One Year On

WARNING: CONTAINS GRAPHIC WOUND PICTURES

Well, in all the excitement of Rock Night and face painting, I almost missed the one year anniversary of barbecuing myself alive. Who would have thought, this time last year, that I could ever have forgotten that?

Lasting damage?

A little bit, but nothing I can't hand-le (yeah, I'm joking about this shit).

So, good news - I can do everything I did before: clap, click my fingers, type, play the tin whistle. Nerves feel just as sensitive most of the time. I think it's some sort of compensatory thing. I lost the fingerprints completely on three fingers and they've been replaced by scar tissue. If I focus on rubbing the scar tissue, it feels waxy and a little numb, but when the hand functions as a whole, I don't notice. What I don't understand is that all four fingers were equally burnt (very graphic picture), but the index is now fine - even grown fingerprints.

Down side is, I still have a noticeable contracture on my little finger. It hasn't got any worse, but it hasn't got any better, either. I would say it's not that noticeable on a day-to-day basis, but I do notice it when playing the piano. Looks like the only way to get it fixed would be to have a surgical snip. Might talk to a doctor about it eventually.

Finally, I have an impressive hypertrophic scar on my wrist.

This:

Three Months Later

Turned into this raised, red bump:

It's still a bit sore and occasionally itches, but otherwise it's fine. The little bump at the bottom is an insect bite, not part of the scar. It's shiny because it's always covered in shea butter.

Thankfully, it doesn't impede movement. There's nothing I can't do now that I could do before the accident. I've been really fortunate in that respect.

Apparently, scars like these can take up to two years to fully heal, but I'd be very surprised if it looks different this time next year. It hasn't changed much in the past four or five months. Looks like the kind of thing you have for life.

I still find it incredible that you can regrow your body after damage like that.