Friday, January 17, 2020
I woke up with three heater blisters on my upper arm today. I have not had a heater blister in years. I have had plenty of heater blisters over the years and take pride in the fact I rarely get a heater blister for the same reason twice. I have learned that ceramic space heaters will burn your skin within 18 inches even if left on low overnight and have the scars to prove it. In fact, I am pretty sure every scar on my arms is the result of a heater burn.
I have learned through trial and many, many errors how to use my heaters without getting burned. When I follow the protocols I have created, I do not get burned. Yesterday I could not warm up the entire day. I woke up cold and my day went downhill from there. I was shivering in my house (where it is 80 degrees around me) while I was brushing my teeth and I was sweating a fair amount. I actually did not feel too cold on my way to and waiting for the bus because the wind was not blowing that early.
By the time I finished my blood draw, I was very sweaty and very cold. When I went back out to catch a bus home, the wind had started and that was more than I could handle. When I got home my helper was already here because the infusion clinic was running behind appointment time and I did not get home until 11:15 a.m. instead of 10:45 a.m. I had her plug in my second computer heater so I could warm up before my decluttering volunteers arrived at noon.
I never warmed up. I spent most the time my volunteers were here huddled in front of my computer and heaters. I would turn to look at the items to sort when my volunteer brought a new box or storage bucket to me, but I never moved my wheelchair away from the heaters like I had on Tuesday and Tuesday I was only using one computer heater. It was a rough three hours for me, but I think I hid it well.
After my helper and volunteer left, I stayed right in front of those computer heaters with them both on high trying to warm up. It never happened; I never warmed up. When it was supper time, I did not eat because my arms were still shivering, and I did not think I could feed myself (I was having trouble lifting my drinking glass). I was supposed to shower last night, but I had sweated off the occlusive dressing the nurse had put on my accessed port in the morning and I was concerned I could get an infection though my port which has direct access to my heart. I am not in any hurry to die.
I was glad not to shower, because I was still shivering at bedtime and it would have taken me even longer to warm up after a shower. And now we get to the reason I have three new heater blisters today. I have two bedside heaters and one floor heater in my bedroom at night. In the winter we set the floor heater at 86 degrees so it never shuts off (in the summer we set it at 77 degrees).
One of my heaters is on my right side on a bedside table. That heater is always far enough away from me I can safely turn it to medium heat and be certain it will not give me blisters even if I leave it set at medium all night. I never set that heater on medium at bedtime because at some point in the night I will warm up and I will wake up hot. The cord is stretched pretty far from the outlet and I have trouble lifting and pulling the heater close enough to turn it down and place it back on the table. I am afraid I will drop it and set my house on fire in the middle of the night.
The other heater sits in the bed with me. I have a rail on my left side so the heater cannot fall off the bed. That heater sits about ten inches from my face. When I am very cold, I turn that heater to medium to warm up because it is easy for me to adjust. Last night I was too cold for too long. I fell asleep with that heater still set to medium instead of low. I fall asleep with my left arm on my head and my arm probably drifted right beside the heater for the few hours it took for me to wake up hot and turn the heater back to low.
My piece of advice to you is never get too big for your britches. Not only do I have heater blisters; I have had blisters from this exact scenario before. I know my heaters must be set to low when I sleep. I think the humility gods are taking revenge for me writing about them Wednesday. Yesterday I could say I am always safe with my space heaters; today I am a loser who cannot follow my own safety standards. At least tomorrow will be day one without a heater incident.
Until next time,
Susanne
Please check out my GoFundMe page.
I woke up with three heater blisters on my upper arm today. I have not had a heater blister in years. I have had plenty of heater blisters over the years and take pride in the fact I rarely get a heater blister for the same reason twice. I have learned that ceramic space heaters will burn your skin within 18 inches even if left on low overnight and have the scars to prove it. In fact, I am pretty sure every scar on my arms is the result of a heater burn.
I have learned through trial and many, many errors how to use my heaters without getting burned. When I follow the protocols I have created, I do not get burned. Yesterday I could not warm up the entire day. I woke up cold and my day went downhill from there. I was shivering in my house (where it is 80 degrees around me) while I was brushing my teeth and I was sweating a fair amount. I actually did not feel too cold on my way to and waiting for the bus because the wind was not blowing that early.
By the time I finished my blood draw, I was very sweaty and very cold. When I went back out to catch a bus home, the wind had started and that was more than I could handle. When I got home my helper was already here because the infusion clinic was running behind appointment time and I did not get home until 11:15 a.m. instead of 10:45 a.m. I had her plug in my second computer heater so I could warm up before my decluttering volunteers arrived at noon.
I never warmed up. I spent most the time my volunteers were here huddled in front of my computer and heaters. I would turn to look at the items to sort when my volunteer brought a new box or storage bucket to me, but I never moved my wheelchair away from the heaters like I had on Tuesday and Tuesday I was only using one computer heater. It was a rough three hours for me, but I think I hid it well.
After my helper and volunteer left, I stayed right in front of those computer heaters with them both on high trying to warm up. It never happened; I never warmed up. When it was supper time, I did not eat because my arms were still shivering, and I did not think I could feed myself (I was having trouble lifting my drinking glass). I was supposed to shower last night, but I had sweated off the occlusive dressing the nurse had put on my accessed port in the morning and I was concerned I could get an infection though my port which has direct access to my heart. I am not in any hurry to die.
I was glad not to shower, because I was still shivering at bedtime and it would have taken me even longer to warm up after a shower. And now we get to the reason I have three new heater blisters today. I have two bedside heaters and one floor heater in my bedroom at night. In the winter we set the floor heater at 86 degrees so it never shuts off (in the summer we set it at 77 degrees).
One of my heaters is on my right side on a bedside table. That heater is always far enough away from me I can safely turn it to medium heat and be certain it will not give me blisters even if I leave it set at medium all night. I never set that heater on medium at bedtime because at some point in the night I will warm up and I will wake up hot. The cord is stretched pretty far from the outlet and I have trouble lifting and pulling the heater close enough to turn it down and place it back on the table. I am afraid I will drop it and set my house on fire in the middle of the night.
The other heater sits in the bed with me. I have a rail on my left side so the heater cannot fall off the bed. That heater sits about ten inches from my face. When I am very cold, I turn that heater to medium to warm up because it is easy for me to adjust. Last night I was too cold for too long. I fell asleep with that heater still set to medium instead of low. I fall asleep with my left arm on my head and my arm probably drifted right beside the heater for the few hours it took for me to wake up hot and turn the heater back to low.
My piece of advice to you is never get too big for your britches. Not only do I have heater blisters; I have had blisters from this exact scenario before. I know my heaters must be set to low when I sleep. I think the humility gods are taking revenge for me writing about them Wednesday. Yesterday I could say I am always safe with my space heaters; today I am a loser who cannot follow my own safety standards. At least tomorrow will be day one without a heater incident.
Until next time,
Susanne
Please check out my GoFundMe page.