How Charlie Anne Xavier beat the odds with the help of the Evans-Haynes Burn Center
On Sept. 10, 2021, a horrific workplace accident left Charlie Anne Xavier fighting for her life. She was admitted to VCU Health’s Evans-Haynes Burn Center with third-degree burns over 85% of her body and a very low chance of survival.
But Charlie — a mother of two young boys — knew that she had to fight with everything in her to make it home to her family. And fight she did. After more than 170 days in the hospital, over 50 surgeries and countless wound treatments, Charlie left the Burn Center to return home — six months earlier than anticipated.
One year later, Charlie reflects on how she was able to overcome such tremendous odds. She credits her faith, family, determination and her incredible multidisciplinary care team at the Burn Center.
“The team at the Burn Center is phenomenal and they saved my life,” Charlie said. “Dr. Feldman pieced me back together, and I found the strength to pull through. I kept fighting. I never lost hope. And I was determined to get back home and be a mother to my boys.”
The first 72 hours are the most critical for a burn patient’s survival
“Charlie had one of the worst burns we can see and was one of the sickest people in the hospital at the time she was admitted,” said Dr. Michael Feldman, medical director of the Evans-Haynes Burn Center. “That's always a very difficult situation, but we train for this. This is our passion. This is where we put all these resources together. This is why we're here.”
The first 72 hours are critical for a burn patient. Immediately after being admitted into the hospital, the care team worked to support every aspect of Charlie’s care — from her heart, lungs and blood pressure to making plans for surgery, skin reconstruction and proper nutrition.
The work is exceptionally complex and involves many different departments, individuals and resources working as a cohesive team to achieve the best possible outcomes.
“As soon as Charlie was admitted, we began working closely with nursing, therapy, nutrition, respiratory therapy and so many others, all of which are designed to help maximize patient outcomes.” Feldman said.
Hundreds of VCU Health team members played a role in Charlie’s recovery
As the oldest civilian burn center in the United States, the Evans-Haynes Burn Center is the only burn center in Virginia verified not only once but four times by the American Burn Association. This depth of experience is what sets the Evans-Haynes Burn Center apart.
“At Evans-Haynes Burn Center, we provide the best care with optimal outcomes. Our patients get everything they need right here under one roof — pain team, therapists, nursing staff, reconstructive and plastic surgeons, burn-specific anesthesia and doctors whose care and expertise complement each other,” Feldman said. “I think that's part of what makes this Burn Center special — we offer the full gamut of what our patients need.”
This is especially true in a case such as Charlie’s.
From the time that Charlie was admitted to the Burn Center in September 2021 to the time of her discharge almost 200 days later, countless VCU Health team members spanning dozens of specialties played a role in Charlie’s recovery.
On the front lines, specialists such as nephrologists, surgical intensivists, anesthesiologists, trauma surgeons, burn nurses, care partners, respiratory therapists, physical, occupational and speech therapists, clinical dieticians, pharmacists, and wound care specialists were involved in Charlie’s day-to-day care.
But there are even more staff members working behind the scenes who are critical for successful patient outcomes. This includes radiologists, surgical techs, lab personnel, environmental services staff, infection specialists, and personnel in the supplies and equipment departments.
“When we think of burn care, we are often thinking of our front-line workers and they are so important, but just as important are those who work tirelessly behind the scenes,” said Beth Broering, trauma and burn program manager. “Without their unrivaled commitment to our patients and their work in the environment, we would not have the outcomes we have.”
Charlie couldn’t agree more.
“The staff doesn’t know how much they helped me,” Charlie said. “I would have gone crazy if I didn't make friends and talk with them. A lot of the staff got to know me, and we had really in-depth conversations. It fulfilled me because it was as if I was having conversations with my girlfriends at home.”
Unparalleled service, uncommon care
Some of the toughest times of Charlie’s recovery came during wound care.
Third-degree burns have a high risk of infection and must be treated daily. Wound care treatment consists of the unwrapping and cleaning of each wound. This is followed by allowing the area to air out without any bandages on for four to five hours. Once the wounds air out, providers apply special wound healing products and wrap the wounds again.
