FW: [soap_makers] Definately ON topic. Lye safety!!

[Guest guest]

I'll honestly tell you that I didn't even ask permission to forward this

(the list mom from the list that this was originally posted on is on

this list, so she'll know I posted it) but I am doing so out of public

interest and safety - I am even leaving the original group's info and

copyright notice intact!

 

When my older son was 2, the first day he figured out how to open the

door to my back porch work room he got into a batch of my raw soap and I

thank the heavens that he only got tiny 1st degree burns on his cheeks -

but it rightfully so scared the poop out of me and I learned a lot from

that experience!! BE CAREFUL!!PLAY IT SAFE! ALWAYS THINK THE

UNIMAGINABLE CAN HAPPEN, especially with kids - whether you're using

boiling water or lye - think safety first! We all get somewhat careless

at times .... I can't stress enough to folks - DON'T SLACK OFF ON

SAFETY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Chris (list mom)

<http://www.alittleolfactory.com> http://www.alittleolfactory.com

 

 

soap_makers [soap_makers ]

On Behalf Of Stephanie Bertrand Bruns

Wednesday, March 01, 2006 10:11 PM

soap_makers

[soap_makers] Definately ON topic. Lye safety!!

 

 

Read this slowly, read it well, and take every single word of it to

heart.

 

Have you ever heard a splashing crash and knew instinctively what it

was right away? Have you ever heard your 2 yr old son screeching at

the top of his lungs for his mommy? Have you ever felt the

helplessness of seeing your son cry bloody tears and see blood

seeping from the corners of his mouth, meanwhile his skin is cherry

red and you can feel the heat coming off of him...

 

Sounds like a horror flick, yes?

 

I *know* what it's like to experience these things first hand, and I

can honestly say that I sincerely hope with every fiber of my being

that NONE of you *ever* have to experience what I went through last

night.

 

My son dumped more than 2/3 of a gallon of a 40% lye solution on his

head. He was saturated from HEAD TO TOE.

 

You know, in almost 5 years of soaping, maybe even longer now, I've

*never* had an accident. No, I didn't get too cocky about my lye,

what I got was relaxed, and very very careless.

 

I had JUST set the pitcher (tightly sealed closed container of room

temp lye solution) down on the counter. It was less than 2 minutes.

I turned around to clear off the island in the kitchen, was in the

middle of fixing supper you see....then I was going to clear off the

island because there was a lot of soap I was planning on making last

night. So, why not set it here just for a minute so I can clear this

out.

 

A minute is all it took.

 

Now this series of events happened in less than 7 minutes.

 

He grabbed the pitcher, it was very heavy for his little 2 year old

hands, so he dropped it...on his head. Even though the container was

sealed, the weight of the pitcher on impact caused the tightly sealed

lid to pop off. Konnor immediately started screaming, I was there

the instant it poured out all over his body. FROM HEAD TO TOE. I

grabbed him right as he fell belly down in the puddle of caustic

liquid. I'm sure we all know how SLICK and slippery lye solution

is. I almost DROPPED him back into the liquid.

 

I *threw* him into the sink (about 4 feet away) starting running

water on him immediately. Sprayer in one hand, phone in the other,

screaming at 911. My son was screaming...a sound I will never EVER

forget. Eyes mommy eyes!!! His whole body was shaking in absolute

anguish. Have you ever had lye solution splash up on you? Burns

doesn't it? It was on his WHOLE body. 911 was dispatched, Thorne

was grabbing the vinegar, Kris was looking up the number for the

Poison Control Center. I poured a whole gallon of vinegar over my

sons head, kept on spraying his body with cool water. Called the

poison control center to see if mayhap there was something,

*anything* else I could do to try to save my son. Ironically, they

didn't even MENTION the word VINEGAR. Irrigate irrigate irrigate.

Yea yea...I got that covered.

 

His tears were blood tinged. He had blood dripping from his mouth.

His skin was fire engine red.

 

EMS got here.... Thankfully it was a guy I grew up with because I

was a babbling fool trying to get my head together. He asked me,

Steph, did you take off his diaper? Oh my, NO....I didn't even

*think* to take off his diaper.

 

What I saw then.. Right above his penis, about an inch or so, is a

long BLACK and BROWN very DEEP BURN. Off to the left, where the tape

from the diaper was, more deep burns. I was mortified, speechless,

and sobbing uncontrollably. All I could do was hold my burning baby

and rock and cry.

 

You have NO idea how helpless, how hopeless, and how low I felt at

that moment. I've never felt so wretched in my life.

 

This WHOLE thing could have been prevented if I wouldn't have put

that container there. For only a minute you know. I was going to go

back and pick it right back up after I wiped down the island. Really

I was. Famous last words of a fool....

 

We get to ER....we had been in contact with them the whole way there

so they were prepared and knew we were coming. The took Konnor in

right away and we were stopped to answer questions. I walked into

the exam room to see 8 people crowded around my screaming toddler.

 

The thoughts going through my mind....he's going to be blind. It's

all my fault. I was stupid and irresponsible. He's going to be

physically scarred and possibly disfigured. My beautiful precious

perfect little boy just had his life ruined by his own MOTHER. He'll

never be able to see Sponge Bob again that he loves so much. He wont

be able to see his puppy or see the goofy faces his brother loves

making at him. He'll never ever see again. I did it, and it could

have been prevented.

