CONFIRMED - Dagabu is the injured man

[Col]

Hey Dag

I havent been around for a while and just saw the thread after Buritto gave it a bump. Its great to hear you`re on the mend,

 

Best wishes

Col

[dagabu]

Just an update:

 

I hit 20% use of may hands yesterday (thats a big deal when it comes to full thickness scar tissue) and I am starting to grow the fingernails back, all 10 of them! I am so thankful that the scar tissue is finally starting to relax some so i can work on flexibility.

 

Col, Burrito, Excal, thanks for the well wishes, it is the what drives me to recover.

 

Dave

[Excal]

Very good news Dave. Keep up the hard work and thanks for the update on here. I think I am not alone when I say that we all like seeing you on here,,when you can and feel like posting. Edited September 14, 2013 by Excal

[Mumbles]

Great to hear Dave. My hands and wrist area were the hardest thing to totally rehab. My hands actually eventually got back to 100%, but the scar tissue on my arm itself is still a little tight, and restricts stuff a little bit. Keep up the exercises and stretching. Once it starts to get better and loosen up, it starts getting better fast. It's also the most important time to not skimp on the rehab.

 

I found the most useful things were to do normal everyday, real-world activities. I had one hand much worse than the other (which happened to be my primary hand). Forcing myself to use that arm and not cheat and do everything left handed was a big deal. I also found that even the simplest manual activities really helped a lot. Typing, dealing cards for poker, doing puzzles, writing, etc all really paid off for my hand. Doing real world activities helps to get your coordination together and takes some of the monotony and pain out of the stretching. Throwing the ball to my dog and getting back to playing softball were by far the most helpful things for me, and really make exercising fun.

[NightHawkInLight]

Excellent to hear Dag, thanks for the update.

[dagabu]

Great to hear Dave. My hands and wrist area were the hardest thing to totally rehab. My hands actually eventually got back to 100%, but the scar tissue on my arm itself is still a little tight, and restricts stuff a little bit. Keep up the exercises and stretching. Once it starts to get better and loosen up, it starts getting better fast. It's also the most important time to not skimp on the rehab.

 

I found the most useful things were to do normal everyday, real-world activities. I had one hand much worse than the other (which happened to be my primary hand). Forcing myself to use that arm and not cheat and do everything left handed was a big deal. I also found that even the simplest manual activities really helped a lot. Typing, dealing cards for poker, doing puzzles, writing, etc all really paid off for my hand. Doing real world activities helps to get your coordination together and takes some of the monotony and pain out of the stretching. Throwing the ball to my dog and getting back to playing softball were by far the most helpful things for me, and really make exercising fun.

 

Thanks Mum, that's really helpful advice. I push really hard, so hard that the wife and kids jump in to help constantly and I have to "push" them away so I can figure out if it is possible to do the task myself. Opening bottles and such is the hardest thing to do and gripping them is still impossible but I try.

 

While I would not wish the burns on anybody, I do understand that they are changing my character in ways I could never have anticipated. I have more empathy and less pity for those that are challenged and have even started to change some political opinions where the downtrodden are involved.

 

What will become of my part in this hobby? I don't know, perhaps I will find out this next year as i recover.

 

Dave

[Bobosan]

Hello Dagabu, its great to hear of positive progress!

 

While you may not know at this time if you will continue to actively build pyrotechnics, you advice and knowledge is still very much welcomed and heeded.

 

Bobosan

[SideGlance]

dagabu i am glad you survived such a bad accident... get well bud

[NeuroticNurse]

Ouch, thats a rotten situation. Anyway, even though I dont really know you, I am glad to hear that you recovered well from it.

 

What I am more disgusted about than anything else is that the focus on this report, as well as the police and paramedics on the scene was more about parading a petty and minor potential crime than treating a man who by the same report was in a "critical" condition. Disgusting to see where the priorities of big government lie.

