Burn update

Usually Hugh chides me for running to the doctor at the first sign of illness or injury. This time he encouraged me to go and I'm glad I did. Yesterday I took a cab to Hospital Aleman where we're insured. I went to ER and then sent me immediately up to the Burn Unit (Quemado). It was strangely quiet up there, no visible reception desk and I poke around a bit looking for someone to help me when I passed a room with some poor burn victim wrapped up head to toe like a mummy. his loved ones were standing outside peering in the window with tears running down their faces. boy did i feel stupid to be there with my mate burn. the crying woman told me i needed to call the staff on the intercom and they would attend me. i did and next thing i know half of the wall near from entrance is sliding up like the window of a Burger King drive through. What happened she asks me in spanish. She tells me to hop on the guerney (attached to the sliding wall/window" which I do and she pulls me over to the other side. Don't step on the ground she warns. It took a few seconds to register what and why this was happening. burn victims are so sensitive to infection that they have to take extreme precautions with who and what they let in the unit. i was not supposed to let my dirty feet touch ground - just lay on the guerney and they would help me from there. after a few minutes the doctor came over with the nurse to take a look. they didn't quite understand how i burned myself on the back of my leg - a difficult and unusual place to reach with an accident. i started to feel queasy when i saw the syringe. oh god, i thought - this looks bad. "tengo miedo, tengo miedo" I squeeked. they tried to sooth me but i just gripped the sheet and braced for the worst. they told me the blister was dead skin and needed to be removed. they also had to get the liquid out of it (hence the syringe). so, first the needle, then even more painful was the Brillo like thing the doctor used to scrape every last remnant of burned skin from that part of my leg. Raw doesn't even begin to cover what if felt like after that. then they applied a few different cleansing salves and wrapped my leg in gauze. He took my hand to measure the area. Apparently I burned 1 percent of my body. Each hand size represents that percent of your body and that is how they calculate the severity of burns - this information must be reported to the insurers and various hospital agencies.

Today I went back for a follow up. They reapplied some kind of antibacterial salve and a new bandage. Tomorrow I go back one last time and after that they said I should be able to change the dressing on my own at home. I am not so good with hobbling around and disrupting my routine. Had to miss my running practice last night and couldn't walk Utta today. Could it be yet another "let go and let god" opportunity. i thought i'd had enough already but apparently not. the weather changed today with my mood. london like rain made the blooming lavendar tree outside our window look almost florescent.