BURNED. "YEE-OUCH!"

 

This past Monday I decided to make a new recipe.  I wanted to make Carnitas (small pieces of roasted and shredded pork), and I found a delicious recipe on-line.  The first thing the recipe called for was to cook the pork in an oven safe skillet on top of the stove for an hour.  After the hour was up it was time to pop the skillet into the oven for 30 minutes at 400 degrees.  Everything was going wonderful until after I took the pan out of the oven (with oven mitts) and placed it on top of the stove.  That's when I decided to take a picture so I could post about this recipe on my blog. 

Being the creature of habit that I am - I reached out with my left hand (because the camera was in my right hand) and grabbed the handle.  Yes, you heard right.  I grabbed it.  I actually lifted that skillet and moved it to the front burner in hopes of getting the perfect picture . . . without shadows.  It couldn't have been more than 2 or 3 seconds later that I felt a searing pain in my fingers and thumb.  It dawned on me that I had just grabbed a stainless steel skillet handle that had been fired up to 400 degrees while basking in the oven for the past 30 minutes, thus my "Kodak Moment" no longer seemed important.

The pain was intense to say-the-least.  All I could think was how blistered and raw my fingers were going to be, and how many weeks I was going to be in pain with a useless hand.  (I tried not to think about the PREVENTABLE trip to the doctor and the bill that could have been avoided if I had only been THINKING.)  I immediately ran cold water over my fingers, but it wasn't cold enough, so I put a frozen ice pack in my hand, and headed for the computer.  In my on-line search I found out ice is NOT a good option for a burn.  It only damages the skin more.  But, I also found someone who recommended an unusual remedy for burns.  I try to keep this item on hand.  I even stop at our local health food store so I can get the best.  Thankfully, we had plenty in the pantry, and I wasted no time liberally applying this truly miraculous product to my fingers. 


 

The pain was still intense, but I didn't know what else to do. So I soaked a sterile pad in the stuff and laid it on my fingers, then wrapped it up with a gauze bandage and tape. Before the day was out, ALL of the pain was completely GONE.
[This picture was taken Tuesday - the day after I got burned.  It's hard to see, but look closely and the long, skinny red lines running the length of each finger are there.]



I had ONE blister on my ring finger.  The rest of my fingers were red, and the skin on each was tight and sensitive, but they looked amazing considering they had just been FRIED.

[This picture was taken today (2 days after the burn).  I tried to get a close-up of the blister, but as you can see it's already healing nicely.]

I kept the bandage on Monday and Tuesday, and took it off today, and if I didn't point out where my fingers were wrapped around the handle and burned - I don't think anyone would ever know.  I am so amazed and thankful.  I am using my hand to type today.  Of course, the one thing that concerns me now is to be sure that my blister does not get infected so I have to be careful what I do.  I expect a full recovery before the week is out.  We shall see.



God made a fabulous product for so many different things that ail a body.  I don't ever want to be without this sweet smelling miracle in a bottle.  I highly encourage everyone to keep some on hand - just in case.  I promise you won't regret it . . . and get the good stuff while you're at it.

In closing, I would just like to say that if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes (and felt it with my own hand) I really don't think I would believe my own story or pictures.  I've been burned before to a much lesser degree, and those burns NEVER healed like this burn.  Some may say I didn't really get burned that bad, or that 2 or 3 seconds wasn't long enough to do much damage.  Okay.  Sure.  I can sympathize with the skeptics, and I appreciate their right to unbelief.  But, as for me and my hand, we believe.  :)