Copeland Family Fire

Whitney (7:40am PST, Friday, 4/29/22) Little Krew man is off to surgery #11. He is starting a series of laser treatments to hopefully break down some of the thick scarring that can occur with pediatric burns. Kids heal much faster than adults, but then don’t “stop” healing causing the scars to thicken.  We left our home at 5am. Krew asked, “why does this Dr. want to see me in the dark?” He was very pleasant this morning. Getting even more people to adore him.  The Dr. said not to expect much visual change until 3-4 rounds of the treatment. This treatment will also help to reduce pain and itching. Krew wakes up most nights crying that he’s so itchy. This is after layers of lotion and anti-itching medication.  These treatments aren’t covered by surgery, because they are “cosmetic”. I just can’t tell you how unfortunate that is.  Todays treatment will be on his shoulders and forearms stopping at the wrist. Depending on how well it goes on his arms will determine if we start treatments on

Whitney (9:30am PST, Thursday, 4/28/22) Both eyes are open and the graft on her forehead is looking great! We are so happy with how it turned out. The week of bedrest proved to be challenging for Pepper. Her spirits were a little low and she was feeling a bit sad this week. But as soon as she was able to get back up she was back at it! We had a lovely conversation last night about body image and some of the changes she will be experiencing. She is very accepting, and she knows I mean really knows beauty comes from within. She is just wise beyond her years! We are headed into the shower this morning, we would love any last minute good vibes and prayers for Pepper. They will be taking off everything on her body to see how the grafts took and make sure there’s no infection.

Whitney Copeland (8:15am PST, Tuesday, 4/26/22) We are continually bombarded by helping hands, happy smiles, encouraging words and open hearts. It’s sometimes so overwhelming. But in the best way. Like a full to the brim after thanksgiving dinner feeling. So I’m needing to open up and publicly share my thanks. Our thanks. Some of these won’t make since you any of you, but writing them down will help me to never forget the cherished moments I’ve shared with other humans. Most complete strangers. This long list is a summary of all the people who have loved on us.  To the ER Dr. who held my face in his hands and told me to prepare myself before I saw my hurt family members in the ER in St. George. He put his arm around me and walked to each room from bedside to bedside with me. I don’t know your name. But I love you.  To the beautiful life flight woman who re-assured me that Pepper was her entire world for the next 2 hours that she was going to be life flighted to UMC. I believed you. And

Whitney (12:19pm PST, Friday, 4/22/22) Pepper is doing well! The surgery was so long, it lasted 6.5 hours. She had 2 doctors working on her at once. The eye brow release surgery was done to her right eye. It will be sewn shut for 5 days (Tuesday). Her forehead was grafted and had a bolster to hold the graft on also for 5 days.  Her chest/neck area has been grafted along with her left shoulder and upper arm. She also had a small area on her right hip that was grafted. The area on her legs was too deep as anticipated. Integra (derived from shark cartilage) was placed on both areas on the shin. It is an integrative skin substitute and the hope is it will allow the skin to fill in and heal on its own. Her back was sprayed with re-cell. Essentially, her own skin in a spray can.  All of the grafts were meticulously sewn on. In the past they have been stapled. The Dr. That was on yesterday wanted to sew them this time to ensure the grafts success.   Pepper won’t have a sedated dressing change

Whitney (6:47pm PST, Wednesday 4/20/22) Surgery #35 tomorrow.  Plastics: graft to her forehead, cheek and an eyebrow release surgery. The reverse of the one she’s already had, to the top eyelid, (same Kyle will have on May 6th). As of right now planned for right eye, but we are staying open to the possibility that it may be both. They will decide during surgery. We try to learn from our past. Burn: all cadaver skin will come off. From what we saw during the shower today, her right chest/neck and left shoulder look ready to graft. The legs need more time to fill in the deep wounds that were left when the infection was cut out. Most likely a skin substitute will be added to the legs tomorrow, grafts when ready.  Tonight we watch The Man from Snowy River and eat root beer floats!

Addey Kerr (Pepper's aunt, 10:00am MST, Easter Sunday, 4/17/22) A few weeks ago, I sat at my kitchen table finishing some homework. As I finished my assignments I began to scroll through my google photos. The pictures first made me laugh and then I came across one that made my heart hurt and I felt emotions stir inside of me. I do not feel anger often but that's what I identified this feeling as. It filled my chest with lots of pressure and tears began to fill my eyes. It was a beautiful photograph of me and my sweet niece Pepper. It had been taken about a year ago and I felt this anger because it took me a minute to recognize her as my Pepper. I hated that I recognized her face covered in scars and open wounds more than I did without now. I didn’t even know who I was angry with as I sat and sobbed. I wasn’t mad at God or at anyone in particular I was just mad that this was our situation. In my frustration and through my tears, I began to pray. I asked God why, why this happene

 Whitney (6:28pm PST, Sunday, 4/17/22) Reunited after 111 days of being apart. Happy Easter! We feel so blessed.

