3 months ago today, on January 7th, I had a motorbike accident, while learning to ride a dirt bike in the back cane paddock. It was a hot afternoon so I decided to wear shorts (worst idea ever!). Anyway, as I was progressing well with my new skills I decided to give it a go changing gears. This is where it all went wrong. 30minutes later & I was at the emergency department of the hospital with what I thought wasn't too bad a situation.
However, it was only last Monday (11 weeks later) that I got my FINAL silver Acticoat (best invention ever!) dressing off!!! It's been 12 weeks since my accident & my final burn has healed over completely! What an interesting process it has been to heal my burns coupled with healing my heart from heart break - which i know plays on the immune system. I am now in the phase of treating my scars with aloe vera & a cream I've made up with zinc, lavender essential oil, calendula & an amazing oil called aesculapius containing silica, vitamin E & vitamin A.
I am also keeping up with lots of internal support (immune boosting herbs & gut support). I was super excited about my first SWIM🏊♀️ which happened to be at Stoney's & then followed by an ocean dip in Sydney visiting family. Oh bliss!!! I'm a fish, so staying out of the water has been the least of my worries, but a challenge. I'm yet to get back into swimming at the local Tobruk pool. I didn't want the chlorine to affect my healing & dry everything out - so this extra week has been needed.
The pictures above show the day of my first solo motorbike ride, then some of the phases of my top and bottom leg, with the final pic (bottom right) showing my leg on Monday when the final dressing came off. It has been so interesting to watch the different phases. One of those phases being infection sadly - which i learnt deep burns are so susceptible to, particularly in the humidity of Cairns summers. Also getting the right treatment from the get go with Acticoat which I wasn't guided towards by the nurse I was seeing at the time, until I got a second opinion on the deepest burn at week 4. The susceptibility to infection with a deep burn is a no brainer really, but until going through it & learning the different phases of a burn i really thought my body could handle it. Throw in all the factors & mix it around with something called 'life' & I've learnt I need to surrender, trust the process & just put one foot in front of the other & continue learning.
One of the most interesting parts of my accident was being open to the lessons for emotional and spiritual growth. Accidents are often related to built up anger. I've had a lot to reflect on and feel that I have popped out the other side with more lessons than one (wear long pants on motorbikes!)... Mishaps can teach us so much when we are open to seeing the lesson under it. I know I'm keeping things quite vague with my 'lessons' but I'm leaving that for me to ponder on and dive deep in to. I'm sure you can use the reflection for your own journey?
I created a few collages of my mapped journey - I found it fascinating to watch the changes of my wounds.
Some of the ridges that were forming were concerning me, however with the help of Jaeme Zwart at Trinity Breast & Plastic Surgery, a very caring friend, I was guided in the right direction and also given a couple of treatments of silver nitrate to reduce the raised scar tissue & allow the wound the heal smoother and faster.
Please feel free to ask any questions about the process - as I myself have found it fascinating!
Janelle x