Skin Graft Number One...

  Thursday 23rd August (My first full day on the military trauma ward) it is safe to say I didn't really know what my injuries were. I think I was told in brief detail but it didn't go in and they tend to just say things like 'you're very poorly' when you've been through something so severe and clearly wont be able to understand yet. Also at this point I knew we had been in a motorbike accident that a driver had hit us at the island but no idea that I had been driven over and dragged 10 metres and had no memory at all.
  That afternoon my mum went home to sleep and Joss (my boyfriend and the bike rider) and Rhianna (his sister and my friend) were with me when a woman came into my room. I remember this clearly - she did not introduce herself and she was with a few students, she said some crap and then said ''So we're getting you in for your skin graft tomorrow''. The minute she said that sentence I went into massive panic. I couldn't breathe I started asking what she was talking about that I had no idea I was having any operations and she said ''yes you need a skin graft on your back from where you were stuck to the cars exhaust pipe'' This is where consultants and doctors fail. I had NO idea I had been under the car at this point, NO idea I even had a burn let alone how severe, NO idea I was having any operations. Then she tried to claim it had been decided on friday (IMPOSSIBLE my accident happened on sunday 2 days AFTER friday). After waking up in ITU I was terrified of even falling asleep the thought of being put under was more horrifying for me than I can even explain.
  During this panic attack she just left and luckily my wonderful nurse Laura came in, I was in an awful state crying and screaming yet trapped in my body unable to move. She assured me that I had to give consent and so I could refuse but I really needed the operation, that waking up wouldnt be like in ITU (ive never had an op or even been in hospital before this).
   I didn't agree/sign to the operation until I was in the anaesthetic room, I pressed my morphine PCA the whole way down hoping i would fall asleep before they could put me under. The assistant in there was wonderful she held my hand and stroked my head like i was a vulnerable child. I didn't feel myself falling asleep next thing I new I was opening my eyes in recovery. I remember I couldnt move (combination of my injuries anyway and the general anaesthetic wearing off) but I managed to say 'thank you for looking after me' to the recovery nurse I felt so thankful and vulnerable.
  I had a Split Thickness Skin Graft because they can cover a larger area. The skin was taken from the back of my right thigh using what is essentially a peeler (which as a wound itself is so painful) and literally stapled over my burn (with a little more complexity!). I had a NPWT or Vacuum dressing placed over it, applying a vacuum through a special sealed dressing attatched to a tube and a container box. The continued vacuum draws out fluid (gross!) from the wound and increases blood flow to the area. I also had my shoulder, hip, chest and head wounds washed and dressed and my hair properly shaved to keep my head injury more safe.
 I'm going to attatch some photos of skin graft 'implements' and the NPWT dressings THEY ARE NOT ME THEY ARE EXAMPLES FROM GOOGLE hopefully they wont upset anyone!
DRIVE SAFE, George xxx

                Example of a vacuum dressing - this person has a knee injury mine was obviously on my back.

                                  Example of the box and tube attatched to you and the dressing.

                                   How the donor skin is taken for applictation to the burn/wound.

Monday 20th - Tuesday 21st August - COMA...

On the SUNDAY night I was found a bed on the intensive care unit at the Queen Elizabeth and recieved my first blood transfusions as I had lost a horrific amount of blood, my younger brother Kasper saw me that night which would of been so horrible to see. I was in a coma but they couldn't shut my eyes fully as my face was so so swollen. He went home with my stepdad while they stabilized me and my mom stayed by my bed. He ran to my bedroom and sent my teddy bear 'Freddie' back to the hospital. YES I'm way too old for a teddy bear I am 20 but I don't care he is the best thing ever..I was left in a coma and put on a life support machine for several life saving reasons, As a way of preventing my body from going into shock and my organs shutting down, It is also a way of controlling brain swelling - I attained a massive external head injury and if my brain had swelled too much I could of been left severley brain damaged. I also had bilateral (both sides) lung drains put in as my lungs were full of fluid and I was essentially drowning from the inside.

On the MONDAY I remained in a coma, I am assuming this is when my family were told my injuries. (I will put a list of those at the bottom of this post) My left thigh was completley snapped in half and had been flipped over itself so I was taken down to theatre that day. A large section had been destroyed by the car essentially grinding it to dust so they used a metal plate and screws to hold the two ends in place with a big gap in the middle of them. I am told I was in theatre most of the day and this is when I recieved another blood transfusion. Joss came to hospital this day which he found really hard, you can't imagine what someone you love would look like after a collision like that and on a life support machine.

On the TUESDAY I woke up. The day I think most of my friends found out what happened. My blood pressure had dropped dangerously low on monday night so they were forced to reduce my sedation. I don't know the medical way or how I actually woke up but this is what I was aware of...Being in a coma is just nothing you dont dream or anything you dont see black it's just nothing. Suddenly I dreamt that I pulled something out of my throat and a few seconds later I did grab the intubation tube and pull it out (this probably happened a lot slower than I think) I opened my eyes and all I could see was spot lights and heads above me. One of them was talking to me while others tried to sort machines out and put oxygen over my face. I remember them saying 'You've been in an motorbike accident Georgia, you're in hospital' I was adament I was dreaming as I have a lot of lucid dreams where I know I'm dreaming. They kept telling me I wasnt dreaming but would you believe it? I didn't accept it was real but asked if Joss was dead. I thought if I'm like this he must be dead. They called my mom and I thought when she arrived I'd wake up...nope. I desperatley wanted to sit up I thought if I sat up it would be like on the telly I'd be sat up eating grapes...nope. They couldn't sit my bed up for hours as some of the breaks in my pelvis and spine were so close to my spinal cord they needed a specialist consultant to confirm if I could be paralyzed or not. So I was lay totally flat with a neck brace on for hours. I still hate lying totally flat now. I can't explain what it was like really, I was concious but I don't remember much of it, I couldn't move at all, I was scared but couldn't explain what of, I had a lot of panic attacks. I had oxygen pipes in my nose and a cathater (tube that goes into the urethra that contunually empties your bladder, aswell as countless IV's for fluids, morphine and other pain relief. I was having hallucinations which turned out to be an allergic reaction to tramadol, I could see rats everywhere and could see through my eyelids, I didn't sleep at all. My nurse for that day Liz was amazing, she kept saying 'we'll give you a lovely wash', that wash was the worst thing ever. I was allowed to be rolled to the left which they had to do to wash me, I cannot explain the pain that caused. Being rolled onto your side with a smashed pelvis and onto a destroyed thigh...I screamed but it wasn't a controlled scream at all it just came out it was excrutiating..I'll carry on with ITU later...drive safe, George x