Regions Hospital Holiday Party
I told the audience that I felt like I was “home”…and when I enter the doors to Regions Hospital in some ways that is exactly how I feel. You see, for burn patients we experience a loss of many things; skin, decorum, privacy, and control. We are forced to trust the burn team with every aspect of our lives from food and water, bodily functions, our schedule, who we can and cannot see, they manage our pain to the best of their ability and they torture us to heal us…
This may sound a bit morbid and depressing, but when you occupy a bed in a burn center this is your reality and you no longer care about the normal stuff; when can I get to the grocery store, did I sign that contract on my desk at the office, did I take the laundry out of the dryer, will my spouse be up for a movie tonight…the only things that run through your mind are; how can I survive this pain, when is my next surgery, do I have to have the heparin shot in my belly again (every 8 hours for 50 days), can I calm my heart as it is beating at 185 while I am trying to rest, will they pull more staples out of me in the tub today…these thoughts consume you 24 hours a day because there is no morning, noon, or night to a critical patient.
Because of this experience, you become dependent on the individuals who sustain you and control your life. A burn center becomes your whole world; where you are safe, secure, no one stares, and you know you owe your life to the people around you. Leaving a burn center and your burn team is scary and often a very uncomfortable time in the recovery process.
When Mikki Rothbauer, Social Worker for our burn center asked me to speak at the annual Holiday Party in the atrium of the hospital, I did not hesitate to accept. These are my people, my family if you will, and it was a special evening to be able to share with them my new role as Mrs. International 2012 and remind us all that we are survivors and blessed to be alive!
Thank you to Mikki for the invitation, the Minnesota Professional Firefighters Association and Regions Hospital Burn Center for hosting the wonderful holiday party! Also, my appreciation goes to the children who smiled for the camera with me…and especially to my SOAR buddy Hamida shown below.
With love and appreciation,
Sarah Bazey
Mrs. International 2012
This may sound a bit morbid and depressing, but when you occupy a bed in a burn center this is your reality and you no longer care about the normal stuff; when can I get to the grocery store, did I sign that contract on my desk at the office, did I take the laundry out of the dryer, will my spouse be up for a movie tonight…the only things that run through your mind are; how can I survive this pain, when is my next surgery, do I have to have the heparin shot in my belly again (every 8 hours for 50 days), can I calm my heart as it is beating at 185 while I am trying to rest, will they pull more staples out of me in the tub today…these thoughts consume you 24 hours a day because there is no morning, noon, or night to a critical patient.
Because of this experience, you become dependent on the individuals who sustain you and control your life. A burn center becomes your whole world; where you are safe, secure, no one stares, and you know you owe your life to the people around you. Leaving a burn center and your burn team is scary and often a very uncomfortable time in the recovery process.
When Mikki Rothbauer, Social Worker for our burn center asked me to speak at the annual Holiday Party in the atrium of the hospital, I did not hesitate to accept. These are my people, my family if you will, and it was a special evening to be able to share with them my new role as Mrs. International 2012 and remind us all that we are survivors and blessed to be alive!
Mikki, Lily & Me
Thank you to Mikki for the invitation, the Minnesota Professional Firefighters Association and Regions Hospital Burn Center for hosting the wonderful holiday party! Also, my appreciation goes to the children who smiled for the camera with me…and especially to my SOAR buddy Hamida shown below.
With Stephanie and her Mother
Morgan, Abby, and me
Hamida and me
Teria and me
With love and appreciation,
Sarah Bazey
Mrs. International 2012
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