IamA 19 year old recovering burn survivor. AMA!

Does it freak you out knowing that the skin on your hand isn't yours? I think I'd be bothered by that.

....NOW IT DOES!

You realize that for the rest of your life you can have someone else jerk you off whenever you want right?

My... God...

In all seriousness though not really. I had some smaller patches oall over that were used to promote the growth of new skin. They fell off. I guess it's kinda spooky, but I just tell people it's my Frankenhand.

Sounds like a work safety issue. What caused the spill and did you get compensated in any way? Were there any repercussions for your employer?

I wasn't trained to do that honestly. I was told to turn a cap on the jug and I turned the wrong one. No repercussions to the employer, but I have been receiving my regular pay as well as not having any bills from this.

So you didn't get fired again?

Boooooo

What was your immediate reaction to being on fire?

Well you just kinda scream and run. The whole stop drop and roll thing goes out the window. You're purely in survival mode. I actually tripped and fell about a second after the initial blast before I was fully aware of what was happening. And when I did realize I just thought I was going to die, so... Not fun.

Do you ever get nightmares about being burned? Or flashbacks to it? (I saw you mentioned low-level ptsd)

Yes, but the flashbacks aren't always like a complete movie scene. A lot of times, it's a sense of dread like j know something bad is about to happen. For the 2 months I had to talk about the incident pretty regularly and when I did I would flashback.

What has been the initial healing period been like?

In other words, have you experienced random pain at night/day? Has sleeping been disturbed?

And the obvious: Are you ok????????????

During the first month, yes, but I was completely closed wound wise after that. Now I have no surface pain aside from tightness where the new skin wants to contract. I have soft tissue massages twice a week and have to stretch 3 times a day. Lotion and sun screen are now required which sucks but I'll get used to it. My sleep was disturbed by nightmares and flash backs more than physical pain. I have what is considered low level ptsd and anxiety. Am I okay? Yeah actually everyday it gets easier.

Are you going to sue the company you work at, or talk to a lawyer about it?

I haven't decided yet but I'm not signing anything until I consult one. At this point they've taken care of me and I'm not sure how to move forward.

They probably know they were in the wrong, and are trying to keep you happy to prevent you from suing them.

You're definitely right. They've Been schmoozing me since the accident

What was the good, the bad and the ugly of the nursing care you were given in hospital? In other words what things did the nurses do that made your experience bearable or not so much?

Well the pain killers definitely helped. Most of the nursing staff was lovely and very straightforward when it came to information about my healthcare. While in ICU, they just wanted me happy and comfortable so drugs and jokes were aplenty. I was dozing in drug fueled naps for about an hour or so until the pain woke me up and I needed more medicine. Well, the night I was moved to the regular care side of the burn ward, I was particularly in pain. I met my nightly nurse once in the entirety of his rotation when I needed check ins every half hour or so. That hadn't been a problem during the day, but after waiting an hour and a half for pain medicine I had to ask for another nurse. The head nurse scolded me and tried to patronize me saying they run things differently than the ICU. I replied civilly despite my pain level being a 9/10 that I understood that but I'd been in a lot of pain for quite some time. I was given a new nurse within 10 minutes. I never had a problem with her that night or any of the other nurses. I'm a genuinely nice guy, and they couldn't understand why that nurse had such a problem. Sorry to ramble.

Was this in Wake Forest, North Carolina ?

Why yes it was. They're supposed to be one of the best on the east coast.

Stupid question, but what did it feel like while you were on fire? Like touching a stovetop burner except all over? Did you feel nothing until later?

Pretty close. I compare it to the feeling of your skin peeling back and you just try and run away from it. It's like the most intense heat that you can feel licking up and down your skin. Like taking an electric cheese slicer that you can't turn off.

A friend was just telling me the other day about AMA's and though I should do one. Just scrolling this sub for the first time and came across this. I was burned on 52% of my body, 22% of which was 3rd degree.

My question is why did they decide to use cadaver tissue for the grafts rather then harvest from your non burned body surface?

I'm not sure, the majority of the grafts were from my thighs. I'm guessing they ran out of donor skin. When were you burned btw?

I was burned seven years ago next week.

All of the grafts for my arms (wrists to mid biceps) came from my belly and chest. the grafts for the back of my calves and upper legs came from my thighs.

The burns on my bum were deep 2nd degree and they thought they were going to have to graft there as well. Had that been the case they probably would have had to use cadaver skin.

Is the plan to eventually replace the cadaver grafts with your own?

I'm not sure I actually speak with the hand surgeon on Monday.

Well best of luck with everything. remember to do all of the rehab and more, Yoga was a savior for me both physically and mentally.

If you ever have any questions about any of it don't hesitate to DM me.

Thank you A lot I really appreciate it

What happened to you ?

I was caught in a flash explosion fueled by lacquer fumes. It was in the basement of a house I was working on and the explosion damn near took the roof off the house.

That's horrible man. Thank god you're still with us.

How cool is your dog?

She's the coolest. Half corgi half pit bull, so she's pretty dang smart.

Was that your main masturbating hand?

If so, how do you plan to compensate until recovery?

