Rich's Blog

Mediation

2011-03-23T14:34:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I mediated a case I'd been working on for the last couple of years. Although it was an excellent result for my client, I have ambiguous feelings. After literally years of building the case, arguing motions, taking depositions, and working closely with my clients, it just seems somehow impossible that it can come to an end without a trial. To get out of litigation mode and into closure sometimes is difficult for me. I suppose that's why after my own lawsuit, I ended up going to lawschool and working for decades with my former lawyer...

Identity?

2011-03-06T13:58:00.000-08:00

On my dear friend Barbara's wall was written in large black letters: "You are what you repeatedly do." When I read those words the meaning seemed clear, "doing" meant something you do physically. As I continue to ponder what it means to be a burn survivor in my own personal experience I keep coming around to the phrase above, only my understanding of "doing" now focuses on the mental aspect. You are what you repeatedly think about, or more correctly, how you think about it. When thoughts spring up through fear or self-condemnation, these thoughts rarely water seeds of love and joy. Those two seeds, present in everyone, if cultivated, can perhaps shift the mental "doing" toward a place where it feels comfortable to just be. I aspire to "be" as intentionally and as lovingly as I can. Moment to beautiful moment, just be.

New Stem Cell Burn Treatment

2011-02-15T14:04:00.000-08:00

Check out this new treatment?

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/7725702/the_stem_cell_skin_gun_offers_new_approach.html?cat=5

And then...

2011-02-10T07:20:00.000-08:00

After about ten days I returned to the burn unit and found out the labs were clear - no sign of cancer. I can't tell you how relieved I was to hear that. I went home and continued to walk around as much as possible. Always before movement was a good thing for skingrafts, my doctor always told me to keep moving. Unfortunately, the result was the graft totally failed. I was then scheduled for another skingraft to replace this one.

Surgery

2011-02-09T14:12:00.000-08:00

On the day of my surgery I showed up on the 5th floor of the hospital where I was received into a pre-surgery exam room. They started an IV and led me into the OR. I said hello to the doctors then by the magic of anesthesia, the surgery was over and I was in recovery. By the time an hour had passed I was getting ready to leave the hospital. Overall, a very smooth surgical experience. I still did not know whether I had a Marjolin's Ulcer, or had cancer. I didn't find out for another week.

Back to the Burn Unit

2011-02-08T14:19:00.000-08:00

Between Christmas and New Years I happened to be in Iowa City and stopped in to say hello to my burn nurses at the Burn Treatment Center. While there I happened to mention that there was a small sore on the back of my knee that hadn't healed. I had somehow injured it a couple months prior and I'm not sure exactly how. My nurses turned white and immediately called the burn surgeon who was out in the hall. She looked at my sore and began explaining how she thought she'd be able to close the incision primarily (without a graft) and that I should come into the burn clinic the next day.

Spirituality and Being Burned

2009-08-25T12:35:00.000-07:00

Here I sit 17 years after my burn injury. Having some time to look back at the experience allows some reflections. I never dreamed I could endure an injury such as this one, an injury that changes your body in such a drastically physical way. There is so much I am grateful for in my life because of the burn. How can something that caused such intense pain, both physically and emotionally ever be looked at as a catalyst for good? Because of my burn injury I became aware of what I am - and what I am not. I'm certainly not just what I look like, my worth is not defined by an outward appearance. Not that I thought of myself as a "judge the book by its cover" sort of person before I got burned, I just never realized the extent to which I probably was -- to myself in some sort of fundamental way. My facial scars forced me to accept that I could not rely on looks for anything to define me. I didn't feel like I relied on my looks prior to getting burned, in fact, I never considered myself particularly good looking. I think I was used to seeing a certain face look back at me in the mirror, and now that face was gone.

The attitude or perspective with which you look at anything changes your perception of it. My burned allowed a re-defining of myself, a re-framing that has continued over the years ever since. I'm not sure its any different from someone who hasn't been burned re-framing their life to see things from a new perspective, but in a very real way, the burn opened that opportunity up for me. I believe this adherence to reality by really paying attention to what is going on right now opens up life for us all. Life happens right now. For all the worry and hard work, there really isn't all that much we can do about a lot of the stuff that occupies our anxiety. We can do what is next -- and that's pretty much all we can do.

