VAUGHN'S VERY ROUGH WEEK

Last Sunday, February 25th, we decided to get out of the house and visit Brian's brothers over in Springville. (They currently live with Brian's parents in Springville and are watching the house while Brian's parents are away on seminars). Anyway, we had just gotten there and I was starting dinner while Brian watched Vaughn. I asked Brian a question, and he turned and took two or three steps towards me, and then we heard Vaughn scream. We instantly knew what had happened. Vaughn in a split-second's time had made his way over to their fireplace and put his hand on the glass front of it. Brian picked him up and looked at me and said, "Oh Lisa it's bad." In my mind those are the worst words any parent can hear when it comes to an injury their child has received.

Brian brought Vaughn over to the kitchen sink, and when I looked at his hand I went into a little bit of shock. His skin on his palm was melted and had sunk to the bottom of his palm, although it was still attached. I thought for sure it was a third-degree burn, so I immediately called the after-hours doctor to ask what we should do. Brian had already stuck his hand under very cold running water. The nurse told me to hold it there for at least fifteen minutes, and then get to the office as quickly as possible.

Brian's brother Robert followed us out to the car with ice packs and a bag full of snow. He also gave us his cell phone just in case. Vaughn couldn't stand to have the ice packs on his hand, but he would play with the snow. Thank goodness for Robert's quick thinking!

Once we got to the doctor's office, we gave Vaughn some Tylenol, and then they put us in a room and told us to ice his hand. By this time his palm was covered in a huge blister. The pads of his fingers were also covered in blisters. The doctor told us to ice his hand until he could go two or three minutes without crying once the ice was removed. After almost three hours, he still cried after only five seconds without the ice pack. The doctor finally decided to draw out some of the pus from the blister to remove pressure. She removed about 9 ccs, and there was still more, but it was enough to relieve the pressure, and then we wrapped up Vaughn's hand.

We thought for sure that because of the pain Vaughn would be up all night, but he went right to sleep and only woke up a few times in the night.


This picture doesn't do Vaughn's hand any justice. This was the next day after most of the pus had been drawn out from the blister. And for some reason the other blisters weren't showing up in this shot. But imagine the blister covering his whole palm and there being about three times as much pus in it!



The next day I went over to Brian's parents' house again so Jared could help me to hold Vaughn down while I changed his dressings. Before I could change them though, I had to soak Vaughn's hand in water and antibacterial soap for five minutes. Jared tried to distract him by turning on the TV and playing with him.







This is how Vaughn's hand looked with all the bandaging in place. We eventually had to put a sock over the top of it because he kept pulling at the bandaging.

I had wondered how Vaughn would take being over at the same place where he had burned his hand, but he was very observant and very smart. Vaughn went into the living room where the fireplace is, but he wouldn't get close to the fireplace. Jared said he just looked over and pointed at it. Vaughn knew what had hurt him, and he wasn't going to let it get him again. We are going to be on total guard whenever we are over there again. We won't let Vaughn anywhere near the living room if the fireplace is going. And we will make sure the glass in completely cooled once the fire is turned off before we let him back in.


Jared did so much for us while we were there on Monday. He entertained Vaughn and really did a great job of keeping his mind off of his hand. So I cooked dinner that night for everyone, and we had chicken, ranch potatoes and string beans. It doesn't look like much, but that chicken was so tender it practically melted in my mouth. I was so happy with how it turned out.









On Tuesday the 27th, I went over to the Kuhni's down the street to watch Barbara while her husband Melvin went out for a while. This is Barbara while she's taking a nap. It was so nice to be back there again, and to be with Barbara.






Later that day I had to take Vaughn into the doctor so they could remove the blister. In this picture you can see more of where the blister had spread on his hand. They only cut away some of it though, because parts of the blister had somewhat attached to his upper palm. There are also the little blisters on his fingers in this shot.

During the procedure, Vaughn just screamed. They had me sit and hold him, but it wasn't enough. They had to bring in two other nurses to help hold him. All together we had four people holding Vaughn down at the same time. During all of this Vaughn just kept looking at me, crying. He looked as if he were asking, "Mom, why are you letting them do this to me?" I tried so hard not to cry. After it was all done, one of the nurses said, "Are you okay?" "Do you need a drink or a hug?" At that point I just started bawling. I didn't realize I had been so upset by all of it.



I know his picture is at the beginning of the blog, but I wanted to explain this. After getting his blister removed, Vaughn was extra sensitive with his hand. He didn't like it touching anything! So he would just hold it up in the air most of the time. I tried to put a pillow under his arm to help him keep it up, but he just naturally lifted it higher. Poor thing!






On Thursday it was back to the doctor. But this time it was the Burn Clinic up in Salt Lake. Vaughn was obviously not a happy camper in this shot. He was so sick of having his hand messed with. But luckily Laura came along and saved the day! She was so helpful. She helped me to navigate since I get lost all the time. She also carried Vaughn all over creation while I carried bags. And when we finally got to the right destination, she kept Vaughn entertained while we waited for the doctor. She also cheered him up once everything was done.






