WHAT HAPPENED ...?

Many friends are asking me what actually happened to Qiaoyi and how she got the burn. They are concerned because most of them also having young children like me and would like to ensure that similar incident does not happen to anyone of them too.

I wish to share this with my friends though I would like to avoid recalling the incident again. Somehow, it will serve as a good reminder to me and other parents who have young kids to take precautionary action when dealing with hot stuffs.

It was on 31st Aug, 2008, a public holiday in Malaysia. I and my elder sister planned this trip together with family to Sg. Klah Hot Springs Park, Sungkai in Perak. It is famous with its natural hot spring water and attract many visitors. We have heard a lot about it so thought it would be nice to bring the families there and experience the hot spring water.

I still remember it was a sunny morning on that day and we left the house happily looking forward to the hot spring park. It took us more than 2 hours to reach the destination.

As we stepped into the park, we were fascinated by the hot steaming water in the pool and the greens . It was really crowded with visitors on that day by the noon time. So we thought to have some light lunch in the cafeteria before proceeding with our exploration in the park.

We went to the cafeteria and checked on the food stalls . As most of the food were spicy in nature and my girls don't take spicy food, so we decided to buy 2 cups of instant noodles with soup for the girls to eat. I handled the instant noodles soup while my husband was busy buying food in another stall. After placing the 2 cups of instant noodle soup on the middle of the table, I told the girls that it was hot and advised them to wait for me while I walked away to get them some cool drinks.

As I was waiting for the drinks to be packed by the hawker...I heard some noises coming from the table where my girls were sitting and I saw my elder sister with some other people gathered around the table.

Sensing something was wrong, I quickly ran over and to my unbelievable eyes, I saw my little Qiaoyi crying and screaming and at the same time rubbing her body, hands and legs. Her clothes were wet and the noodles were all over her clothes and the floor.

My heart sank...I saw the skin rolling out from her hands and legs when she rubbed them. My sister and I quickly took off her t-shirt and long pants, and we could see the skin came out from her tummy and thigh! The raw flesh could be seen...( thinking of this , my heart is still sinking...) ! Qiaoyi was really frightened seeing her own condition and cried in pain... we did not know what to do , all of us were stunned and panic as we have never expected this to happen.

We sought for help and there came this young man who was sitting in the cafeteria and witnessed the incident. He ran over to the stall and asked for ice cubes and cold water to splash on Qiaoyi's burn wound. He told us to get more ice and cold water to splash on Qiaoyi's lower body continuously to reduce the heat being absorbed into her skin. Qiaoyi was really in pain and in a state of shock ( my heart is pinching too while writing this ) , and I almost went crazy seeing her condition.. she is my baby...!

That young helpful man advised us to send her to hospital immediately to get further treatment as the condition was quite bad. We quickly wrapped her lower body with towel. My husband carried her and walked out from the park heading to the resort office looking for help. It was quite a long distance to walk out to the resort office and the car park. We did not waste a single minute while trying to reach the resort office. At one point my husband had to stop for few minutes to catch his breath...I could see him sweat badly. I hugged the traumatised Qiaoyi during the few minutes ...both of us were actually hugging each other and cried. Suddenly, she stopped and said to me, " mummy, you don't worry.. I am okay...! ". My heart almost broken upon hearing this. Qiaoyi was in pain yet she was still able to console her panicking and helpless mummy, how I wish it was me who got the burn, not her !!

We finally reached the resort office and two of the resort staff helped leading us out to the town without hesitation. As it was a public holiday, most clinics at that area were closed. They had no choice but to lead us to the Slim River General Hospital which is located quite far away. It took us almost 45 minutes to reach the hospital and all in all we had wasted one hour plus before we could get emergency treatment for Qiaoyi. I think it was the time factor that caused her to suffer the burn to 3rd degree for certain parts of her body, meaning , delay in obtaining treatment and thus the heat had been absorbed into the inner skin and damaged the skin tissue.

She was requested to hospitalize but we decided to send her back to Klang to seek for specialist treatment as we did not have any clothing and other necessary items with us for hospitalization in Slim River General Hospital. The other 2 elder girls of mine were taking care by my sister and her family at the park.

It was another 2 hours drive before we reached the private hospital in Klang. Qiaoyi was tough and stopped crying during the journey back to Klang. She was tired and traumatised too. In fact, all of us were very very tired and exhausted on that day. We were actually driving non-stop on the road from Klang-Sungkai-Slim River-Klang. it was a tragic outing for us, especially to Qiaoyi.

She was eventually hospitalized in Klang. The surgeon in charged advised us that the burn on her body varied from 1st to 2nd degree. The surgeon had also advised that time factor is very important when encounter burns..be it fire or hot water. The first aid is we should let the cold water run onto the burns area for few minutes or use the ice if available to get rid of the heat. This is to avoid the skin tissue being damaged . I think we had missed the golden opportunity to do this resulting a more serious burn condition.

