Guest guest Posted March 2, 2006 Report Share Posted March 2, 2006 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... **Messages are sole property of this group, and the author of each post, and may not be published without the written consent of the list owner or author. Ads are strictly between buyer and seller - list owner or moderators have no affiliation with these ads and are not responsible for any outcomes.** Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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