Haha I'm back to working order if that's what Ya mean. It was the last thing on my mind for the first few weeks.

How are you dealing with this on an emotional level?

It's been hard. Fire changes you. Hell any near-death experience changes you. I have a new found respect for life, people, and just being alive. I'm a different person since this accident. That didn't come easy. When I first got home I cried every day. I was pathetic. Here I was, an 18 year old kid cut down to not even being able to move without help. It was the worst. I skate and honestly the thought that I'd be off my board for so long tore me in two. I had been struggling with depression prior to the accident, and skating really pulled me out of it. I was just figuring out a new hobby and suddenly I'm unable to even stand on my feet. Thankfully I'm back in it, and getting better, but it's been a long few months.

Did they use topical Manuka Honey sheets/patches on areas to fight infection? I've heard that it's being used more and more because of the antibiotic resistance

Nope the big thing hey used were Wound-Vacs. Basically vacuum sealing the graft until it was healed enough to hold its own. Then they used Xeroform (the yellow bandage from the proof). It was soaked in petroleum and antibiotics and kept the wound moist.

Did you get the lovely scrub brush baths? Nephew did, he had it worse then you though. Spent 30 days in an induced coma. Was in the hospital like 3 months the first time.

Oh yeah they hooked me up with all sorts of baths but the first round of Decon was horrible. They popped every blister and then scrubbed me clean. After telling them to stop a bunch I told them fuck it rip the bandaid off.

I know it's literally the worst question possible, but I'm curious as to what it felt like; did adrenaline stop most of the pain or did you feel it?

You definitely feel it. To put it simply it's the worst. Imagine being in an unbearably hot room, then multiply that feeling 100 times over. The heat moves up and down as the flames lick along your body. All you want it to do is stop, but it doesn't so you run.

How did you get the fire to stop? Did someone put it out for you, or did it stop after the chemicals burned off?

I actually blacked out from the pain, so I'm not sure. I assume the chemicals burned off. One sec I was running, the next I was running and just knew I wasn't on fire anymore

What were you thinking about when you were on fire? Did you think of friends, family or something, or just feel fear and panic?

I had a similar experience to yours, I was drowning, so I guess that's the opposite, but during the entire thing I kept laughing thinking how stupid I will look calling for help and didn't think of anything else really, except panic when I breathed in water coupled with laughing.

I didn't think much except for, "HOLY FUCK THIS ISNT HAPPENING" I was screaming more than I was thinking. I really thought well this is it. Game over. The next thing I knew they were walking me outside and I was just freaking the fuck out from the pain.

The first few days after the incident how did you go about going to the bathroom? Did nurses etc have to help you or what?

Also on a scale of 1-10 how embarrassing was it assuming nurses had to help you. And was the embarrassment different depending on the gender of the nurse? Assuming there was male and female nurses helping you go to the bathroom.

Oh man I was waiting for this question. Well the first three or four days I was on a catheter. Fuck that. Imagine the feeling of having to pee really bad for days. Plus it's all sorts of painful if it accidentally gets tugged. After that came out my hands were rendered useless by the wound vacs so I had to get someone to place my dong into a bottle and wait for an indefinite amount of time for me to go pee. I gots the stage fright before this anyway, so this was agony. The times table trick definitely helps. As for twosies, well opiates make it pretty hard to do that. They were concerned that I couldn't go, so a cute Nurses assistant gave me a suppository. That was the worst example. I will say that it was pretty embarrassing (8/10), but after spending what basically amounted to 2 days in the nude getting poked and prodded, modesty goes out the window. Good question.

Hello, first i hope you get better, second, would you post to /r/RoastMe?

Haha I've considered it, which picture in particular?

I hope I don't sound disrespectful but how does being on fire feel like? I mean, I'm sure it hurt, but did you feel the flames or were you just too much in shock to realize anyhing else than being on fire?

You ever touch a stove top? Well in this scenario the burner is all over and you can't turn it off. The panic is what you feel more than the pain. It's easily the most painful thing I've ever went through, but it's also the hardest to describe. Like your brain just kinda goes haywire until you realize what's goin on.

I know this is a stupid question but did it hurt, and how much? I only ask because I know sometimes something can hurt so much you don't really feel it

Yeah it definitely hurts. I have a few explanations in this thread, but just imagine the hottest thing you've ever touch and put that feeling across all of your limbs. But you can't pull away from the heat, it just gets hotter and hotter.

I was watching the movie Fury, and when a soldier caught fire, he instantly took out his pistol and shot himself in the head to end the pain. When you were on fire, would you have done the same thing, given the choice? How painful was it?

That's a great question. I don't think I would, but then again I've never been under the same circumstances. My survival instincts had kicked in hard as soon as the fire ignited. It hurt horribly. So bad that some of my memories are blocked because of the trauma. You feel every single second of agony until your brain just gives up. I really thought I was dead, but I was okay with it. Was that just for relief from the pain? Possibly. But I don't think I could bring myself to end it by myself

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People are downvoting you because OP had a serious injury... I on the other hand hope he sees the humor of this and is able to laugh about it.

I actually thought it was pretty funny, I just didn't know how to respond