One Year Ago

May 17th, 2010 I put some ramen noodles in the microwave to cook for lunch. Pig was at school for the day and I was home with our 3 kids. Usually I would boil the water on the stove top but was trying to hurry so I decided to use the microwave. I put the bowl of noodles and water in and pushed the "add a minute" button probably 4 or 5 times. I went upstairs to get Mia who wasn't feeling well, while on the phone with my friend to get a recipe for dinner(we were having the missionaries over). I heard very loud, panicked screaming and yelling. I immediately hung up and ran out of my room where Tayli had met me on the top of the stair case. She was screaming while pulling her shirt off and yelling," get the noodles off, get the noodles off!" I looked at her arms at what I thought had noodles all over when I realized it wasn't noodles, it was curled up peeling skin. I panicked as I grabbed my phone to call pig, then something came over me and said don't call pig- call 911! The dispatcher was very calm with me and told me to get Tay in the cold shower. I don't think I have ever been so scared in my life as I watched my daughter suffering. I was trying to talk to her, hold her and force her to stay in the cold shower as she was screaming and turning white as if she was going to pass out soon. Meanwhile, Pig not knowing what was going on at all decided to come home from school for lunch(he had taken a sack lunch that morning). As he entered our neighborhood he followed behind the ambulance and fire truck. The ambulance pulled up in front of our neighbors and pig gave a sigh of relief. He got out of the car and was very confused when the other guys followed him to our door asking if he lived here. He thought surely there was a mistake and they were at the wrong house. He let them in and they all rushed upstairs to the screaming. Since we were in the bathroom Pig thought maybe Tay had been burned in the shower. They wrapped her up and carried her downstairs to take her vitals. They rushed her out to the ambulance and gave her some morphine. They let me lay on the stretcher to hold her. The paramedic told Pig where they were taking us but not to rush or worry because she was just fine. One of our good friends came over right after he saw the ambulance. He told pig to leave and he would take the kids to his house. As he and Pig went to the garage they noticed a big bowl and water and noodles all over the kitchen floor. They tried to put it all together and figured Tay probably had a minor burn. Pig left and good buddy cleaned up the mess and took our kids. What a long ride it was in the ambulance. Tay stopped screaming(thanks to morphine) and I uncontrollably cried. She was all covered in a warm blanket so I still didn't have any ideas where she had been burned except her arm. When we were finally in the ER they took all the blankets off to assess and analyze. I was completely shocked! The burn started right under her face on her chin, went down her neck and half her back, along with her forearm and up passed her elbow. I couldn't even imagine the pain that my little 5 year old was feeling and going through. All I wanted to do is go back and redo the day, how did this happen? why did I put the noodles in the microwave? why did I go upstairs? why did I, why did I, why did I?? I felt like a failure and was very scared for what was to come. Pig arrived 30 min after we had. I remember looking up as he saw Tay uncovered for the first time at the doorway. He began to sob. We both just cuddled as close to her as we could and cry. We both felt horrible for what had happened. I could go on and on with details and the different emotions that we all experienced but my main reason for sharing this story is to reflect on the blessings we received and how well Tayli has recovered. The pix may be too graphic but I really wanted to show the progress of her skin in just a years time.

2nd night, Tay was really drugged up. It was hard for the Drs to figure out the correct rx and dosage for the first 14 days.

3rd day they began to scrub and do dressings.

3rd day

After a few days when the burns had manifested. Its almost like the skin was still burning. The Drs. explained how burns change each day and we wouldnt know if they needed grafts or not.

Every morning she had "bath time", this was miserable! They scrub off the dead skin. Tay would get so mad and splash anyone in sight. It took me a while before I could watch them torture her like this. It was hard for me to understand that this had to be done in order for her to heal properly.

After baths she would get all new dressings on and was wrapped up pretty good.

The morning before surgery. She had stayed up so late talking to Pig and I- wanting to know all the details of what the Drs were going to do to her during surgery. She was very concerned and wanted to be clear on everything. She even asked if she could see the tool that they were going to scrape her skin with from the donor sight- its basically like a cheese grater, OUCH!

Waiting for them to come get us for surgery.

They had just given her some sleepy meds to prepare her for the grafts.

After grafting. She had one on her shoulder/back, another on her back and two different spots on her arm.

Few days after surgery they took the bandages off. You can see the outlined areas are the grafts.

It was so nice to be home after 18 days at the hospital. We still had a lot of recovery ahead of us but at least she could be at home.

look how well its doing, you cant even see the burn that went all the way up into her hair.

She had to wear this cute little compression sleeve for 7 months, which originally was supposed to be 1 year. wahoo.

Sept- she was able to start school as planned.

We have to lotion her like crazy to help keep the skin hydrated.

AMAZING! You can hardly see the lower graft, and barely see the upper. The rest of her back looks awesome.
There are tiny little hairs starting to grow in some places on her arm now. We are so grateful that she is such a strong little girl and has healed so well. We are forever grateful to our amazing family and friends who helped us through this trial. We were so blessed to live in this ward and to feel the love and support from those that we didn't even know yet(only lived here for 6 mos). So so grateful that her face wasn't burned- our microwave is up high on the refrigerator and it is a pure miracle that as the bowl came down her face was protected. Grateful for a husband that was able to give her blessing after blessing and feel the comfort of our Savior. Grateful for Drs and nurses who took such good care of us. Grateful we are to this point and she doesn't have to go back to the burn unit anymore for checkups! Love you little Tay, sorry you had to go through this all.