[Excal]

I got to thinking about things and was parusing youtube,,and came across this. No disrespect intended and I hope it is not taken that way. It's a new medial procedure for burn victims involving stem cells from your own body, and it is amazing. A bit of graphic burn pics, so if there is young ones walking by, take care when viewing.

 

Ok, that link put up a pretty intense picture so I pulled it.

 

The title on youtube is: The skin Gun.

Edited September 18, 2013 by Excal

[NightHawkInLight]

They've got some 3D printers modified to apply skin cells as well. Pretty great technology if they can actually make it a reality for the masses. The last thing in the world that the medical field focuses on is building products that are affordable. Most of the best stuff never goes mainstream because it's too expensive for hospitals to justify the upgrade.

[dagabu]

Ouch, thats a rotten situation. Anyway, even though I dont really know you, I am glad to hear that you recovered well from it.

 

What I am more disgusted about than anything else is that the focus on this report, as well as the police and paramedics on the scene was more about parading a petty and minor potential crime than treating a man who by the same report was in a "critical" condition. Disgusting to see where the priorities of big government lie.

 

Oh, no, I have not recovered, i am just now learning to use my hands and mouth again, I will never come back to where I was, that is gone forever.

[dagabu]

I got to thinking about things and was parusing youtube,,and came across this. No disrespect intended and I hope it is not taken that way. It's a new medial procedure for burn victims involving stem cells from your own body, and it is amazing. A bit of graphic burn pics, so if there is young ones walking by, take care when viewing.

 

Ok, that link put up a pretty intense picture so I pulled it.

 

The title on youtube is: The skin Gun.

 

Yes, the pictures are intense but still lack the 3rd degree depth I have. The skin gun (we have covered this years ago here) is good for 2nd degree burns, it does nothing for third degree burns where the dermis is consumed all the way through.

 

Allow me to paint a better picture of my burns:

The fire consumed all my flesh down to the muscle tissue and tendons, when I arrived at the hospital, my hands "sloughed off" exposing the tissue under the skin. The surgeons stapled on a product called Integra on top of the exposed flesh to build up the dermis.

 

http://www.burnresearchcenter.org/brcpublicwebsite/images/skin1.jpg

 

Once the Integra "took", they harvested the epidermis from my back and thighs and stapled it on top of the Integra.

 

http://www.ilstraining.com/bmwd/images/brs_burns_epd_03.jpg

 

The end result was really ugly but ALL of my skin is intact and healing. There are no splits in my thumbs like the skin gun video shows since all my skin was replaced.

 

Dave

[MrB]

What will become of my part in this hobby? I don't know, perhaps I will find out this next year as i recover

While it's not my place to decide, it's yours, perhaps with some input from loved ones, and rightfully so. I do hope and wish you will at least stay as a source of knowledge, a fountain of wisdom, of sorts. If nothing else, you should be able to help save life when "kewl bomber" josh shows up and talks about all the crazy work ethics he see as normal, and the safety precautions we usually take, as silly, over zealous, or just plain stupid waste of time.

Them "stupid" precautions may very well have saved your life, and if your knowledge and experience can save a single life then i'd say it's worth at least some time spent here every now and then.

 

It's near spot on 6 months since the thread started, and i guess that means the accident, and your nowhere near done with your recovery, i'm sure. You've been speaking of years in recovery, and still your here. The very least we can do is state our support. I'm not a man of "faith" so i can't say that i include you in my prayers, i don't pray. If i did, i would.

 

One of these days i'll learn to shut up, but for now, from Sweden, i wish you the best of luck with your recovery, At this point i feel my linguistic skills don't quite do justice to what i want to say, but sadly, i can't do nothing about that right now.

My heart goes out to you, and your family.

B!

[dagabu]

B, it happened four months ago today, May 18th, about 10:00 AM. I did wear a lot of great clothing that certainly saved my life and I am very glad it did. The problem I see with giving anybody advice now is that I was the one injured. Who then am I to tell others what to do? I certainly can say for sure what not to do but that advice right now would not be well accepted here.

