Hello everyone,

First and foremost I want to say thank you for all the love and support and good wishes everyone has sent my way over the past couple weeks. It was very encouraging to hear all of your comments from my blog and on facebook and email…Aaron and my nephew Rod tried their best to read all the comments to me every day. Some of you I haven’t heard from in over 15 years…thanks for taking the time to show that you care, and others (my co-workers) I totally appreciate you taking the time to post on my blog. I do realize of course that you probably just had much more time on your hands since missing my regular daily plethora of emails!

In many ways it feels like this whole ordeal has been much shorter than two weeks, and since I was heavily sedated for most of it, it really didn’t hit me until I got home that it is already the end of the month!!! It’s hard to believe how quickly life can change!

I’m pretty sure everyone is very curious how the accident actually happened, so I figured I’d do some physio on my hands and try to type it up for you all!  

Thursday, June 11^th I came home from work to find my boyfriend Aaron prepping dinner for us when I walked thru the door. The boy should have been a chef…he loves to cook, and I love to eat…so we get along very, very well! J He hadn’t started the BBQ just yet, so being the fabulously, wonderful girlfriend that I am (or just plain hungry) I offered to go start the BBQ for him. Our landlord left a charcoal bbq on the patio, so we had been using that almost every night to cook dinner.

I lit the charcoal using lighter fluid as per usual, and went back inside, helped with the salad and then let the cat outside. I was keeping a close eye on Gizmo (the cat) because it was one of his first trips outdoors and I was nervous about him getting lost or running away. I checked the bbq and realized that it hadn’t caught and I would have to light it again. I was annoyed because I had just run out of lighter fluid and would have to go to the store to get some more in order to get the charcoal burning again.

….that was until I saw the little lawnmower gas tank.

I knew I would have to be really careful, so I poured a couple tablespoons of gas into a small yogurt container, thinking this would minimize the chance of a large fire. I drizzled a little bit of it around the edges of the coals, and since nothing caught I was pretty confident that all the embers were out. I glanced over at the cat inspecting the back yard, called to him to get his attention so he wouldn’t hop the fence, and casually tossed the rest of the container of gas onto the heap of charcoal.

Suddenly I was engulfed in a huge ball of fire. Since my hair was long and I was wearing it down, it instantly caught fire on my left side. Let me tell you, the sound of hair burning is the worst thing you can hear! I started pounding at the fire with my hands, I don’t remember screaming, but according to the neighbours they heard me. Within a couple seconds I realized I couldn’t get it out on my own so I ran thru the back door yelling for Aaron…he was way inside in the kitchen and the first scream he just thought I was calling the cat or something…the second scream he realized something was really wrong and came running full bore… He burst thru the door into the laundry room where I was now trying to get the laundry room sink running…the skin on my hands was already peeling away like a rubber glove.

I remember seeing him burst through the door and all the blood drain from his face and then instantly he ran up to me and tackled me to the floor…rolling me around and beating out the fire on my hands and head. He says that every time he put out a spot and went to the next it seemed like the first spot would flare up again. Weirdly enough though, he walked away with only singes to his arm hair.

I was freaking out because I was sure the house was on fire as well, so I made him go out to take care of that…and I somehow got the laundry sink running and filled a tiny container with water and ran out to help (um, not sure what that would have accomplished…but hey, it’s the thought that counts right?). Thankfully the only thing burning was a lawn chair, nothing else caught fire!

Aaron came back in and rushed me upstairs into the tub and tried to get cold water on me….it hurt so bad I couldn’t stand it, so as soon as he left to go back downstairs to call 911 I got out of the tub and headed back down there too.

A whole bunch of neighbours had heard the screams and were now in the back yard and had already called 911. Aaron was freaking out, shaking and just looking at me going ‘OMG, OMG!!!’. I told him very strictly to stop looking at me, and to get my purse and phone, pack me a bag, phone my sister and boss and get on the phone with his mom. I was even still worried about the cat getting back inside. One of the neighbour ladies forced me to sit down on the steps because I was going into shock and my body had begun shaking uncontrollably.