Intense pain and fear brought me to a more real place in my soul. The littlest details of life became all important: being able to feed myself, go to the bathroom, wrestle with children, pet a dog, walk, drive... Your life is made up of small things. Being able to breath well and walk are two things I try and think about now, 17 years later. I have no pain left from the burn. I do have residual stiffness and contractions, but no pain. My scars are normal to my children who have never known me without them. In fact, most of the people I interact with have never known me without scars. They say they don't even see them once they get to know me.

Like I said, I'm grateful for many things stemming from the burn: my family, my career, my new beautiful grafted skin that protects me, and for all the love that so many people have shown me. I couldn't be a luckier person.

Finding a Lawyer

2008-06-06T12:35:00.001-07:00

Finding a competent, informed and experienced burn attorney can be an overwhelming task for the family members of burn victims. After a serious burn injury, stress and fear can make tending to legal tasks seem a low priority. Feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns you may have.

2008-05-20T13:40:00.000-07:00

I want to invite anyone reading to comment on the website, or the blog. I am always looking for ways to improve it. A serious burn injury affects not only the burn survivor, but also the family and friends of the burn survivor. Our concept of safety, predictability, and control over our environment is challenged irrevocably. We can end up feeling much more vulnerable than before the burn.

Adjustment to the changes brought by being burned, disfigurement, loss of functionality, loss of identity, takes place over time. Each person is unique in how they approach these issues. For me, being burned continues to teach me about myself. Now after so many years I still find I have issues to explore involving the burn.

I would appreciate any thoughts you may have about any of the content of this blog, or the website.

Survival after a traumatic injury

2008-03-24T08:23:00.000-07:00

Surviving a traumatic injury such as a burn has two components that are related. First, the physical component, your medical treatment, surgeries, drugs, and all of the things that happen in the hospital all effect what happens. This part takes place in your body with your doctors help.

The second component is the non-physical component. Making a decision to live has a tremendous effect on the physical component, but to make such a decision requires faith in a future that seems completely unknown. Faith that life is indeed worth living. You fight against negative mental constructs. Words like "attractive", "ugly", and "self-worth" may need to be deconstructed and re-defined in your brain. You may find out you didn't really know what any of those words meant. Being burned lends itself to being grateful for the mundane things in life: air, breathing, walking, playing with children, being present for holidays etc. That is a gift. Being mindful of those things is easy early on in the injury when you first get out of the hospital. After you've healed and some time has passed, this may be more difficult. Being mindful of what is happening right now, re-defining with each moment what and who you are is possible and necessary and really going on whether you want it to or not.

Support plays a key role. Being in the burn unit is an isolating experience. To support someone who has been burned -- show up! Help with whatever needs to be done at that time. That makes all the difference and gives that person more strength than you will ever know.

Ongoing Issues for Burn Survivors

2008-03-10T10:05:00.001-07:00

I just finished up two burn cases this past year. Placing myself in the middle of a burn litigation poses a unique opportunity for personal growth. Having permanent facial/body scars and the history of a traumatic burn injury continues to teach me things as life goes on. Seeing the world, and the burn injury, through the eyes of my clients forces me to look at my experience with fresh eyes. What does it mean to be different, to be looked at by strangers, to be scarred? The fact that I am burned is not lost on opposing counsel. I still sometimes am surprised by my own appearance. What makes me who I am comes from far beyond this body.

What about the issue of fault? Lawsuits focus on fault - liability - so that someone can be called upon to pay for the damages. Ultimately, issues of fault are sometimes complicated legally. Sometimes juries have to determine degrees of fault for all parties. Fault plays a part legally, and spiritually for a burn survivor. It's important for lawyers to understand this, and be sensitive to this issue.

February 27, 2008

2008-02-27T14:17:00.000-08:00

I would like to welcome you to my blog. Burnsurvivorusa.com has been up and running now for a few years, and finally I've added a blog. Much has been happening in the past year. We have represented some amazing burn clients and have had success in obtaining excellent results. As always, I want to keep examining my experience as a burn survivor and keep communicating with other burn survivors. Having the chance for the last several years to be involved in burn litigation as an attorney has given my life a new and exciting facet.

I celebrated my 15th anniversary of my burn last August 16. It's interesting how my perspectives keep changing with time. Coping and perservering with a traumatic injury is a long-term process. I continue to learn new things about myself and the world through having had this injury.

In the last month or so I've had the pleasure of corresponding with a German photographer, Detlef Henrich, who happens to also be a burn survivor. He is an amazing artist who photographs burn survivors and exhibits the photographs around the world. I will hopefully have some of his work posted on my website in the near future.