Rocky

Brad leaves to go on an international mission trip to Moldova and the excitement begins back home. We had an unfortunate event Monday morning with Andrew. He touched the glass to our gas logs and incurred 2^nd degree burns to his right hand. We turned it on briefly to get the chill out of the air downstairs. I kept telling him don’t touch it, it’s hot and moving him away from it. I was sitting about a foot away from him by the gas logs. I didn’t realize how hot the glass gets. I should have touched it myself first to know how hot it got, but I figured it would get warm, but never hot enough to burn him. I thought well, if he touches it, he’ll feel that it’s warm and know not to touch it again, never, ever, ever, did I think it would burn him.

The top half of his palm and each fingertip have blisters on them. His palm looks the worst. Thankfully so far they don’t think he’s going to need surgery. They believe it only burnt half way through the 2^nd layer. If it had gotten to the 3^rd layer he would definitely had needed surgery. Boy, I hate burns. He touched the glass for only about 5 sec if not less. He started crying, looked at me, and I had to remove his hand from the glass. He didn’t move it himself. In talking with the representative from the gas logs store, they informed us that the glass on our gas logs is intended to radiate the heat from the logs into the room, which would make sense why the glass gets so hot. He said it is almost like glue if something touches it, which would explain why Andrew didn’t move his hand, because he couldn’t. I know, awful to think about. I don’t even like explaining it, but many people have asked me why he didn’t move his hand and why I had to move it for him. I didn’t understand it myself until today when he talked to the representative. My poor boy.

Andrew did very well in the ER. He was a tough boy. The doctor was awfully impressed that he was doing as well as he was on just Motrin to deal with the pain.

We ordered a protective screen for our gas logs yesterday. It’s going to be installed free of charge on Nov 14^th due to Andrew’s injury. Something the builder of our home should have installed to begin with. Hopefully this screen will help prevent any other injuries to anyone else in the future. If anyone has gas logs without a protective screen, PLEASE find out the purpose of the glass. We didn’t realize the glass got as hot as it did and wasn’t tempered. The purpose of the glass on our gas logs is to radiate the heat from the flame into the room, which would explain why it gets so hot. Our gas logs had no protective screen or warning on the glass. We purchased a protective screen that will be installed next Wed for only $34. We plan to contact the builder of our home and the gas logs company to hopefully prevent something like this from happening to anyone else in the future.

Thankfully he’s still crawling on it, playing, smiling, laughing, and snuggling. Although, when he crawls, he's been using the outside of his right hand. He still uses his right hand to pull up to stand on things and drink out of his cup. He still uses it some, but not as much as usual. You can tell it causes his discomfort. Please pray that God would decrease or even remove the pain from his hand. Also, please pray that times of cleaning and redressing his hand would go well. Changing his dressing makes me so nervous. I don’t think I’ll ever get comfortable doing it. He is able. Nothing is impossible with Him.

Please pray for God’s healing of Andrew’s hand. Pray that he wouldn't get contractures and that it would heal in a way that he doesn't need surgery. Pray that God would decrease or remove any pain/discomfort it causes him. Pray that he would sleep well. Pray that God would also heal Andrew’s cold. On top of all this, Andrew has had a low grade fever, yellow nasal drainage, and a cough that is causing him to not sleep well. We just came back from the ped office and he's now on antibiotics for the beginnings of double ear infections.

We saw the plastic surgeon who specializes in burns on hands Wed. morning. Andrew's appt. with him I guess you could say went well. We have to go back for a F/U appt in one week. Since this was the first time Dr. Molnar saw him he has nothing to compare it to, so he can't really say if it looks better or how well it will heal. Although, the doctor said he would expect it to heal in about 3 weeks. He said he can't guarantee it won't scar. I'm more concerned that he won't have contractures (it's a way burns heal that would restrict his mobility). If contractures develop that would be something he would more than likely need surgery for. Please pray that he heals well without any infection and that he won’t need surgery. The doctor said it's definitely a 2nd degree burn. He said normally for you or I it wouldn't have gone that deep, but he doesn't have the calluses we have yet. One good thing out of the appt was that instead of wrapping his hand with gauze each dressing the nurses recommended putting the ointment on and then putting a sock on leaving room for his thumb. Works much better.

I am thankful that Emma is feeling better from her cold and I am thankful that my Mom is here in town with me while Brad is gone. God provides.

Thank you soooooo much for your prayers.