208 days

Today is the 6 year anniversary of the burn injury of a person for whom I have so so so much respect. She is so confident, beautiful, smart, and caring - I hope so much that when I reach the 6 year anniversary of my burn injury, I will feel the same way about myself.

In the meantime, here's a quick update on my progress:

Since moving to State College, PA to begin grad school I have been going to the Integrative Bodywork School of Massage Therapy 3 times a week to have my scar tissue worked on. They are so incredibly great - I can't imagine being here without them. I don't have a lot of scar tissue, but what I do have is either thick or has the potential to limit my mobility later in life (or both).  Basically what they do is grab some tissue, pinch it as hard as they can, and when it's good and pink (means the blood is flowing) they twist. Ouch. I do it every night (even when I go to IBSMT), and sometimes we are rewarded with this odd sort of popping sensation under the skin where the scar tissue's binding to other tissue or muscle is being ripped.
I'm not going to lie, it grossed me out a little bit at first, but it's just like any other gross thing - if there's a positive connotation, you grow to like it. (For example, I really enjoy the smell of sulfur because it reminds me of Yellowstone.)
The other reward is that slowly but surely (and surely faster than before) I can see scar tissue flattening out in some places, and becoming less discolored, and areas on the rest of my burn where my natural color is coming in.
Between that, my TA responsibilities, my classes, and the tiny bit of research I'm trying to fit in this semester, I have just enough time to eat and sleep. And go to Wegmans, the BEST GROCERY STORE IN THE WORLD.

Also, I need to give a serious shout-out to my mom, who was doing these massages before I came to PA. Although we weren't doing exactly the same thing that IBSMT does, they raved about how good my burns look and complete 100% credit goes to my incredible mother and her patience and willingness to break her thumbs on my scar tissue for 2 hours (and sometimes more) every day. I think every day about how lucky I am to have my mom, and my whole family.

:)