21/01/2026
Yay — my first shower in 10 days!
(Apologies if you’ve been smelling me through the airwaves 😅)
Two weeks ago I had a rather dramatic encounter with a cup of boiling tea. I was holding it on my lap and it slipped, sending the water all over my legs. Unfortunately I was wearing thermal leggings which seemed to trap the heat — and I couldn’t get them off quickly enough.
Not being savvy about burns, I immediately put ice on them (note to self and anyone reading: lukewarm running water for at least 20–30 mins — NOT ice). I could tell it was bad, so Peter drove me straight to a minor injuries clinic. We were on holiday in Norfolk and I was seen immediately by a truly lovely, kind nurse.
She dressed the burns and told me to arrange a phone appointment with the burns unit near home. I asked for a spare dressing but they didn’t give any out. Feeling uneasy, I Googled and ordered something “close enough” on Amazon.
Three days later I had my phone appointment and was told to remove the dressing, rub the burns, and wait for a call. I was completely shocked at how raw and shiny everything looked — I still don’t know if I was looking at skin or something underneath it. The call never came, so I rang them… only to be told I should NOT have removed the dressing, should NOT rub burns, and SHOULD have come in — but there were no appointments for three more days.
So there we were, Peter and I, doing our best with makeshift dressings, extra plaster tape, and lots of hope. They didn’t feel protected at all and I felt really vulnerable.
A few days later, I finally got seen. They cleaned the burns and put silver dressings on — I could feel the difference immediately. They looked properly cared for and I felt held by the process at last. A week later the dressings came off and I can shower again!!! And now it’s just moisturiser until everything fully heals (which may take months). Thankfully — no scarring expected.
Strangely, the most traumatic part wasn’t the accident itself (which was extremely painful). What really shook me was:
• the shock of seeing the burns,
• the lack of clear guidance,
• and not feeling able to protect my own body adequately.
It brought up some very old beliefs:
“I’m not supported.”
“I can’t do it right.”
“I’m not capable.”
I tapped quite a lot through the whole thing — in the car stuck in traffic on the way to hospital, when the nurse was dressing the wounds, and afterwards when I felt overwhelmed and shaky. It helped my nervous system calm down when everything else felt out of my control.
I’m sharing this partly as a reminder that accidents happen and thank goodnes there are caring people :) who are unfortunately stretched thin within the system :( — but also because those “little” moments of being unsupported can touch very old wounds, and that deserves acknowledgement too.
If you’ve ever walked away from a medical situation feeling vulnerable or shaken, I get it ❤️
(And also… here’s to showers 🎉)
PS photo of me on holiday in Norfolk with super cute baby seal
