Sunday, August 9

So @#$%&^! Stupid

I always knew I was a ditz, but I proved to myself this week that I'm a lot stupider than I've been giving myself credit for.

Bree had a fever and was puking, so we were having some down time indoors. Good time to get going on preserving the tomatoes I'd been putting off.
I still haven't bought a canner, so I thought I would can them the same way I did my jam- in my deep pot. I figured it was the same thing, just longer boiling time, right? 40 minutes, great! Just enough time to get my laundry folded.

So half the people reading this already know what happened now, right?

40 minutes later I smell something burning. I tell the gal on the phone to hang on while I check the stove. There is NO water left. The stove is making it's freaky "click click-I'm getting-hotter-and-hotter" sound. I remember something similar to this happening to my mom growing up, but we were told to get out of the kitchen quick! Why didn't I inherit the common sense gene? So I'm not sure what went through my head at this point, for some reason I thought it wouldn't be safe to leave that on the stove. So I put it on the sink and thought I'd keep it from getting any hotter. I kind of remembered it wouldn't be safe to get it cool fast, so I got some hot water and poured it on the outside. But that was enough. A little stream leaked over the top as I went around the back of the pot, and the second it hit the bottom of the jars, two of them exploded.

I'll just pause here to tell you I'm fine, and it could have been way worse.

So I was pretty surprised at this point. I sat down hard and ripped my shirt off because it was burning me. After I got it off I noticed my hand was on a big chunk of jar. Zach was an hour away for his family practice rotation, and I didn't know how bad the cut and burns were so all I could think was 911.

Unfortunately, I'd left the caller waiting on the line, so I had to go upstairs to hang up. When I walked in the room, Mia screamed at my bleeding hand and my red face, and I tried to tell her I just needed a bandaid, but I needed to call to get one. She bought that for about five seconds, and then ran into my closet with the twins. Which was fine with me, because I wasn't able to keep my cool much longer. I blubbered to the person on the emergency line and asked them to come get me. She said to put a damp cloth on the burn, and I was like- "It's all over- can't I just splash water on myself? Is that bad?" Finally they hung up and I called my friend Maury and asked if she could come.

She arrived at the same time as the paramedics. I walked out with a towel for a shirt, telling poor Maury the kids hadn't eaten yet, and Bree's last Ibuprofin dose. Thank goodness her husband had just gotten home and she was able to come take care of them. She cleaned up the entire expolsion. I didn't see it, but from the looks of the one spot she missed about 10 feet away, it was really bad. Glass all over the floor, tomatoes everywhere. It's amazing I didn't get more than one cut.

In the ambulance they put wet cloths on me and got me an IV full of morphine. The morphine was worthless, the saline was bliss. ;) OSU emergency is a pretty crappy place- I don't recommend it. I was on my own most of the time- for a while with the water out of my reach, so I sat and burned and called until someone decided they'd condescend to enter my room and push it closer. Other than that, I had a very entertaining crazy nurse, a nice doctor who gave me eight stitches, and Zach got there an hour later and helped me change the sheets from hot to cool every two minutes. My sweet hometeacher brought me some clothes and picked up my pain prescription and aloe so I wouldn't burn in the car on the way home. (We ended up taking a wet sheet with us, though.. gotta get that back.)

This was Tuesday afternoon. Zach took Wednesday off. Luckily, that was the day Anya entered the vomiting phase of the virus. He was gone all day Thursday and Friday- Thursday was Mia's vomiting day. It was kind of okay, though, because we all just sat around and watched TV. No one had an appetite, really- so my hardest task was getting the dang child-proof caps off the Ibuprofin and Tylenol (or in my case, Vicodin- yeehaw!) every three hours.

The burning never hurt that bad after that first evening. I've got lots of blisters on my arm, and my face has been peeling. Could have been so much worse. Which is the part that keeps me cringing. How &*^%$#@!-ing stupid!

The girls seem to have taken it okay.

I'll put it small here for those of you like me who would rather not see it. For those of you like Zach, go ahead and double-click.

21 comments:

Erika said...

OUCH!!!! I'm so sorry! I'm glad it wasn't worse. Good luck with recovering!

Unknown said...

SUM!!!!!!! I don't know what else to say! I know you say you are ok...but still! I wish I could come be the little sister who takes care of the big sister when she has an owie. haha I can only imagine how bad those burns hurt. Like you said, could have been worse....but still. Not something anyone wants to go through.
Hope the babies are feeling better.....and I hope you are too. Bet that vicodin has been great for all kinds of pain. Back hurt at all? :) Just don't get addicted! :) haha

Marsie Pants said...

Poor Summer. And babies. :-(

Melissa said...

So painful. I'm glad you called 911. Those stitches are pretty serious. If you never want to can again I think you have a good excuse. Sending you happy thoughts.

Kell's Belles said...

Holy Cow! I hope you're feeling much, much better (all of you). That's so scary. And I'm pretty sure I will never attempt to ever can in my life after that tale . . .

Hollie said...

Summer. You poor thing. I'm glad you got all the help you needed. Hope you get better soon, and thanks for the heads up on not what to do while canning.

cari said...

Yikes. So sorry Summer. Hope you get better soon. (p.s.- don't feel stupid. I would have done the exact same thing.)

Rachelle said...

Oh my gosh SUMMER! That is horrible! I am so glad that you are okay, I am sure those burns hurt so bad! You are one tough cookie!

Duncan said...

Wow! My grandma had that happen with an old fashion pressure canner. She had just enough time to push all her little kids behind her before it exploded. Her face, arms, and chest were severely burned. I, personally, have a huge fear of canning. But I will go help others who know what they are doing if they will put up mine as well. Get lots of sleep! And get better.

Ashley said...

Holy cow!! I hope you're doing better! That is scary, my heart was pounding as I was reading!! Hopefully you get feeling better, and the girls too!!

The Waits Gate said...

Wow! I'm glad your okay and that you thought to call 911. at sure is something they never talk about during Enrichment!

Picture Perfect said...

Seriously, OUCH!!! Wow, your a super mom to go through that and take care of the kiddos! I hope it heals soon!

The Garber Family said...

I'm so sorry about that! I don't know the first thing about canning tomatoes, so I am thoroughly impressed that you were even trying it! Sounds like a 12-case of cans of stewed tomatoes are in your future instead. Unless that gives you PTSD.
I hope you're doing better!

Britney said...

Wow, I can't believe the photo of your wounds! You poor thing!

Kudos for trying. There are so many things I don't even bother attempting because I worry my kids will get in the way and all will end in disaster.

Hope you heal quickly.

Britney said...

PS- I'm assuming you've postponed your raspberry picking?

The only advice I would offer is to have fun and bring a friend. It helped to have two of us adults out there whenever one or more of our kids were wandering far away, wetting their pants, etc.

Jeff said...

Yikes, Summer! Glad you're okay--sounds like you kept a pretty level head. A lot of people would have panicked and dithered helplessly. What a strong woman and a good momma you are!

NatRat said...

Alright, so this is why I don't can...j/k I am too lazy. But what the heck, how scary! I am glad you are okay and you don't have more burns and more cuts. Feel better :)

Williams Tale Overture said...

THAT LOOKS LIKE IT HURTS! I AM GLAD YOU ARE OKAY. TAKE CARE. DONT FEEL STUPID I WOULD HAVE HAD NO IDEA.

Leah Southwick said...

Summer, I am so glad that you are ok!!!!

Sahara said...

poverina!!!!!

Tulsi said...

Wow. That is crazy!! You were pretty level headed in a bizarre situation.