t’s everyone’s nightmare. And it’s part of Dr. Marianne Cinat’s daily routine.
Last May, artist Ron Pastucha was preparing for a Laguna Beach exhibition. Taking a break from a series of portraits, he went to the kitchen to deep-fry some tempura. Struck by a moment of artistic inspiration, he padded back to his studio. By the time the absent-minded painter returned to the stove, the pan of oil was on fire. Pastucha quickly grabbed the pan, and the burning oil slopped onto his right hand, which he had just cleaned with paint thinner. His hand ignited.
The injury would have been traumatic for anyone; for Pastucha, it had the power to smash a lifetime of hopes, dreams and efforts. The 42-year-old painter never had any profession but “artist” — a job that depends on the finely nuanced coordination of brush and hand. At the first hospital he entered, the staff told him he would likely lose his thumb. He was quickly moved by ambulance to UCI’s Regional Burn Center.
Enter Dr. Cinat, medical director of the leading-edge burn treatment center. One of the first such centers in the nation, it prides itself on breakthrough technology and treatments — as well as its care.
“For me, caring for patients is what takes priority and what I love. I couldn’t be a doctor if I didn’t do that,” Cinat says.
CRITICAL MOMENTS
She needs her gentle bedside manner to deal with the kinds of patients who routinely enter the center: infants scalded by a moment’s inattention to a hot-water faucet; teenagers who fall into bonfires or fire pits during horseplay; passengers pulled from burning vehicles — all of them threatened with permanent disfigurement.
“What’s special about burn care are its long-term relationships,” Cinat says. “Some of our patients are in the hospital for several months. You develop a very special bond with them and their families.”
Cinat’s caring style revealed itself in Pastucha’s case when she made sure images of his paintings were projected on the operating room walls while the artist underwent treatment — a reminder to the entire surgical team of the artist’s talent and what was at stake.
Why does Cinat get so involved? A big reason is teamwork, she says. “You need a team to take care of patients. It’s not just about healing the wound. It’s about treating the whole patient. Recovery requires physical therapy, occupational therapy, nutrition. You need social workers, psychologists, specialized nursing care. It’s very challenging for everyone.”
Cinat grew up in Southfield, Mich. Her dad was an engineer, her mom a nurse. For that reason, “Working with people, helping people, seemed a very natural thing.” She also loved science, particularly biology.
A career as a doctor beckoned. “I don’t really remember being determined to be anything else,” she says, “other than a singer — but I had no voice.”
SPECIAL TOOLS, SPECIAL CARE
For Ron Pastucha the results have been similarly life-changing. While he plans a return to his studio, he’s in touch with a different kind of inspiration. His burn experience, he says, has left him with the desire to do “loftier things,” such as mentoring for a children’s art project at the recent World Burn Congress in Baltimore, or helping supply silk murals as room dividers in the burn center to provide patients added privacy.
“I can’t say enough,” says Pastucha. “At the most devastating point of my life, to have someone that caring was not only reassuring, but inspiring.”