Finally I heard the sirens…apparently it was only about 10 mins from the very start…but it seemed like a lifetime to me!!! I couldn’t wait for the firefighters/paramedics to get into the backyard, so I walked around to the front and sat on the sidewalk. The sun was out in full force and sitting in the sun was agony, it felt like everything was still on fire. When the firefighters got there they instantly had about four guys start pouring saline solution over my face, neck and hands. It was instant relief....but only as long as there was a constant stream of saline…. I could hear them saying that they were running out of saline, and that freaked me out, so I just kept asking them for morphine.

Finally the ambulance got there; they all started discussing how they would get me up onto the stretcher. This was really annoying me because every second wasted was a second away from my blessed morphine…so I just stood up and went and sat down on the stretcher for them.

Apparently the news crew arrived at the same time as the ambulance, so Aaron tried to block their view of me as best possible, but they must have got some footage because apparently it was on the TV news and in the newspaper for a couple days.

When they got me into the ambulance, they finally decided to give me a shot of something to help with the pain…but I kept telling them it wasn’t enough and they needed to give me more. By the time I got to the hospital (only a few mins away) they had already given me several shots, but I was still very awake and still shaking with pain and shock.

I was still pretty coherent when I got into the hospital, they asked me all the usual questions…age/date etc etc… and I had a brief chance to talk to Aaron and his mom Karen (she actually beat Aaron to the hospital as he had to stay back at the house to deal with the police and fire department). I was so relieved that she was there to be with him, because he was still shaking and just saying ‘OMG, OMG’..

I remember them asking me if they could cut off my shirt and bra and I looked around and saw all the paramedics and hospital staff standing there and thought that it was abit humorous that half of Kamloops would see me topless. I didn’t find out until later that several of the paramedics actually play hockey on Aaron’s Sunday night team…so it will definitely be interesting meeting any of them in the future! J One of the paramedics was in tears after bringing me in…so Aaron knew it was pretty serious.

Finally they gave me general anaesthesia because they had given me as much morphine as they could, and I still wouldn’t go to sleep. All of Aaron’s family came down to be with him in the Kamloops hospital waiting room for the next 4 hrs or so, and it was a long time until they knew anything. One of the paramedics was in tears after bringing me in…so Aaron knew it was pretty serious. Finally the social worker went in and reported that ‘yes’ I would live, but that they would need to MedEvac me to Vancouver General Hospital that night to ICU and the burn and trauma center.

My childhood friend Shelley drove to the hospital in Vancouver that night after getting the call from my brother (thanks to facebook and google he somehow managed to track her down) and she sat with me the entire night….I don’t remember it, but am so grateful to have such an amazing friend!

The dr’s told Aaron and my family that I probably wouldn’t wake up for a few days because they wanted to keep me out because of the pain, but being the stubborn person that I am, I woke up early the next morning for a few minutes. It was weird, because even though it felt like a dream, I knew exactly what had happened and where I was. I couldn’t talk because of the breathing tubes, so I managed to sign ‘AARON’ into the air to the ICU nurse, and she assured me that he was on his way into town from Kamloops.

My brother’s Ken and Richard and my nephew Rod came in, and Aaron and his stepdad Cam arrived from Kamloops. They only let a couple of people in at a time…and I thought it was cute when the nurses told me later that that when I heard Aaron’s voice outside the ICU door, my heart rate skyrocketed. What can I say…he’s a pretty special guy!

Everything from that point on is a big blur from the morphine (thank you  SOOOO much Freidrich Wilhelm Adam Serturner)…they had me hooked up to a whole bunch of machines so I wasn’t able to speak and therefore was stuck signing everything in the air…

I know the story of me asking for my iPhone was already posted…but in my defence, I remember thinking that if I could just type on my iPhone I wouldn’t have to sign every freaking word in the air like a bandaged  monkey playing charades, and have people try to figure out what I was trying to say.  Apparently I neglected to factor in that I could barely see from under the bandages, plus that my hands were completely covered and I needed fingertips to type on the phone. I guess my brother got quite the evil eye from me when he tried to point out the latter… ;)

I went into surgery on Monday, and they tried to put the breathing tubes back in while I was still semi-awake. They had removed the previous tubes on Saturday after sending a camera down there to ensure that there was no fire/smoke damage to throat and lungs. Talk about a nightmare…they had to try about 5 times to get it in, and I remember every second of it…still don’t know why they didn’t just wait till I was completely under to save me the extra trauma…just weird!!!