Qiaoyi did not attend her kinder garden for almost 3 weeks due to movement limitation and also to avoid herself from being infected with virus. Those wound that suffered 1st to 2nd degree burn were mostly recovered within 2 to 3 months with marks on. However, there are two parts, ie, one on her right thigh and the other on her lower abdomen did not heal smoothly. The scars formed on these 2 areas are thick, raised, dark red in colour and itchy too. In fact, the scars grow beyond the site of the injury after some time. We were advised by the general surgeon to seek further treatment from the plastic surgery consultant since they have better expertise in scar treatment.

This incident is a nightmare to us. Sometimes, I still cannot control my tears when recalling or talking about the incident. I blame myself for what had happened as being a parent, I had been negligent and did not take good care of my child's safety. Many times, we are used to take things for granted and I think this is a good lesson for us, but pay a heavy price for it.

Qiaoyi was subsequently recommended to go through the steroid injection treatment for her scars as there was no improvement after using the silicon gel sheet and pressure garment for 2 months. In fact, it is growing like a living scar, it is called keloid , the worst type of scar and usually formed if it is 3rd degree burn. There is another type of treatment by using laser but it is quite dangerous for her young age. The injection treatment is the most suitable type for her so far although it is painful during the procedure. In fact, there are several methods to treat burn scars but none of these are perfect and there is a possibility of reoccurring ! We are really worry thinking about this.

Qiaoyi had gone through 2 injection treatments so far, the latest one was on 28th Feb, '09. There is some improvement seen on the scar after the second treatment. It is slightly flatter, softer and the colour turns into light red instead of dark red . The doctor will determine if she need to go through the 3rd treatment after the check up on next Saturday.

Qiaoyi is slowly forgetting the unpleasant incident. She did not mention about the park any more and stopped asking me why I walked away and why I did not feed her the hot noodle....( she was actually tried to take the hot noodles to eat but the cup with narrow bottom fell down onto her..)

Qiaoyi has been brave since the beginning. We feel pain when she is in pain. Her laughter is our joy. Through her beautiful eyes, we see the hope. We believed God is kind and will heal her, and we shall have faith in Him. Praises to Qiaoyi for her braveness...we love you !


P/s : We would like to thank the young helpful man who came to our first aid at the cafeteria when we were lost and panic during the incident. We did not ask for his name and we can't remember if we had thanked him for his help ...but, we will always remember him and may God bless him too.

The Pain...

27th February, 2009..Saturday. It was QiaoYi's second injection treatment on her scar. Her first treatment did not see much improvement as the doctor used only half strength of the medicine for the injection. According to him, he has to be very careful for first treatment to avoid overdosed. The scar on her right thigh actually feel softer now after the first treatment and it is also slightly flattened. However, not much improvement visible on her lower abdomen.

Qiaoyi was checked in on that very early morning of Saturday. She behaved normally and was chatty while waiting patiently for the anaesthestist to check on her condition before going into the operating theater. Fear was no where to been on her sweet little face. I felt relieve....!

As I followed her into the operating theater...my heart started to beat rapidly. I could feel the pain slowly emerging from my heart. I pretended to be cool while walking along with her. She was lying down on the bed and pushed by the nurses to the surgery room. Just before reaching the room, she waved her hand to me and trying to reach out to me...i grabbed her little hand and just not willing to let go.

Qiaoyi was still calm when arrived at the theater. The anaesthesia put the mask on her face to let her inhaled the gas. Her emotion became unstable and started to cry. She was scared . She was afraid of the injection. My heart was crying too while trying to console her and told her that everything will be all right. She put up some struggle before snoozing off 10 minutes later.

As I walked out from the room, I just could not control myself and let my tears ran down. My husband kept asking me what happened when he saw me running into the ward ! I just couldn't answer him as i was really sad and lost of words...the only thing I could feel was the pain in me, my heart was squeezing......men are usually less sensitive and show less emotional, i guessed.

In fact, I was quite calm during her first treatment recently. But this time ..i just couldn't control myself thinking of her, although i knew that this is the most suitable treatment for her.

I prayed hard to God while waiting in the ward and seeking God's help to heal her and end her pain. 25 minutes later, I was requested to see and accompany her by her bedside when the treatment was completed. She was very much in sleep...with thick blanket covered her body, even her hair and soft pillows tucking at both side . Guessed this would make her feel more secured while in sleep...just like the little tiny baby sleeping inside the womb of a mother !

I waited about 20 minutes before she woke up suddenly and tried to pull away the oxygen mask on her face. She started to cry after regaining her consciousness and complained about pain on her scar areas. I am in pain too little sweet heart...you are not alone.

Qiaoyi was discharged in the afternoon and has to go back for follow up check up on the coming Saturday. The doctor will determine 2 weeks later if she need to go for third treatment...i really hope not..!!

We have a hard time explaining to her why she must go through the treatment over and over again and made her understand her scar condition, and also to remove the fear in her. In fact, she was really traumatised since the day one she suffered the burn and also the many trips to hospital for dressing and removal of dead skin had in fact frightened her.

We are hoping that her scar condition will improve soon with all these treatments taken. One thing for sure, Qiaoyi is not alone in her journey of recovery and she will not shoulder the pain by herself as we are going through this together with her, no matter what. The pain in her is as much as in us....