Personal Narrative Throwback: Burning Hot!

Who knows how a soup can change your life . . .

Thursday is my favorite day of the week because I have a cooking class with Chef Meenu after school. 

Back in September, we were cooking meatball soup. Class was almost over. It was my favorite part of the class because we got to eat! “It’s really hot so wait a minute before eating it!” Chef Meenu said. So I waited and waited and waited, until I just could not wait any longer. “Check this out!” my friend Norbert said as he was showing me his phone. “Oooo cool!” I said. My bowl tipped and tipped until it came splashing on my lap. Little did I know how this cup of soup would change my life forever.

My inner thighs and my left ankle were burning. There were so many bubbles forming. I was in excruciating pain (my mom was very impressed with my use of the word “excruciating”). We rushed to urgent care and were told that they didn’t treat burns beyond first degree. The doctor sent us to a regional burn center in San Jose. It was rush hour when everyone was going home from work. It took more than an hour to get there. We checked into the ER and waited for 4 hours before being admitted. My mom and aunt stayed with me. Daddy had to go home to take care of my brother. 

By the time I was rolled to the burn ICU (intensive care unit), it was already 10pm. I was very unhappy after waiting so long in the ER. My nurse Julie had an Avenger movie ready for me in my room. She was my favorite! 

The next day  Dr. Arhana said, “You need to stay one more day and you should be out tomorrow!” The next day, Dr. Karanis, head of the burn unit, told us, “Two more days”. Two days later, “We need to do skin graft”. After surgery, I was very groggy. It felt like I was in a dream and it was a really real dream.

Hospital food was sometimes good, or HORRIBLE! One dinner entree had turkey. It tasted like cardboard. The parents meal was normally a sandwich but the kids meal was like waffles and bacon. One meal was turkey. It looked really good but it tasted like cardboard. One time my dad opened my tray and there was a bowl of soup! He almost had a heart attack.

I also had different kinds of doctors. I had a psychologist and one of them had a dog. The dog’s name was Dr. Sofia. So everyday I went on walks with her. She always tries to walk into my room and she wags her tail when she comes. Also there was a child life specialist. She brought me movies, games, and a corgi blanket. She made it more fun. Everyday she brought me an iPad to use for dressing changes. Dressing changes were really painful but when I was playing something I just focused on the game.

After 2 week the doctors said I could go home! But then I had to do physical therapy. I don’t like to do it because when the doctors think I could go home Maria, the physical therapist says I can’t. After physical  therapy I had to get a flu shot. I don’t know why but this one really hurt. But you get used to shots in the hospital. I had to get 3 IVs. And 2 of them were in the hand. It hurts so much that it is accurate to a blood test. Then finally it was time to go home.  But first my dad had to sign a lot of stuff so I waited 4 hours. When I got home everything seemed off. It was the longest amount of time I had been away. There is no place like home.