I woke up from surgery and as soon as I got back to the room I called my brother…his is the only local number I knew by heart, and I couldn’t call Aaron’s cell because it was long distance from the hospital. I just wanted someone to know I had made it thru the surgery ok.

The nurses in the burn and trauma unit were fabulous…it takes a special breed to work there. It’s a very humbling experience to be completely reliant on someone else for every bodily function you have. They had such patience and were so compassionate to a stranger, I will be eternally grateful to them for that.

Aaron was by my side the whole way…he took two weeks off of work to stay in Vancouver so he could be with me every day. They had promised him a bed in my room, but it turned out they didn’t have enough space, which was probably a blessing in disguise for me in the long run (he snores like a freight train, and there is no way I could wear earplugs in my poor melted ears!)

He sat with me through numerous dressing changes…each and every one were VERY painful…the first one on my right hand lasted 3 hours, and he sat there the entire time squeezing my leg and helping me breathe through the pain. What a trooper! The second dressing change only lasted 2 hours, but he was there for me again, and I credit him for getting me through it.

 I had SOOOOO many visitors! Thanks to each and every one of you who came to the hospital to see me…some I can barely remember because I was so drugged up, but I still appreciate it so much! Last Sunday I had almost 10 people in my room…we were partying it up big time…I’m so glad the nurses liked me so much, as I found out later there was actually a limit of 2 visitors per room! Unfortunately I wasn’t allowed to receive flowers…but I heard they were beautiful! I got an awesome fruit basket from my oldest brother, and that came in handy because I just couldn’t handle the hospital food.

My dad and sister Winni flew in to see me Sat – Tues. They were such a support…I think Winni was a nurse in her past life…she was so amazing! My dad sat with me as they removed the 150+ staples in my hand on Monday. I had the use of my left hand back at that point and I was surprised I didn’t squeeze his 80 year old hand right off. Aaron came in again half way through that and sat with us, helping me focus on deep breathing again to get thru it. The nurses wanted to stop after awhile because it was so painful for me, but I wouldn’t let them because I just wanted it to be over and done with. I was really lucky that the grafting on my hand and neck were 100% successful so no further surgeries or staple removals are needed!

I made it almost all of the way through this ordeal without shedding a tear. The first time I cried was when Aaron told me that the house I am currently living in had been put up for sale on Saturday and had 3 offers on it and was sold on Monday….meaning I have to be out of my place on Aug 1^st.  (did someone say we’re in a recession??) It was just too much to handle so I just cried, and Aaron just didn’t know what to do…you know men…they want to fix things…and I actually just wanted to cry for a bit once I got started. Lol…poor boy, he was very confused that I had made it thru all of this pain, and then would cry over having to move.

We had viewed a 2 bedroom condo for the 2^nd time at lunch on the day of the accident, and had planned to put an offer in on Friday…of course I hadn’t even thought of any of this until I heard that the house had sold from under me, so once I got control of my silly emotions again, I went into investor mode and started the paperwork to put in an offer. I couldn’t even really sign the first set of paperwork that came through…I don’t even think my signature was legible! Anyhow, the offer was accepted and now I’m just crossing my fingers that everything else goes well for closing the deal on Friday! The one upside to all of this is that this will be the very first time in my life that I will not be able to move myself!!! Aaron has promised to round up a bunch of big strong men and I’ll just sit in my easy chair and be the foreman!!!

I was released on Friday June 26th and we drove home…it felt like the longest drive ever. I can’t have any burned skin exposed to direct sunlight, so I looked like a mummy all wrapped up in the car. I won’t be able to be in the sun for the next 12 – 18 months, and will have to wear tension bandages/gloves on my hands and neck all the time for the next year to minimize scarring. Yuk…that will definitely take some adjustment, but at least I have an excuse not to do dishes for a long time. I've never been a fan of the glove/hat/scarf look...but maybe people will just assume that I'm in mourning, and just paying tribute MJ for the next year!!!