Laura hadn't seen Vaughn's burn yet, so when they took off the bandaging and she saw it for the first time, it really surprised her. She was really sad, and she felt so bad for Vaughn. I kept telling her, "Laura, this looks so much better than it did." Laura said she would never be able to be a nurse, especially if little kids were involved. I don't blame her.

Poor Vaughn was just ready to go home in this shot. He'd had it with doctors!


If you remember how raw and sore his hand looked after they cut off the blister, then just imagine how it felt for Vaughn to have the doctors stretch that poor hand out!

When the doctor saw his hand he said it was already beginning to heal, but it was drawing the skin together. He said we would have to stretch out his hand so those little skin bridges would come apart and his hand would be able to move normally. Otherwise, his hand would heal in a cupped-shaped, and he wouldn't be able to use it very well.

After the doctor showed me how to stretch his hand, he actually did it to Vaughn. It was a tough thing to watch, but as he did it, you could see those little skin bridges come apart, and it made me feel better to know his hand would have normal movement. The doctor said it would definitely be uncomfortable for him, but it would be way worse not to do it.






Here's Laura playing with Vaughn to cheer him up. Thanks Laura for being so helpful!







I was so pleased with how kind and tender the doctors were with Vaughn. I don't think I've ever met nicer doctors. There were two doctors that looked at Vaughn. This guy is Lee Moss, and he was so great. He answered every question I had. Doesn't he just look like a nice guy?

I had been nervous to take Vaughn to doctors I didn't know, but these guys made every fear leave. They were awesome. And they did their best to make Vaughn happy and comfortable.







Laura came over again on Friday. It was so nice to have here there. She is always so great to play with Vaughn. And Vaughn adores her. (Even though he looks very cross in this shot). Laura played with Vaughn for a while. Then we watched the Curious George Movie and ate pizza (which Laura provided). We really had a great time!

Thanks for all your help this week Laura. You're the best!










On Saturday we went up to see Grandma Oviatt. She told us she would provide lunch, and that it wouldn't be anything special. She told us not to bring anything. I brought some of our bottled grape juice just in case though. Well let me tell you, when we got there, Grandma had put on quite the spread. She had made a lasagna, deviled eggs, a beautiful salad, garlic bread, and french bread pizza. I was amazed! And let me tell you, it was all so good! Brian ate enough for an army. I was close behind. I was so touched that Grandma would go to all that effort for us! She had also invited Hannah and Mackenzie down so they could play with Vaughn. That was great too because we wound up playing games with them as well and really enjoying ourselves!




Vaughn wasn't too interested in eating because he was too excited to be at Grandma's. So Hannah offered to sit and watch a show with him. Isn't she so cute?!?! Hannah always offers to play with Vaughn and watch him. She is such a good friend to him. I think this picture is kind of funny because Vaughn looks bigger than Hannah!









Mackenzie decided to take a little cat nap in the sun before we started the festivities (aka playing Spoons).











Grandma has cats that come around begging for food and chasing the birds that come to eat from her bird feeders. Vaughn saw one on the back porch, and Grandma took the opportunity to help him get a better look.









Grandma offered to play with Vaughn while Hannah, Brian, Mackenzie and I played Spoons. It was so cute to watch Vaughn with Grandma. He wasn't interested in actually coloring. But he did like taking handfuls of crayons and giving them to everyone in the room.




Here is a picture of what I call the "Evil Duo." I only say that because I swear they teamed up against me to make sure I lost at Spoons. And by the way, if you want to get your heart racing, play that game! I kept getting heart-attacks every time I tried to reach for a spoon. I don't think I want to play that game again. The other reason I don't want to play is I can't win! Mackenzie is just too quick for all of us. She is the reigning champion at Spoons, and she whooped us all!







Just before we left Grandma decided to give Vaughn a ride in one of the living room chairs. Vaughn really enjoyed it, and so did Grandma!







I have to mention this too. While we were at Grandma's, she took me downstairs and showed me some of the quilt-tops she has been working on. I have to tell everyone that they were AMAZING!!!! I was totally astounded at how gorgeous they were. Grandma has a real talent for quilting. I can only hope to someday become as accomplished as she is with quilting. I couldn't believe some of the color schemes she had chosen. They were just perfect! And sorry to disappoint all my cousins and brothers and sisters, but I still have the best quilt out of you all...the one Grandma gave to me for my wedding!!!! Thanks so much Grandma for a great day and for a beautiful quilt!

And thank you to everyone for your prayers for Vaughn and his hand. He is healing very quickly, and we know it is because of your prayers. We can't wait for him to be his jolly old self again!

Here's one for the road....


Love to you all!
Love, Lisa