 

Those were my thoughts. I begged and pleaded with the doctors, with

the gods, with all the powers that be to please save my child.

 

Ok. He's NOT blind. He *can* see, but we're very very concerned

about the right eye where he got the most damage. He MAY have some

vision loss, but until the cornea is completely healed over, we wont

know the complete extent of the damage. He's on an eye ointment

every 4 hours, and an eye drop (Mucomist) every *2* hours. And

please remember this...the cornea does have a great capacity for

healing, if it weren't damaged by an alkaline solution. The Mucomist

will be the thing to heal his eye if there's any hope. He explained

it to me that the medication will prevent the collagen in the cornea

from sloughing off and deteriorating. The first ph they took was 9.

.....they ran a liter of normal saline into each eye. The ph was then

over 8, but lower than 9, so they ran another liter into each eye.

Finally the ph was a hair above 7 and was considered within normal

range. They did the flourescent strips in his eyes to look at the

damage. The right eye is definitely more damaged than the right, but

there's still a possibility that he can completely heal with NO

permanent damage.

 

Do you know they had to give that kid 2 FULL milligrams of Ativan and

50mg of Demerol to snow him? And he was STILL fighting like a bull.

To give you a good idea on dosage, when I was nursing, 1mg of Ativan

would zonk a 200 pound geriatric patient for the night and I'd have a

nice shift. My boy's a fighter he is....

 

Other damage... He didn't aspirate any, his lungs are perfectly

clear. None got in his nose or ears. The skin on his lips was

burned off, but none got into his mouth. His inner cheeks and tongue

are perfectly clear.

 

Over all, all over his body, he has a fine rash. He has small

blisters and excoriation in his armpits. His diaper area looks A LOT

better today.....it's not black anymore, but a beigey sort of color.

They had to rough debrid his abdomen last night. He'll likely have

very minimal scarring there.

 

Plain and simple, I was stupid. I was very irresponsible. Only for

a minute is TOO long to leave lye solution unattended, even though

you're less than 4 feet away from it and it's in a sealed container.

 

How am I handling this? I'm not. I'm very very bitter. I'm

extremely angry. I cry constantly and I cant stop holding him and

kissing his little tender cheeks and I cant stop apologizing to him.

But will that ever be enough if he has permanent sight loss? I don't

need letters telling me that it wasn't my fault and that it was an

accident. I *know* this already. But yes, it WAS my fault. Shit

happens folks. But this could have been prevented. Nor do I need

your letters telling me how stupid I was, I can handle that one on my

own.

 

I still have so much to say but it'll come out all jumbled so I hope

you can keep up. Konnor is surprisingly in a very good mood.

Ornerier than ever. Very happy and perky except for those every 2

hours when I have to stick something in his very hurt little eyes.

He's such a trooper... And just think, I could have ruined his

little perfect being for LIFE. And I still might have.

 

We're not completely out of the woods yet on his eyes. The Mucomist

may not be as effective as it's supposed to be, but his eyes are

looking a lot better today and there's a good chance that the damage

will be minimal. The fact remains though, that there will likely be

atleast some damage that's permanent, but I will continue to hold

onto that small shred of hope that he'll be 100% damage free.

 

They had to decontaminate me after they helped me peel my shoes off

my feet. Open sandals. Stuck to my feet.... Only minor blisters

and burns.

 

His diaper area does have 2nd degree burns, possibly 3rd because he

doesn't seem to have any discomfort right in the center of it. Maybe

some nerve damage there, we don't know that yet either.

 

I was repeatedly told by the ER staff, that if I wouldn't have done

what I did and acted as fast as I did, that he would have A LOT more

damamge done. That area in his diaper could have been his FACE. He

COULD HAVE been blinded. The doctor thanked me for doing my research

and he was honestly quite surprised that I could spit out the info

from the MSDS and other sources so clearly.

 

My Konnor is for the most part just fine, considering how bad it

could have been. He may have some permanent scarring and vision

loss, but we'll deal with it when we know more. He's seeing a

specialist on Friday morning who saw him this morning. He's already

contacted a specialist at Tulane who has agreed to COME HERE to see

him if necessary at a moments notice.

 

I'm not looking for sympathy. What I want for YOU, is to EDUCATE

yourself on all precautions where lye safety is concerned. And maybe

more so, NEVER EVER leave your solution unattended for a MINUTE.

Because that's all it takes to ruin the life of a child.

 

The sounds my son made...the pain he was in...his cries and screams

will keep me awake for months. The thoughts of what I have done to

my son, just knowing that I was that irresponsible with someone I

love so much...the thoughts of what COULD have happened if I didn`t

know what to do is what's making me write this, BEGGING you to never

EVER get lazy, or relaxed, or careless.

 

Here are a few pictures..it's not a pretty picture. It's not

gruesome either, but it's not pretty. This is my son's BODY..due to

my carelessness. I hope you take a long hard look at it folks. I

tried to get some good shots of his eyes too, but he was too

interested in watching the new Sponge Bob DVD's we just bought him.

Seasons 1, 2 and 3... Because he CAN still see the Sponge Bob that

he loves so much.

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/35767971@N00/

 

Stephanie Bruns of Nature's Cauldron..professional soap maker...

 

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