2nd/3rd degree burns

On March 9, 2009 I was cooking my 4 year old triplets their favorite lunch of spaghetti while they were running around playing. My daughter asked for candy and I told her, "No, Mommy is making lunch it will be ready in a minute." I put the spaghetti on top of the microwave and turned to finish the dishes when I heard a chair sliding back. She had pulled a chair to the counter and climbed up to reach for candy. I told her to get down and as she was climbing down, she somehow slipped and grabbed a pot full of boiling water. I went to grab her, but I missed. She hit the floor and the pot of boiling water landed on her. I grabbed her shirt and jerked it off as I started SCREAMING for my husband who was upstairs sleeping (he worked the night shift). One of my sons ran upstairs calling for him as he banged on the door. Her skin immediately started peeling off so we called 911.

We were rushed to Children's and they started working on her. Our second night there, she almost went into cardiac arrest and had no pulse in her hands. She was taken to the OR where they cut her arm to release fluids. She had five more surgeries for grafts and we spent a month in the burn unit. My daughter has some scarring on her arm, but thanks to Dr. Beverly Chaignaud and the nurses on the burn unit, she is here and healthy! They not only took wonderful care of her, but they also took wonderful care of me because I was a basket case. She did five months of physical therapy and spent a little more than a year in burn garments. She is the toughest person I have ever known and was so brave. She was known as Princess Leah to the nurses and she had the attitude to go with the name. I am so proud of her and blessed that the talented nurses and doctors at Children's took care of my baby when I couldn't. Those doctors and nurses on the burn unit are some special angels, and I will be forever grateful for all they did for us. God bless them all.