I'm burnin' up for you baby!

Disclaimer: The following photos may not be for the faint of heart.

The first sighting

After about 20 minutes

The ice pack under my pants

Foot on the wheelchair

Waiting for the doctor 

All the tools

After the treatment

All wrapped up and ready to go!

Day two

So, I apologize if these images are a bit risque, but I had to document everything.

  On Friday, Ashley, Lindsay, Mark, Trevin and I went to the grand opening of the outdoor ice skating rink at the Gallivan Center. Sadly, we missed the fireworks and the live band but what a glorious event! We rented our skates and then glided across the ice like warrior princesses. We did spins, jumps, pirouettes and so much more. And then, the most amazing thing happened. It started snowing! I felt like I was in a movie. The snowflakes were gigantic and I was soaking wet by the end, but boy was it incredible. Speeding around the rink, snowflakes in my face, my hair dripping with water, my hands numb and no feeling in one of my toes. After an hour and a half or so, and a lot of freezing, we headed over to the fire pit to warm up. The fire was SO hot. My hands had snow on them and the snow melted so I had warm water on my hands. I'm not sure what that added to the story... But I digress.
  As I was being my usual self, laughing and flailing about, I suddenly felt a strange sensation on my leg. It went away instantly so I just ignored it. I continued talking and only seconds later, I felt my leg catch fire. Not in the literal sense of course, but figuratively. Sort of. Luckily I was wearing spandex, so I pulled the off my leg, said, "I think I just got burned. I'll be right back," and booked it to the bathroom. Once there, I went into a stall and peeled off my leggings. The result was the first picture. *These were all taken with my phone, so the quality is fairly low. I didn't think it was too bad at first, but once I put my pants back on, it seemed to catch fire again.
  I don't really remember the order of events here, but at some point, I asked the man working for some ice packs. Eight to be precise, and I used every single one. I was treated very poorly by a worker who said to me, "You don't need burn cream for a burn. All you need is antibiotic." Keep in mind, I was nearly in tears and the fact that he wasn't helping me at all made me almost cry. But I didn't cry, because I'm not a baby.
  We decided that I needed to go home, put some ice on it, and wrap it with a bandage, but when we got a few feet away, it was hurting so badly I could barely walk. I called my dad and asked him what I should do. He said I needed to go to a doctor and have them check it out. So we headed up to the university medical.
  Now you see, I have never been to the hospital before in my life, except to visit others. Mark dropped Lindsay, Ashley and I off at the hospital entrance and went to park the car. We walked in and I saw a man in scrubs. Scrubs = nurse/doctor... Right? So I said, "Are you a doctor?" To which he responded, "No. Do you need one?" "Well, I just got burned pretty badly and I need someone to look at it." "Oh. Well you need the Emergency Room. If you want to stay warm, just got straight down this hall, take a left and follow the hallway all the way." "Alright. Thank you!" I limped down the hallway, headed for the ER and Ashley exclaimed, "You need a wheelchair!" "NO! I don't need a wheelchair, I'm fine!" And only seconds later, I was forced into the wheelchair and speeding towards the ER.
  "Hi, I just need someone that can look at a burn." "Okay. Where is your burn?" "My upper thigh." "When did you get burned?" "Like twenty minutes ago." "How bad is it?" "Well, I have a picture. Do you want to see it?" "Okay ya. Let's see the picture.....Ooo. That looks pretty bad. Fill this out and bring it back up when you're done." I will tell you this my friends. The ER is definitely not how they show you in the movies. I don't think there was a single other person in there that was waiting to be looked at and it took them at least 20 minutes just to get me an ice pack. Pictures three and four are the result of the ice pack. It was a monster.
  We waited for what seemed like hours. Lindsay told me a story; Ash and Lindsay bought me hot chocolate, a naked smoothie and some shortbread cookies; Mark ate a tin of peanuts; My leg hurt more and more. "Tamela Daley?" YES! Finally. I went back with the nurse and she took me took a room where I proceeded to tell her the story while she checked my blood pressure and asked me questions like, "Are you on any medication? Are you allergic to any medication? Are you pregnant? On drugs?" etc. "Alright, the doctor will be with you shortly." So Ash and I just chilled. She turned on some soothing music and I drank my hot chocolate. Minutes later, in walked the nurse practitioner. She is one of the nicest women I've ever talked to. I told her what happened and she looked at the burn and said, "Oh well that's not too bad at all. What we're gonna do is soak it, remove the skin and then bandage you up!" That didn't sound too bad. Except for the "removing the skin" part.
  To make a long story short, turns out it was a second degree burn. The nurse soaked it, removed the skin, and bandaged me up. The last picture was what it looked like on Saturday. It looks a lot worse now. It's bloody and leaking and just gross. And I still can't walk.
  But oh!! What an adventure it was! My first time on an outdoor ice rink, my first time in the ER and my very first second degree burn. I'm so lucky to have the friends that I do. They are literally THE best. But yep! That's what I did last friday night.