My burns and the struggles I've faced with my leg

WARNING - GRAPHIC PICTURES BELOW OF WOUNDS. NOT PROPER VIEWING FOR ALL PARTIES. PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK BECAUSE THIS WRITER WILL NOT BUY YOU DINNER IF YOU LOSE YOURS.

On the morning the Jan 13th, 1970, an eight year old foster child and me, I was four at the time woke early and went to the garage. There we proceeded to play with things like lighter fluid, matches, oil and gas. We would put a little fluid on the bench and light it. Watching the pretty colors as they burned, flickered and flashed, until they went out. Then we started again.

At some point the foster child has put a small amount of gas on the concrete floor. I was standing in front of him, on other side of the gas. When he lite the gas it flared and caught a hold of my pajamas. In 1970s fire retardant clothing wasn't the norm. The flames rushed up my leg, around my torso and across to my right arm.

This also includes my back (currently unable to get a picture of my back).

Over all I have rarely had much difficulty with my burns. The biggest problem I faced was dealing with heat and bending or reaching for things. Sweat glands have been damaged and I have limited flexibility. But I was always pretty much able to compensate and find ways to do what I wanted to do while growing up.

Around the time turned twelve (not sure of age) I fell and scrapped my knee. I didn't think much of it and  wasn't all that concerned. Mom helped me bandage it and I went about my business. A few days later we went to remove the bandage and that scrap had gotten bigger. Over time the wound on my knee would be increase to the size of a quarter or half dollar at times. The smell was the worse. I was embarrassed to go to school or to be around people. It smelled like I shit my pants all the time. Didn't matter how much I tried I couldn't get rid of that smell. If that wasn't bad enough when I would go outside flies and gnats would be all over my pant leg - making it seem as if maybe I did have shitty pants on.By the time I started working at Hardee's I had managed to get some control of my knee and the smell. However I wasn't prepared for what would come next - the wound on my ankle.

Much like my knee the open sore on my ankle started the same way. I merely scrapped it walking up a flight of stairs at work. I didn't even know I had done it until I got home after work. Just like my knee it never healed. Over time it grew and grew. Where my knee never got much bigger then a quarter, my ankle would be much worse.

Knee wound got bigger after I started letting wound care treat it. Before that it was much smaller

As you can see the sores had gone from my ankle up and around my leg. This has been a 30+ year battle. So far all the pictures you have seen (with exception of the chest pictures at beginning) are before any surgery. Over the last 30+ years I have been in and out of the hospital because of flare ups with my leg. However after I turned 18 yrs old and until I got on disability in 2008 I had no medical insurance at all. So in spite of the severity of my wounds hospitals, doctors, and other medical professionals wouldn't touch me because of lack of insurance.

Coming up in my next post I will bring things up to where things are today.