Please help us with Quill's recovery and expenses

If you can, please donate to help cover our baby’s medical and recovery expenses after getting badly burned on his face, arms, chest, and belly.

 

 

 

Our 16 month old baby boy, Quill, poured hot tea over himself last Saturday night.

 

He was sprawled out in the living room watching Miss Rachel, while the bath was running, filling up for bathtime. Little sister, 2 month old Domino, had just gone to sleep for the night. And I, mama Jane, was pouring my nightly cup of tea that I’d drink after I put Quill to sleep. I left the mug at the dispenser, took a peek at Quill, who was totally tuned into the TV, and went to get my vitamins which I’d take with my tea. Daddy, Thomas, then tells me he’s going upstairs to take a quick picture of the water damage from the leaking AC. Seconds later, I heard Quill crying. I looked in the living room thinking maybe he had fallen off the couch, but he wasn’t there. I looked to the water dispenser, thinking maybe he slipped on spilled water – completely forgetting the hot tea – and there he was, tea mug in hand. He had seemingly tried to drink from the cup and managed to get the scalding hot water all over his face, arms, chest, and belly.

 

I instantly undressed him and covered him in vinegar. Swaths of skin started falling off. Thomas tells me I needed to take him to the ER and of course I did. Panicked, I asked him ‘where do I go’, and he responded ‘Tarzana.’ We had been there with Rowan, our 12 year old. We knew the place and it wasn’t too far. Quickly getting Quill in the car, I drove the 15 minutes towards Encino, going 100 on the shoulder of the highway all the way there – just praying a cop would pull me over. I got off the highway and started carefully taking all the red lights. I could not stop. But I forgot where the hospital was. I was so scared and disoriented that I needed to call Thomas to confirm I was going the right way. I found myself at Encino Medical instead of Tarzana, and was soon being treated by Dr. Lee Valentine. I only know his name because he later introduced himself to Thomas. Quill and I were there for hours and the man did nothing but ask the nurse to keep giving him morphine because he was crying from fear and wanting to be held. They did not dress his burns. They did not allow me to comfort my child. They did not tell me there was a hospital 15 minutes away with a burn center on site and an emergency room open 24 hours a day – and I asked. I begged the doctor to tell me if there was a better place for us to go for this sort of thing. After two doses of morphine, I declined the third and told them to just treat my child. When I asked the doctor for more information because they were doing nothing, he told me to relax and walked away while I was mid sentence, as if tired of my sh!t. Thomas showed up shortly thereafter and called the nearest burn center. He was told they had been trying to reach the doctor but no one was answering. The doctor was in fact too busy literally dictating a book. There were no other pressing emergencies. He was just working on his novel. I left to care for our infant, as the Grossman Burn Center finally reached Dr. Valetine, who then walked in and introduced himself to Thomas – shook his hand and everything. He took his time and explained to Thomas what was going to happen. They finally bandaged my baby and transferred him to the Burn Center.

 

Sunday was hard. I could not look at Quill without crying. Monday was a little easier. He was even behaving more like himself. Baby boy’s first surgery was on Tuesday. They cleaned his burns, placed pig skin on his face, cadaver skin on his torso, and told us he was going to need another surgery the following Friday. The plastic surgeon, Doctor Majidian, was not sure if the burns on his body were deep enough to require donor skin grafts from his own thighs, or if the cadaver skin would suffice. Quill would however require donor skin on arm.

 

Unfortunately, after the second surgery on Friday, it was clear that donor skin would need to be grafted onto all the burns. They cleaned and scraped him deep but hope that he’ll heal a bit before his next surgery, which will be on Thursday. I’m praying his wounds won’t require too much of the donor skin. Now we’re talking raw painful chest, arms, tummy and legs.

 

This is the worst case scenario but he’s getting better. This facility, unlike our initial experience at Encino Medical, is amazing. But with twice a day hyperbaric treatments, three surgeries (so far) and two plus weeks of care, this is not going to be cheap. Everyone has already been so generous with their time since unfortunately we cannot afford for Thomas to take time off. I am on maternity leave for Domino, but while I can easily care for two healthy babies and a 12 year old, it’s a lot harder to breastfeed while trying to hold a toddler who is in pain and will not settle out of my arms.

 

We can use any and all the help available. If you’re able to donate financially, please do. And thank you so much. If you have some time to spare and would love to hold a little baby, let us know. I’m not turning away any help right now. Our focus is on Quill and his recovery. He has been incredible so far, but I know this is far from over. Thank you again to everyone that has shown support, emotionally or otherwise. And thank you for reading.

- The Bello Rivas Family