cumulator, of our female turkey who had been attacked by the fox; her skin torn from much of her breast and her wing shredded. In more recent times, I reached for a cup of water which had been placed in a microwave; for some reason, whether a malfunction of the machine or perhaps that specific porcelain mug was not meant for microwaves, the actual mug itself had been heated to the boiling point. I had grasped the handle tightly between my thumb and fingers in the usual manner, bringing it against my palm- the searing pain of the heat hit me as I lifted the full cup up out of the machine, which was on a counter at waist height. I did not simply drop the cup since it was full of boiling water and I was afraid of further burns from the splash if it fell in front of me. After hastily sitting it down (perhaps 3 seconds), I was aware with shock that the skin on all areas of those fingers and my palm, where I had held the cup, was white, wrinkled, and bizarre, as if a layer of thin pastry, instead of skin, had been molded and wrinkled by the pressure of the grasp. Immediately I put the hand within the bowel accumulator, but had no hope that I would be healed. I am a Nurse Midwife, and must use this hand for examining and delivering. Despairingly, I believed that I would be unable to perform these duties for several weeks, at minimum. Within the accumulator, the pain escalated briefly to a nearly unbearable level, increased from what I had previously thought was severe! (The fact that I initially had pain means that this was a second degree burn, versus a third degree burn, which has no pain initially). I sat for 30 minutes, amazed as the severe pain gradually left, and the familiar warm tingling sensation replaced it. After this time, I removed my hand- the accumulator had worked- the broad areas of burn were now made up of the dry, hard, thin skin that I have described. I had a little difficult in bending my index finger and thumb because of the lack of skin flexibility, but there was no blister and no pain and virtually no redness, only the slightly browner color. I retreated the hand several times that day, and perhaps the next. Other than a temporary stiffness and decreased sensation until the dry layer came off, I had no residual effect and could work as normal. An example of delayed treatment, of what may have been a third degree burn, I found most interesting. My husband leads ocean kayak tours, and was forced to deploy a hand held burning flare to ward off a fishing boat in heavy fog. A burning piece of the flare material fell onto his inner wrist, burning a 1 1/2 cm round hole deep into the tissue, just missing large blood vessels and the tendon. I was away at the International Conference at Orgonon, and when I returned the wound was four days old. He had not applied the accumulator, thinking that since he hadn’t done it right away, there was no use. He also said he had no pain, and so he wasn’t alarmed, and didn’t mention it. When I noticed the wound I was became alarmed- the hole appeared slightly infected and very deep, the edges blackened and not alive. He said the burn had not really changed or begun to heal at all over the four days. He also was in a very busy part of his season and had little patience for sitting still with an accumulator bowel over his wrist. I fashioned a tiny accumulator out of a band aid (as outer most layer) and three layers of materials, covered with gauze, and taped it over his wrist. I decided that this wound needed lengthy treatment- 24 hours continuous, if possible. After 24 hours the wound showed pink new skin at the edges, and the redness around had abated. We continued with frequent treatments (but not continuous as it proved difficult to adhere to his wrist) over the next several days, watching as the wound healed rapidly inward toward the center. In the past I suffered from migraine headaches and found amazing relief from lying under the blanket (head included) for longer than the usual treatment- the headache ebbed and I fell asleep, without the usual cycle of severe pain and vomiting. Normally it is recommended that the accumulator not be used over the head for more than a few minutes, and a person not sleep under it. My most prolonged treatment use of the accumulator occurred over the last 7 years, in the attempt to prevent bed sores in a disabled elderly person- my mother, Eva Reich. I also strongly believe that the full body use of the accumulator blanket kept her alive much longer than expected, or perhaps even longer than she herself desired. She had told me of a case from her own medical practice in the 1950s; Eva was called to the home and bedside of an elderly woman; the woman exhibited the prolonged spaces and gasping breath of approaching death. The family was gathered around. Eva decided to apply the accumulator blanket she carried with her. Very shortly after the blanket was laid across her, the old lady opened her eyes and said strongly “get that thing off me!!” She revived and lived 6 more months, much to the dismay of the old woman herself. The family felt furious with Eva for reviving her, the care giving being a huge burden. The old woman had wanted to die. On New Years Eve of 2001, Eva Reich suffered a stroke of the spine, the result being complete paralysis except energy & character vol.37 may 2009 23
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