Monday

We were happy to hear that Mary's feet were getting enough blood flow and did not require that her legs were cut. There hasn't been a lot of good news so far, so we were happy with this. The nurses need to change the dressing on her legs twice a day, and it is very painful. They tell her to hold her breath as long as she can, but eventually the tears just come. It is very hard for our mom to see. Not only seeing Mary in such pain, but seeing the state of her legs. They have no skin on them. With the exception of two small patches of skin on the front of her thighs, the rest of her skin is gone. It will require skin grafts to cover the rest. The doctor came in today to talk to Mary about what will be required in order to help her heal. He basically informed her that this is only the beginning, and the worst pain is yet to come - evidently at the sites where skin is removed for the skin grafts. Mary started the day with a fever, and the doctors are concerned that her legs might be getting infected. So we will pray that doesn't happen. Also today they attempted to have her try to stand up and put weight on her legs. It did not work. She passed out both times they tried. So they will try again another day. She still spends most of her day sleeping, heavily sedated, but had periods where she was awake and coherent. A counselor came to talk to her about the importance of keeping a positive attitude and the likelihood of depression. Mary was pretty loopy for this visit, but we were assured there would be many more such visits. We also heard today that the possibility of doing surgery within the next few days was likely. So although we know it will be painful and difficult for Mary, we think it's better to just get it done and get her recovering. Our mom wants to thank everybody for the thoughts, prayers, and well wishes. She has felt very supported and comforted through all of this, and is so grateful to all of you.