Saturday, February 6, 2010

The Down Side of Costa Rica this Year

Sunburn? Yep . . . only Extremely Bad!

Last year Bret came home from Costa Rica with a pretty bad sunburn on the back of his neck. It dried out and flaked off, and he was really uncomfortable for a few days.


So this year we geared up for the sun a little better (or so we thought). I bought bottles of sunscreen with SPF 50 and we made sure that he put it on before he headed out on the boat each morning to fish. Bret came home the first day and said, "I feel like I got fried, and I put sunscreen on 3 more times while I was out there." Even though the burn didn't look like much, he said it was really uncomfortable. After two days of this, he wore a long-sleeved shirt for the rest of the trip and a t-shirt on the top of his hat so he kind of looked like a sheik while he fished (wish I had a picture of that!). He stayed out of the sun as much as he could for the rest of the trip.


On the way home his arms started to get a little redder and they were dry and itchy. But still nothing really strange.



After being home for 2 days they were nearly unbearable. They were extremely HOT and it seemed like the area that was burned was spreading. The skin started to peel, and the raw skin underneath was bright red. The next 4-5 days were the worst. The cycle of red itchy skin, to peeling happened several times. A friend in our ward, who is a nurse at the hospital, came up to Bret at church and told him that she could tell that both of his arms had 2nd-degree burns because of the amount of skin he was loosing!

This picture shows how swollen both of his arms were. He couldn't straighten his arms all the way because of the pain and the inflamation. You couldn't even see his elbows when he tried to straighten them. To say the least he was miserable. He walked around all day with his arms bent and we all tried our best not to get too close.


Well after several days of walking around with his arms bent, Shawn looked up at Bret one day and said,

"Daddy, are you a Tyrannasaurus Rex?"

Being the good sport that Bret is he said, "Yes! Rarr!"

We've been home for about a week and a half now, and Bret's arms are doing much better. They are super itchy, dry and a little sore, but considering what they were like, he's doing great! (Halleluyah!)

5 comments:

Unknown said...

You want to sooth sunburn pain, I would rather end sunburn pain, eliminate any itch, and stop blistering or peeling. Try a product called Regen, it even takes the pain out of first and second degree burns! Here is a link for you:http://blog.oli-co.com/?p=561 It is guaranteed! Bill

Traci said...

That is crazy! I'm thinking that your SPF on your sunscreen was a lie! Yikes Brett, I'm so sorry!!!

Traci said...

That last comment was by me and I have no idea why it says Jaime....I'm looking into it! Hmmm!

Kelly said...

RRRRRrrrrr! OUCH that looks like it Hurts! I am sorry... you should put a letter into that Sunblock company with all the photos and tell them you would like a BIG CASH reward for all the pain you had to suffer!

Your trip looks so fun! Im so happy you were able to get a way and play! I was Glad I got to see Brets Butt. It wouldn't be right if we didn't get to see it...

Love the new photo header and the Valentine boarder. WE LOVE YOU guys! Hope your Valentines Day is WOnderful. Wish we could give you all a Giant Hug!
Love you

Kim said...

Bret you weren't kidding when you told me that you got a post sunburn. I was thinking a little pink - I have never seen anything like that. OUCH! Jason remembers nicole cutting tomatoes and putting it all over your back for a sunburn while you were dating. Give it a whirl. I loved your phone call the other day. It brightened my day. I hope you are feeling better!