 

I think your linguistic skills are just fine, a man of faith or not, I am inspired by your words and am encouraged by your support.

 

As far as the k3wl b00merz go, I think a few pics of my first two weeks in the ICU would scare them away for life.

[Jonathan]

dagabu,

 

Your misfortune reminds one not to take anything in life, but especially in pyro, for granted. Glad to learn you're on the mend. Thankful too for the advances in treating burn wounds over the past however many years.

[MrB]

I guess i was so preoccupied with getting the linguistics right, i failed to do the math right. For what ever reason, i made it out the thread started in March. *sigh* Yeah, great going. Anyway, the important stuff got right, the sympathy, and support.

 

But yeah, i doubt the suggestion "quit" would go down very well with most pyro's. I was more thinking along the lines of minimizing rather then removing the danger, so to speak. But anyway, thats down the line. It's still a fresh scar, and a painful reminder for everyone, even if one takes care, and is well informed, it still can turn ugly on you.

B!

[dagabu]

I guess i was so preoccupied with getting the linguistics right, i failed to do the math right. For what ever reason, i made it out the thread started in March. *sigh* Yeah, great going. Anyway, the important stuff got right, the sympathy, and support.

 

But yeah, i doubt the suggestion "quit" would go down very well with most pyro's. I was more thinking along the lines of minimizing rather then removing the danger, so to speak. But anyway, thats down the line. It's still a fresh scar, and a painful reminder for everyone, even if one takes care, and is well informed, it still can turn ugly on you.

B!

 

Yes, I can't agree more, if I can help save even one person from this, it will be worth the pain. I think you did a great job supporting us and I cannot tell you how much strength it gives us to have such great friends and how good I feel getting your well wishes. Thank you!

 

Dave

[50AE]

Hey Dag, I'm very happy to hear from again!!

 

I don't feel like talking about what happened, but what is the more important is you're recovering and I hope that things turn better and better for you. Remember that this could have happened even to the best. I really hope you get support, love and care by the people around you. I wish you very much strength, health and optimism!

[Excal]

Good luck on your next appt Dave. After all this, I am a FIRM believer in full coverage when working with pyro stuff. It's just not worth it to go without protection.

[dagabu]

Good afternoon APC!

 

Yes, I am still alive and kicking, thank you all that have sent emails and messages, I appreciate them all. I am sure you all are curious about my accident, would like to know more and see some pictures of the results. If you want access to my Caringbridge site, shoot me a message and if we know each other, I will give you access to read more.

 

I'm not shy, embarrassed or reclusive but want to know that it's not only curiosity but empathy that drives you to find out more.

 

Stay Green... No, really

 

Dave

[LambentPyro]

The problem I see with giving anybody advice now is that I was the one injured. Who then am I to tell others what to do?

You can certainly tell us what not to do.

 

I am glad you survived and wish the best of luck to you, I am happy that you're sticking in there as it most definitely seems this has changed your life.

 

Hope you're doing well, Dag.

[Excal]

Looking good Dave!. the Docs are doing a wonderful job there with Team Dagabu,,knowledgeable folks there for sure. Rockin the soul patch I see,,lol.

 

 

 

Here is a vid clip from Brian Shul. A survivor extraordinaire. I read his book a few years back and it somewhat gave me a perspective on how thing go when recovering from a serious burn injury. Seeing this vid gave me more perspective on the whole procedure and healing thought processes involved and needed. He was a pilot who crashed his jet and received serious burns,,recovered, healed, and went on to becoming a sled driver (SR-71 pilot). There are some funny stories there as well. If this is not allowed on here, I understand the mods concern for removing it.

[MWJ]

I didn't know him but that doesn't mean I can't pray for him ether so, God bless ALL of you and I will pray for safety for all.

[hindsight]

You can add me to list the list of prayer warriors, as well.