Sunday, February 01, 2009

Better news.

The fingers are not so screwy that they slow my knitting, much. I have finished the half-pattern repeat that was the goal of the day. One more pattern repeat tomorrow, and about a foot of knit-on edging, and it's done. So the rest of the deadlines are looking good, too.

Thanks to all who offered all the great advice for burn treatment. I (unfortunately) have a good bit of experience with burns on that hand, because of the nerve damage and the fact that I do a lot of cooking; I just can't feel heat that well, and so I don't notice something's wrong fast enough. The crowning glory is a scar on the back of my hand. It looks like someone put out a cigarette on me, but really it's from a third degree burn received in a Pot Roast Incident (back of hand against inside wall of oven that has been on for four hours at three hundred and fifty degrees; I didn't notice for about two seconds). Physical therapists regularly ask about the scar in a tone of voice that says "someone put out a cigarette on you? tell me who so I can call the cops".

Anyway. After I touched the cookie sheet today, I stuck my fingers in a bowl if ice water for about half an hour. Though it DID hydrate the tissues, that wasn't really my first goal; the idea was to neutralize the heat, a la thermodynamics. For the rest of the afternoon, whenever I felt pain, I would stick my fingers back in ice water for fifteen minutes to half an hour. It minimized the blistering and now I'm left with the odd situation that is a second degree burn without the blisters. The skin has turned very rough and thick and tender and smooth, but it's sealing off the injury better than a band-aid so I'm leaving it alone.

I'm not feeling much pain, I think thanks to the nerve damage. Occasionally something gets through, but it's reasonable.


Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day, and I'll be able to get batteries for the camera so I can download photos and show all of you the awesome sweater my mother-in-law knit, and the Goob doing a Marie Antoinette imitation (I was working on getting her to say 'let them eat cake' on video when the camera died), and maybe a scarf photo.

Babble babble.

6 comments:

Caffeine Faerie said...

Good luck with the knitting. I'm still "owwwwwing" at the thought of hot cookie sheets and fingertips.

Looking forward to seeing your progress, which will also be treated with awe - you're still knitting with sore fingers. That is awe-inspiring.

Amy Lane said...

Definitely good luck with the knitting-- and with the getting over the burn owie! (spamword: trent)

roxie said...

You do know about Bag Balm as a burn ointment, don't you? Though on the fingertips, it may be a bit messy. Your ice-water trick was inspired. And hooray for being able to continue the knitting. You truely are a warrior knitter!

Anonymous said...

I'm a new knitter and found your blog through your "History 101" article on knitty. I was laughing out loud reading the Vogue Knitting review.

Sorry for your finger burns!!

Donna Lee said...

When I burn myself cooking (as I invariably do) and it hurts like hell, I can only imagine the pain that those folks who are burned over large portions of their bodies must feel. I've used the iced water trick and there is a wonderful burn gel with lidocaine in it that is sold over the counter. Takes away the pain and moisturizes the skin. Fewer blisters and less pain. And I never thought I hear someone say "thankful for the nerve damage".

Alwen said...

A couple of winters ago I touched the side of my wrist against the cast iron part of the stove as I put some wood in there. So. Ouch.

(I can't recommend aloe, myself, because I'm one of those unlucky people who gets hives from it.)