Whitney (10:39pm PST, Tuesday 4/12/22) More bacteria. More scrubbing. More antibiotics. More debridement. More pain. More set backs. Pepper continues to push forward.  The burn team is wanting to stay ahead of the bacteria. The grafts that are on her body are fragile, and the bacteria can go from the inside and work it’s way to the surface. Making the current grafts on her body at risk. We are in graft survival mode. Pepper will have a shower, surgery, or sedated dressing change everyday for about a week. At this point she has less than 5% of area to cover.  We are doing our best to keep her spirits up and keep her moving. Surgery and shower days are the hardest, it takes a few hours to get her warmed back up, comfortable, and weaned off of the anesthesia, which can make her very emotional. Her appetite is still good, and we still take daily orders and enjoy hearing what she’s craving.  More time. More memories. More movies. More reading. More cuddle time. More of Pepper. We’re so ble

Whitney (8:00 AM PST, Friday, 4/8/22) Surgery #33 this morning. We had a great night last night. Pepper wasn’t feeling up to walking when OT came around at 2pm. But made a deal with herself to get up before she went to bed. So at 8pm she got up and walked to the scale and back to her bed. About 40ft total. So proud of her, because when 8pm rolled around she didn’t want to walk at that time either. After, we watched The Help and had root beer floats.  Making memories with my girl. Doesn’t she look beautiful in pink?! Edit: the spot on her forehead is a deep purple. It is a solution that disinfects and forms a “clean scab” to promote healing. It will be addressed in todays surgery.

Whitney (6:07pm PST, Monday, 4/4/22) We stretch chin, neck, arms, hands, fingers, legs & feet everyday. Working hard not to contract. This will be a full time job when she comes home, adding to our need to rub Krew.  Grafts tentatively penciled in for her forehead maybe later this week. No plan as of yet for the next burn surgery.  The graft on her right breast/neck didn’t take again, for the second time. It is also growing bacteria. As a result she has a fever this afternoon.  When they opened her dressings yesterday (day 4 after surgery) the grafts looked very wet and the Dr. was not pleased. Some of the grafts on her legs took ok. One on her left shin isn’t looking very good. They took a sample of that area on her shin today to check for bacteria.  She has a really bad tummy ache today and diarrhea, nauseous and no appetite. I think she may have a tummy bug.  A good friend we made on the unit with a similar injury was discharged today. We are so happy for our friend! It left Pep

Whitney (1:53pm PST, Sunday, 4/3/22) I put some before and after pictures together. Kyle & I never got to see the bus after the accident. It was rolled away to a junk yard. Just a pile of junk. No story. No memory. No feelings. I wish I could see it one more time. Grab the license plate or scrap a piece of salvaged something. Just for memory. Just to touch. Something tangible to put to our dreams.  Kyle & I cried hard last night. Ugly raw crying. We just held each other and sobbed. We miss our bus. We miss our son’s face. We miss being together. We miss Pepper’s contagious spirit. We miss it all. Everything.  I personally have to look at previous pictures of Krew. I can’t remember him. It’s cruel. I have to stop doing it, but I can’t. There’s this video, taken just a few days before the fire. The kids are all wrestling their dad on the floor of the bus. The laughing, the giggles and the happy faces in the video just make my heart swell.  There is a plan. Right? We’re on the pat

Whitney (4:40pm PST, Saturday, 4/2/22) Kyle received his compression gloves and he really likes them! He kept hitting his knuckles on various things and large sores would appear, taking days to heal.  Krew got his new blue face mask and vest that cover  both arms all the way down to fingertip. It has silicone on the inside which makes it very difficult to put on and take off. He needs to have lotion spread across his body before we can slide them on. He tolerated ok the first day, but in the middle of the night woke up in a panic. He kept asking Kyle to make his bed bigger and to get him out. He was claustrophobic and it was just so sad. So we decided to coax him in and took off both for the night. Day 2 & 3 he wore the vest the entire day. We slid it off to take a bath and he said, “eww that shirt stinks” ha! It sure makes his little body sweat but the compression it gave him was great!  It takes about 20 minutes to get the full gig on.  Kyle & Krew have another surgery schedu