Tuesday, May 17, 2011

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.

Monday, September 13, 2010

Tayli's 1st day of Kindergarten

I remember back when Tayli was at the fun terrible two age and thinking to myself,"I cant wait until she goes to kindergarten!" Now that its here I am wishing I never said that!


It was the longest morning for her
Is it time to go yet Dad?
Mom trying to act happy and excited

G and Tay always give these silly fake smiles that make me crazy


Tay and her best little buddy S

This is where I started to feel a little anxiety. But she couldnt have been any more ready or excited.

I had to go sneek a peek once she was in class but it would have probably been in my best interest to not see her doing so well without me- Yep I did start crying.


She was so cute coming off the bus and greeted both me and pig with a huge hug and smile. She had a great day and we celebrated after with pizza and ice cream.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

MIA TURNS 1 (a month ago :)

This has been the fastest and craziest year of my life. It is hard to believe that she is already 1. Our little Measle is so much fun. Both her grandma and nana gave her baby dolls for her birthday and when she opened them she gave the biggest wide mouth smile I have ever seen. She smothers her babies with kisses everyday. Mia loved having her own birthday cake and wasnt afraid to dig right in. Mia is such a joy in our lives, I am so glad that my husband let me bribe him with a four wheeler to have a 3rd kid-hahaha. We definitely feel very blessed that she is in our family. She is a pretty affectionate little girl- she loved being in Utah and gave lots of love to her cousins. She loves being toted around by Tay and G. She loves to blow kisses and can now make the kiss noise while she scrunches her cute button nose. Mia loves to eat! If anyone is eating something she wont stop begging until you have shared with her. She just learned how to walk and is very excited about it. Mia is pretty squatty- she is in the 20th percentile for her height(who would have guessed) and weight. We love you Mia girl!




















Saturday, April 3, 2010

SPRING BREAK

We had an awesome week with K, J, and E Marzo, A, D, and A Nichols, And Mom and Dad Marzo! Thanks for coming to play with us!

Monday, March 15, 2010

Look how tall she is getting
Mia likes to play peeka boo but covers her cheeks instead of her eyes(she also found out how to climb into the kitchen cabinet)
The other day the kids were playing outside and they kept running in the house to find certain things. I wasnt really paying attention to them as I was busy with Mia. Finally they came in and told me that they were practicing for when Uncle Jason comes. I asked what they were practicing and they pulled me outside to show me this.
Last year uncle Jason taught them how to catch chipmunks. They had set a trap with carrots and peanut butter inside a capri sun box. It was so cute as they sat and waited for about an hour for any chipmunk to come(unfortunately they only saw a few birds fly by)


We had a surprise 1/2 hour long visit from Uncle Kris- fun to see him and the kids loved wrestling him.

Look how blue the sky is in the background :) We have definately enjoyed some beautiful warm days lately and yes we believe the bluest skies are here in MV


I know all of you in Utah are jealous of this green grass




This little guy loves to "exercise". He always wants me to watch him while he exercises like his dad does. Unfortunately he is not very graceful and this time he ended up face planting and scratching up his nose and forehead pretty good(Tay did the same thing the next day)

We play pretty hard around here and this is what we get during dinner time.