Hey Guys!
If you follow me on social media (Twitter, Instagram or Facebook), you may have noticed that I have been rocking a new accessory:
I mean… you may not have noticed my break from TBGB at all… but if you did, and you don’t follow me on social media… that is why. On May 9th I did a number on myself and grabbed a 345 degree Celcius skillet handle, straight out of the oven. If you’re wondering where my pot mitten was… it was on my left hand. Who knows why. Fast forward about an hour later, after I determined that my bubbling skin would in fact NOT go back to normal if I “just kept it under the cool water a bit longer”, a ridiculously attractive urgent care doctor informed me that I had sustained second degree burns.
There’s a reason why my personal directive (yes, I have one… you should, too) states that if I have sustained serious burns over a certain percentage of my body that I just want to be kept comfortable until I pass. Burns are no joke. I knew this from volunteering at the hospital, at times meeting patients who were being treated in burn units. Skin grafts, tissue debridement, the chance of infection, compression garments… it’s all been explained to me. I don’t even like lighting a barbecue.
But accidents happen especially when you’re hungry and just want your damn chicken. I’m embarrassed to say that when this accident happened, I didn’t have a fully stocked first aid kit. I had about ten bandaids, hydrogen peroxide and expired Motrin and Polysporin. Not exactly batting 1000, and I know way better from the multiple advanced first aid courses I’ve taken. Accidents happen in life, yes, and the last thing you want to be is ill prepared to treat an injury that occurs in your home. So, here’s what you should have in your home first aid kit:
- Bandaids of varying sizes
- Butterfly style small wound closure strips (often called Steri-Strips)
- Non-stick gauze pads in small, medium and large sizes
- Standard gauze pads and rolled gauze (small and medium)
- Iodine or Hydrogen Peroxide to sterilize
- Sterile gloves
- Instant cold compresses
- Medical tape
- Sharp scissors
- Tweezers
- A bottle of sterile saline (contact lens solution, for flushing/cleaning wounds)
- Antibiotic ointment
- Anti-Inflammatory and/or pain relieving medication
As you can see… I didn’t have ANY of this stuff that I needed! Thankfully… my much more responsible parents did, and given that I still need help cutting my food and doing things, I basically have lived with them the past couple of weeks. I know not everyone has family nearby that they can turn to so easily, so if you want a quick takeaway from this, go purchase a premade first aid kit (it’ll cost you 17-50$, depending on how fancy you get) at Walmart or Superstore or stock up on the supplies you don’t have.
My hand is getting better, and I’m getting better at doing things with my left hand and changing my bandages myself. I’m now firmly entrenched in the part of the process where things aren’t fully healed but I have to start re-acclimatizing all of this new skin to air and water while simultaneously trying to not break the skin. It’s great. For the forseeable future, if you see me out and about, it’ll probably be with my hand wrapped to protect it. Try not to make fun of me.
Have you ever had a crazy mishap that landed you in the urgent care, or with an injury you’d rather not explain to everyone? Let me know in the comments!
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