We chose to come home after one night instead of staying another day. We discharged from Harborview at 5:30pm Tuesday. We made it home with Lake in good spirits and soon he was asleep. He still looks like a war survivor with his raw, peeling and oozing face. The big task for us at home is staying on top of wound care. He has sustained a partial thickness burn to 2-3% of his body. It looks more alarming than it reads predominantly because it’s his face that is most impacted and edematous with eyes squished shut. Being so young, however, he is anticipated to heal completely in 10-14 days. There will likely be sensitivity and possibly discoloration to the burned areas that will hopefully resolve with time.

He’s not a huge fan of the face net which he calls No Hat and my friend Cami accurately pointed out looks like an Asian pear net. This we are doing our best to replicate day after day at home.

He’s recovering by leaps and bounds every day. The first day home in the kitchen he was clearly having significant flashbacks, uncomfortably reliving the trauma.

Tea… boosh…

Tea… boosh…

Daddy…

He was with Daddy in the kitchen making tea when the jar of fresh boiled water broke as he excitedly ran over to be near his beloved tea. Boosh! Right into his face. His face and chest and arm, predominantly the right side, caught the brunt of the gush. Daddy got his quickly undressed and into a cool water bath in the sink, then brought him to his sick napping mama for comfort. As I slowly oriented myself I put two and two together when his face was red and he wouldn’t breastfeed. Badly burned. Hospital. Must go now.

Children’s Hospital or Harborview Medical Center? Pediatrics or Burns? Close or not too far, depending on traffic. Aid car or drive ourselves?

Harborview. Regional Pediatric Burn Unit.

What time is it?

7:20pm? Okay, traffic has died down. We’re going directly to Harborview. We’re driving.

Decisions were made judiciously and expediently. We dressed him in loose Cozy organic cotton shirt and pants and I sat in the back and sang to him while Daddy drove us to the Hospital. He was courageous and quiet. Once at the Emergency Department we were greeted, waited, greeted waited, and on and on as we made our way through all the layers of admission as Lake incrementally became an inpatient patient of Burns followed by Peds. It was after midnight when the debridement occurred. It was a very intense experience for all involved, for me, imagine witnessing your child be skinned alive. Our night nurse Rachel was professional and skilled, as were both the conglomerate teams of doctors, nurses, pharmacists and staff that continued to care for Lake during his stay.

We’re home convalescing now, breastfeeding almost continuously and very clingy to Mama but otherwise energetic and curious. He’s enjoying the exuberant company of Nana and Baba who were kind to come and visit. We’re managing wound care with the compassionate skills of Michael and Luisa. We appreciate your thoughts and prayers. As aforementioned Lake has shown true courage, grace, and resilience throughout this experience.