I have included a couple pix…one is pretty graphic…Winni took that pix on the 22^nd. She wouldn’t show me the pix at the time so I really had no idea that it looked so bad! I only post it so you can see how rapidly I have healed…it’s almost a bit freaky, but definitely not something I will ever question…I just hope all my family has the same genes, and the same good luck if they ever need it! The other pix was taken on the 28^th it looks backwards btw. My left side is almost completely healed…I only have 3 small patches on the right side that still need bandages, plus my ear is still pretty sore and will need some more time to heal completely. My hands are looking great and I’ll post pix of the grafting once the lines have healed a bit more. It’s pretty amazing what they can do with the human body!!!

So now comes lots of physio to recover the flexibility and range of motion in my neck and right hand. My left hand has all of it’s range of motion back because it healed so quickly and didn’t require any grafting so I could start using it again within days of the accident.

Thanks again for all of you love and support…it has been an unforgettable journey that still hasn’t ended completely for us, so please keep us in your thoughts as Aaron and I continue on.

When I was completely drugged one day I told my nephew, ‘Except for getting burnt this has been an awesome experience!’….. lol…

What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger, right??!

 

Love you all,

Christie

Hi all,

So sorry it has been sooo long since I've updated this.  I'm in Paris and it has been a world wind of a few days and I also couldn't get into my account until now....very sorry.  I'm sure you all probably know by now that Christie has gone home to Kamploops.  She is doing amazing!!!  She is writing something for me to post on here so I will put it up as soon as I get it.  

Also I will try to post a recent picture of her...she looks absolutely amazing!!!!

I spent the day with Christie today giving her a pedicure and shaving her legs.....so fun!!! She keeps on marvelling everyone as she heals and improves everyday. She got to see her grafted hand and was very pleased with how it looked. She is a bit uncomfortable because now all the burns are starting to itch but as her sister keeps reminding her this is a good sign. This means that the skin is healing. If you notice in one of the pictures Winn is spraying her with a water bottle. There is a special goldish bandage that they have on her burns and if it is kept damp it helps to draw out the bad "stuff" helping there to be minimal scaring.

Tomorrow will be a painful day for Christie so send all your good thoughts and positive energy her way. She will have all the bandages taken off. She is especially anxious to see the grafting on her neck as she's been so careful not to move her head to much and to keep it straight to help the grafting take. If all the grafting takes and looks good she will not have to have anymore surgeries...so fingers crossed. Her face looks like its healing well she may have to have some work on her nose but I think we'll know more tomorrow. She is hoping that if she keeps improving as she is that soon she can be moved to Kamloops hospital that way Aaron can start working as he is spending everyday at her bedside.

She's been reading the blog and is overwhelmed at all of you who care so much for her. Even though she's doing so well right now she'll need our support and positive energy for a long time while she goes through this long healing process. Thanks everyone for your support and for caring!!!

Hey all,

Here's some pictures of Christie she said we could post. You can see from the pictures she's in excellent spirits. The guy in the sun glasses is her nephew Rod, the blondie brown haired one is her brother Ken, the darker haired one is Aaron her bf, then her dad and her sister Winn. Her dad and sister Winn just got down yesterday. I'm heading in today to give her a pedicure and manicure. I'll see if there's any medical updates on her and I'll post later tonight. Take care.

Hi all, Christie just called me. She's doing ok had a bit of a rough day. She's says its funny the things you take for granted when you are healthy and able to do normal things for yourself.

She isn't allowed flowers in her room so maybe we can all hold off on the flowers till she gets home or something. Not that she doesn't appreciate them and all. Also for anyone trying to call her, she usually tries to settle down for the night around eight so she can't take phone calls after that. She doing well just resting and using her energy to heal. Thanks everyone for caring!!!

Goodmorning, I got to see Christie yesterday. She looks so good from when I saw her that first night. The swelling in her face has gone down, she can open her eyes and the tube is again out of her throat. When I arrived they had just down a bandage change which is VERY painful. Those who were in the room with her said it was the most painful thing they have every seen someone go through. Aaron said the grafting on her hands look really well done. What part of her face I could see looked really good and looked like it was healing nicely. She is so strong!!! She can't move her neck because of the grafting so her mobility in bed is limited.

