This is a part of the podcast series from the Model Systems Knowledge Translation Center on Returning to School After Burn Injury. Nurse Herrera and Julian discuss dealing with a different body after a burn injury. 

One of the hardest things that I had to face as a nurse, and one of the hardest things that I've seen is when Julian, sorry, Julian became more aware of his surroundings. I could just see him looking at his hands. And he's just looking at them, and I'm trying to distract him and kind of glanced at my coworker, like what am I supposed to do? What am I supposed to tell him? And then just another nurse, a male nurse, very tall, kind of surfer-ish guy, young brand new nurse comes in, and he just sees both of us just at the right moment. And he looks at Julian and he says, “Yeah, man. They're different, but you'll figure it out.” I think that's the best thing that anybody has ever helped me learn. And I think it helped Julian tremendously just thinking basically, yeah, they are different. But you're going to figure it out. You're going to be okay.  

When I see Julian now, I am so proud of him, and it's so great to see how much he has overcome and how he has managed to figure it out. It's beautiful. A year after his accident, he was sledding. And it was so wonderful to see him be himself. 

Visit https://msktc.org/burn and get the answers you need from experts who conduct innovative and high-quality research, provide patient care, and work to improve the health and overall quality of life for people with burn injury. That’s https://msktc.org/burn.