since I destroyed my capillaries when I burned myself. This will also stop any scarring.  On the other hand, I HATE the glove, it is worse than the cast I had on my leg a few years ago.  

Besides that, all I have to do now is put moisturizer on the burn areas, and sun screen. I'll have to do the sun-screen for the next year so I don't re-burn the same areas.


----------



## hibiscusmile (Dec 1, 2008)

Poor baby, hope it don't hurt no more


----------



## ABbuggin (Dec 1, 2008)

Nope, not at all...even when I squeeze it. B) (now the glove is a different story, since it constantly squeezes, my hand ends up aching all day  )


----------



## Katnapper (Dec 1, 2008)

Glad to *finally* :blink: :lol: hear you're on the mend pretty good.


----------