She is in amazing spirits and says she is trying to follow everything the doctors and nurses tell her to do so that she heals quickly and well. She is still in a lot of pain and frequently has to ask them to up her meds but she was laughing and making jokes when I was in there.

I will let you know when she is up for visitors but she rests a lot right now and because of her limitied mobility doesn't want too many visitors. She wants to be able to be a better hostess she says:)

So just a little more news....they had to put the tube back in during surgery so she can't talk so well again, but surgery went well. Those that have seen her say that what they saw of her left hand looked better. Her right hand and right side of the back of her neck were burnt pretty bad as they "think" her hair might have caught on fire so she tried to put it out with her right hand and pushed it into her neck. We are not 100% sure but thats what it seems like. She is pretty drugged up but in good spirits.

So Christie's surgery went well. I guess as soon as she got out of surgery she phoned to talk to her brother...crazy girl!! I tried to call her but wasn't able to speak to me just then so I'm gonna try in a bit and will let you know if there's any more details. Just wanted to get out to you all that surgery went well. Thanks for all your support!

Christie has been moved to the Burn Unit and will have surgery tomorrow. The family and Christie ask that no visitors come for a little bit until some of the surgeries are finished. I will be sure to post as soon as she is able to have visitors. I will also update tomorrow or as soon as I hear how surgery went and all.

Christie's breathing tube was removed today so now she has no tubes running down her throat. She seems to be a lot happier with this becuase now she can talk a little, although her voice is still very faint and laboured. She is still on a lot of drugs but they are giving her max dosage and it still doesn't help her to sleep so we can hope that they find something to help her so that she doesn't have to be alone and awake long into the night.

Although she is in a lot of pain and on a lot of drugs she is still in good spirits often making jokes about some of her injuries. Today the nurses were putting her feeding tube down her nose and they said something to her about being careful because her nose is quite burnt and she replied, that's fine I never did like my nose now I can have plastic surgery :) She's still got her spunk and spirit and still doesn't take no for an answer. She was demanding that she get her iphone, she got upset when they told her no. Once she had it she sat there scrolling through it, I'm sure this give her a sense of familiarity and control. She's a funny girl, she's fighting and this just proves to us all that not gonna give up!

I hope to get to go see her tomorrow or Tuesday so I'll hopefully have some more to report on.

In the next few weeks Rod will be reading Christie her emails and the comments on this blog that you all make and send to her, so send comments and notes to her through her or facebook or email. I'm sure she will love to her that everyone is supporting her. She was excited when Rod suggested this to her. Thanks you!

Christie is doing well today. Rod was in with her for 3 1/2 hours today talking with her. She, of course, was really excited to see him. She makes letters in the air to communicate. She is very alert and wants to talk so communicating like this is very frustrating for her at times. There is a 90% chance that she will get the breathing tube taken out today and then she will be able to talk to her family.

She, of course, is worried about her injuries and how she will look but the nurse came in today and reassured her that it is alot better then they expected and she probably will heal quite well. This seemed to help her to hear this. She is enjoying that her family is there and even though she can't talk to them that well, she loves to hear them talk and tell her about how everyone is pulling for her and all of your well wishes.

Doctors and nurses are still amazed at how well she is doing!!!

Just got a call from VGH and Christie is able to communicate when she wants someone. She can't speak but she was signing and she can now open her eyes temporarily. We are so excited because they did not expect this from her so soon!! The nurses say they've never seen a burn victim doing so well. She is a real trooper and fighter!!

June 12, 2009

Hi all,

As many of you know Christie was in an accident last night involving her BBQ blowing up. She was badly burned with what they thought at first to be third degree burns but if we're lucky the doctors say may only be second degree burns on her face, neck, and arms. Her hands may have been the most damaged but at this time we do not know for sure the extent of all her injuries.

The good news is that she is stable and all her vital signs are good. Last report I received from the family was that she was doing better then the nurses and doctors had anticipated. The next few days and weeks will be very crucial in her recovery and because of this the doctors have said no visitors other than immediate family.

I am writing this blog to help deter some of the phone calls from the family as they need this time to come to terms with what has happened and to direct their attention to helping and supporting Christie during these hard times. The family will contact me with any changes and improvements and I will post it here as soon as I know.

The family thanks you for all your support.