Burn, Baby, Burn

Posted Jan 26, 2010 by Patty Kim

Updated Mar 10, 2010 at 10:36 AM

Forty-eight hours after “the incident,” I decided to rally and head in to work. (Yes, I worked from home Monday. Thank goodness.)

Because every activity—showering, flossing, getting dressed, taking shots—involves an exorbitant amount of time, I have to budget for the PK delay.

Once I made it in to work, I decided to make an appointment with Moffitt’s Acute Care Clinic. It’s a free on-site clinic for employees to access primary care.

Check out this article on the clinic.

You can’t beat a free clinic at work!

The nurse who triaged me asked when I last had a tetanus shot. 

Crickets. I had no idea.

She immediately administered one and said it’s good for the next 10 years. Whew.

Once the doc came in to examine me, I was beginning to wonder if he would laugh. “Rub some dirt in it, wimpy girl, and call me in the morning.”

I felt like my elbow was in serious enough condition Sunday to possibly warrant a trip to the hospital. But who knew what a pro would think?

It took me a minute to attempt removing the gauze dressing from my elbow. The gauze sticks to the open wound, practically growing into the skin.

Yes, it was as painful to remove the gauze as it sounds. The doc got a basin of water to wet the gauze to aid in its removal.

OW!!

As soon as he looked at my elbow, I knew it was bad news.

“OH!” he said as his eyebrows lifted. “You really did a number on your elbow. That’s a second-degree burn you’ve got there.”

What??

“Is it infected?” If amputation entered the discussion, I was going to poop my pants.

Fortunately the doc said I was doing a good job of keeping the wound clean, but he wanted to bring the big guns out.

He gave me some silver sulfadiazine, which is used to prevent and treat infections of second- and third-degree burns. He suggested keeping the tube in the fridge because the chilled ointment may feel better on my skin (or lack thereof).

He also let me in on gauze secret: Apply gauze treated with petroleum jelly directly to the wound, and then wrap with regular gauze. No more sticking to the open wound.

I have a follow-up appointment next week to make sure my arm doesn’t fall off.

Is this free clinic great or what?

My elbow is still in a lot of pain all the time. The doc suggested taking the max dose of Aleve. He also said I would be in a lot of pain for at least the next week or two.

I guess marathon training will have to wait. Grrr.