“I had burns on the majority of my body, so the process of unraveling the bandages, airing out, and then putting them back on was long and painful,” Charlie said.
For wound care, the room had to be kept at 86 degrees or warmer and anyone who entered the room had to wear unique personal protective equipment to reduce the risk of infection for Charlie.
“I will never forget this one nurse. She was very pregnant at the time, and she would come into my very hot room in a bunny (full protective) suit,” Charlie said. “She would come in and dance and sing with me while tending to my wounds, and I kept thinking how hot and uncomfortable she must be but not once did she show it.”
It’s this level of care and dedication that truly sets the Evans-Haynes Burn Center apart from the rest.
“There’s a lot of people here who are passionate about burn care, who want to help people and have put extra time in to train and to learn how to use special products and how to treat these reconstructed wounds and so much more,” Feldman said. “It's something that takes a lot of time and a lot of training. And it just takes a passionate group of people to make it work.”
Cutting-edge technology helps to cut Charlie’s recovery time in half
While wound care was one aspect of her treatment, Charlie’s path to recovery was marked by over 50 surgeries and hundreds of procedures during her time at the Evans-Haynes Burn Center.
Traditional burn treatment includes skin grafts, a procedure in which providers take healthy skin from one part of the body and move it to cover skin that's damaged or missing. But in extreme cases, such as Charlie’s, there isn’t enough healthy skin to cover all the places that needed to be covered.
When this happens, providers look for a piece of healthy skin that can be sent off to a lab where they will grow new skin. This process can take weeks and must take place over and over again until they get enough skin to heal the wounds.
Newer technology can speed up the process. Providers can take a smaller piece of skin and process it in the operating room without ever having to send it out to a lab. This is called RECELL, an innovative, clinically proven approach for thermal burn treatment that uses a small piece of the patient’s own skin but is processed within the operating room.
The process starts by taking a small sample of the patient’s skin and putting it into a device that mixes the sample with a special enzyme mixture that separates out the individual skin cells responsible for skin proliferation, healing and pigmentation. The cells are put into a suspension that is then sprayed on a wound. The 1-square centimeter sample can be used to cover 80-square centimeter of wound.
“Evans-Haynes was part of the burn centers who participated in the development of this product. and it really is quite amazing,” Feldman said. “There is no downtime, no waiting for the lab to send the skin back to you. I can process it in the operating room and then apply it right away. This is unheard of.”
The technology is incredibly effective in reducing the amount of donor skin needed to be harvested to use in grafting. It can help decrease pain and scarring of wounds. With fewer surgical procedures and less downtime, it cuts down on the time that it takes patients to heal and recover and allows patients to leave the hospital sooner.
For Charlie, this meant six months sooner. Her doctors originally thought that she would be in the hospital for at least 12 months, based on similar cases that they had seen in the past. Charlie was able to leave the hospital just shy of six months.
“Her recovery has been remarkable,” Feldman said. “A large part of it is due to the technology advances and the care team at the burn center but an even larger part is Charlie. Her determination to get home to her boys, her strength, her resilience. She’s a star.”
Back at home
One-hundred and seventy-two days after the incident, Charlie returned to her husband and her two sons — defying all odds of survival. While she still has a long journey ahead of her, Charlie is now recovering at home, surrounded by her family, friends and community.
“For me, the number one thing that I had to learn, and am still learning, is patience — patience with myself and patience with everyone around me,” Charlie said. “I am still working on self-acceptance and understanding that my new life is very different from life before. I am not able to do a lot of the things that I would do previously. I have to depend on a lot of people to help me, but our community is amazing.”
Charlie and her husband, Andre, are also committed to giving back and using their platform to share their story to inspire others. The pair recently published “I Almost Lost Her,” a memoir detailing their journey of tragedy and triumph.
“People from all over the world reached out to us and provided support, prayers, cards and messages,” Andre said. “It has been an incredible and humbling experience, and we understand that we now have a responsibility to share Charlie’s story and to encourage and inspire others who may have gone through or are going through similar experiences.”
But the most important thing for Charlie right now?
“Just being a mom to my two boys.”
Original source can be found here
Alerts Sign-up