Sunday, October 16, 2011

Another Trip to the ER

It is never easy to be a mom.  There are so many things to do all the same time.  Today after church I got to work on dinner.  We were all hungry and Molly was tired since on Sundays she misses her nap due to afternoon church right at the normal nap time.  So she was a bit cranky and underfoot while I was cooking up some spaghetti.  I had just browned some beef and had drained the grease into a little throwaway cup and was busy making the sauce when I heard Molly behind me start to scream. I turned and there she was with the hot liquid all over her face and chest.  I am usually so careful with hot items on the stove and such but somehow I left that little cup of drippings too close to the edge of the counter and this little curious girl got her hands on it.  I quickly pulled her dress off (I am still hoping her dress isn't ruined) and called my husband to help put her in a cool bath. I didn't know what else to do.  While he bathed her she continued to scream and scream. I called the ask a nurse to see what else we could do and she recommended we take her to the ER. So we left our unfinished spaghetti to sit on the stove (turned off of course) and headed to the hospital.  Poor little Molly screaming the whole way. I think we hit every light red on the way there!

The doctor said she has mostly just a first degree burn but a few places where she has a slight 2nd degree burn. I consider this lucky. Her face was bright red and her chest was scarlet with a few places where the blisters has formed and popped leaving some loose skin. (Sorry to be so graphic).

The whole time in the hospital Molly kept begging to "go home".  She didn't want anyone to touch her and she didn't want anything to do with anything the nurses or doctors brought her. She wouldn't even take a lick of the popsicle that they offered her.  They put some ointment on the raw spots on her chest and tried to put a bandage on her but she grabbed it off and fought the nurse when she tried to reapply it.  Molly really just wanted to go home. We did force down some Motrin and we were sent home. Molly conked out on the way home. All the screaming did her in.

After returning home she woke up and seemed back to her normal self. She ate the rewarmed spaghetti and even had a cup of chocolate milk before we sent her off to bed. I am really hoping she sleeps well.

I think Molly and I learned a lesson with this incident. I will be MUCH more diligent about keeping hot items out of reach and hopefully Molly has learned not to be too curious.  I feel like the man with the yellow hat telling George to not be curious.  Of course she will be curious but maybe,  just maybe she will have the memory of this burn to help her pause and think about grabbing things from up on the counter.  I know this will be etched into my memory so each time I ever "drain the fat" it will be placed well out of reach.

I am sure Molly will be fine, thank goodness.  Her face and chest aren't even red anymore (maybe it was all that screaming that was really causing her to be so red.  I reapplied the ointment just before putting her to bed and it was only the few bad patches that were still angry.  She really does need a good bath.  She still smells like grease.

4 comments:

Bibliophile said...

This incident reminds me of the time our family went to Topaz Lake in Nevada. You were about 2 1/2, and we stayed in a motel near the lake. During the night you began screaming, and I spent much of the night carrying you around and rocking you back and forth. When dawn arrived, I stood by the window and saw that the right...or was it left?...side of your face was red and swollen. Dad and I left the rest of the children with the friends who went with us, and we rushed you to the hospital in Reno. You had a massive ear infection and the presence of so much redness made the doctors think that you might have been hit or in some way abused. They gave us some medication for you and we had to take you to our doctor and he had to send a letter back to the hospital in Nevada to assure them that you really did have an ear infection that had been successfully treated. Otherwise, we would have been in trouble with CPS.

I'm glad that Molly is OK. My questiion....what part of her body is showing in the photo? Her leg?

Miller Family said...

Poor Molly! I when my kids get hurt, it is the worst. I hope Molly is feeling better.

The Henry's said...

Oh no, poor Molly! That is the worst feeling. When Jalen was about 2 he reached up and touched a deep fryer we had turned on, on the counter. I hadn't pushed it back far enough. The screaming was heartbreaking. I'm so glad she's okay.

Cellista said...

Oh, I'm so sorry!! We went through something like this this summer. E was just too quick for me and pulled a pan of water down on his head. I don't even know how it happened, it was on the back burner, but luckily the water wasn't boiling yet. He still got very red on the top of his head, but everything turned out ok. I felt awful at the doctor's though, like they were all looking at me for being a bad mother. What can you do though. For all your diligence, these kids are quick! I'm glad everything turned out ok. :)