Sunday, October 14, 2007




It was a pretty tough weekend for our little sweety. On Friday we were at the clinical centre and all set to come over to the Children's Inn with Katlyn. We had Saturday completely off, which meant that for the first time in over a year, Katlyn would not have to go to the hospital all day. So we though. Katlyn was at the door anxiously waiting to get out with a couple of her toys in her hands, including her giggly wiggly and a Halloween flashlight that we had recently found for her. Anyway I had to put a mask on her so I took the toys our of her hands and she forgot all about them, so they were left behind. When we got to the Children's Inn we took of the mask to find that Katlyn's cheeks we red. It was windy outside, so we thought it could be possibly that.
She was fussy, but also very tired and went for a nap. When she woke up, she had these very defined red marks on her face. Upon taking a closer it look, it looked like a chemical burn to me. I lightly wiped at it with some baby soap and water, and she freaked out. We rushed Katlyn back up to the Clinical Centre to get it looked at. The doctor came in and we were all scratching our heads trying to figure out what could have made such a mess of her face. Katlyn was fussing so I grabbed her giggly wiggly toy, which was covered in an oily substance. I then quickly grabbed the flashlight, which was completely covered in it. We opened it up to find the inside was also covered. The batteries had leaked, resulting in a chemical burn on Katlyn's face.
Friday night was a very long night. Katlyn was very uncomfortable and I felt as though I only got minutes of sleep. I had to apply some ointment to her face all through the night to prevent infection and to soothe the burn. Also we had to give Katlyn some benadril because it looked as though her body was having a reaction to the chemical. The Yesterday the burn looked a bit better and hadn't blistered. We have to be very careful with it so that it does not get infected and it scares us.
Now we're Sunday and again the burn looks a bit better. Hopefully it heals up without any infection and no scarring.
She's been a trooper though. Even though it hurts for us to wipe at it and apply the lotion, we are still able to, even though she gets upset. I can only imagine how much it hurts. So we can't take her outside right now because the sun on the burn could make it worse. She is now back at the Children's Inn with us, but Poison Control and the doctors check on her regularly.
What a scare. This toy was made in China and put on the shelf by the store where I purchased it. I am now working on getting them to rectify the situation. I hope to get the toys pulled from the shelf for starts. I need answers and I'm going to their corporate offices for some. If I don't feel as though they have made their best effort to rectify the situation I will be seeking some legal advice and possibly going to the media. That should not have been on the shelves for starters, and who knows how many parents have bought that same flashlight for their child.