All about Burn Survivor Divas

Hello my BURN DIVAS!  My name is Roxanne.  Finally, I decided it was time for me to reach out after 15yrs!  I sure hope this isn't offensive, because this blog is for all you burn galls out there finding it hard to cope with your beautiful scars!  I'm here to tell yah...., life will get better!  A year after my ordeal I gave birth to a baby girl who is now a 14 y/o teenager. I was burned in March of 1995.  I was asked at that time to advocate surviving burns by my physical therapist.  She wanted me to return to the hospital & talk to a female teenager who had just gotten burned. I thought to myself, "HUH!"  How can I motivate someone else when I haven't figured out for myself how I will cope with my own scars! I didn't know what to say & on top of that, I wasn't ready to be the voice for those who had none.  


I recall one day when I was in the step down unit, my brother came to visit me.  He walked into my room and found me holding a hand held mirror, crying.  He said, "You're not going to look like that forever."  I couldn't digest it at the time because I felt like I looked like a monster & thought that's exactly how the world would see me.  People can be cruel, but you must find a way to look above that.  Beauty is in the eye of the beholder ladies!  After eight months or so, I decided that I was going to get my swagger back!  I went to the nail salon and had a pedicure & a full set of nails put on.  Yes, I told myself that I was a DIVA before the burns & that I will remain a DIVA after the burns.  Of coarse, we all know, "EASIER SAID than DONE."  Eventually, grooming myself made me feel better inside.  It gave me sense of hope.  Rather than focussing on people staring, I decided to focus on what else I could do to make myself feel better.  


Ok, that's all I have for now.  Feel free to share your  surviving burn stories with me.  Even if you're  a spouse/friend/mother/father/sister/brother etc.... to someone who is in the hospital now being treated for burns or have been burned for years.  Don't be shy.  I created this for US, so that you have an outlet to vent!  True, I did receive tons of mail from people all over the United States, I did not know of anyone online advocating burn survivors!  It starts with one person.  You're not alone!