Bed Rest

Mary has been on bed rest now for two days since the surgery. She is doing well, bored, but feeling well. They are going to unwrap her legs tomorrow and look to see how things are healing. They will then just wrap them back up and she'll continue to be on bed rest. On Sunday they are planning to take out the staples. They will not be sedating her for either of these bandage changes. She is a little nervous about that, but hopefully it will go well. She is off the IV meds and is doing well on just the oral medicine. My mom is thinking they'll probably have her try to start moving on Monday. Mary is very glad they only had to take the skin from her thighs....I'm sure it's made a world of difference as she's recovering. Not too much new to report, but just very grateful Mary is feeling good and hoping the leg check tomorrow goes well. Thanks for checking in on Mary. We so appreciate all the good thoughts and prayers!

Surgery Day

Mary went in for her surgery at about noon today. The doctor only ended up needing to regraft about 2/3 of her left lower leg.....guess she found some live skin while in surgery. However, she ended up having to do a little more on the right leg than she thought. She was able to only use skin from Mary's thighs and didn't even have to use the backs of the thighs. That will be a tremendous help in Mary's recovery. The doctor seemed to think it all went well. Yay! Coming out of surgery however was quite rough. They didn't give Mary the same pain meds this time right away, and she was in A LOT of pain. Apparently she was screaming and crying for about 2 hours pretty much nonstop. They were definitely giving her everything they could to help, but it took a while to get it under control. :( Finally at about 6:00 she fell asleep and slept until 8:00. When she woke up she was feeling MUCh better than before.
We were very glad to hear that surgery went well, and really hoping she can get some good sleep tonight. Sending lots of love Mary!

Surgery Tomorrow

Mary had her final check by the doctor today to determine what areas would need to be regrafted tomorrow in her surgery. The doctor told them her left leg from knee to ankle will need to be regrafted. On her right leg there is an area about the size of a dollar bill that will need to be regrafted. The news about the left leg was a little disappointing, but compared to her first surgery I'm sure this will seem like a breeze! :) They don't know why the grafts didn't take to her left leg, the doctor said it was actually quite common to have areas that don't take. The doctor is hopeful that they will only have to use the skin on Mary's thighs for the new grafts. She won't know for sure though until they are in surgery. This would be very nice because the donor sites on her back and hips were much slower to recover. The surgery is scheduled for 11:00 tomorrow and should take about 2 hours. After surgery the doctor doesn't want Mary to move for about 5 days and said to expect to be in the hospital for about 2 more weeks. My mom and Mary are hoping it won't be quite that long, but we'll see.
Mary, we are all thinking of you and praying for a successful surgery tomorrow. We love you!!

The Latest

The doctor has been very pleased with how Mary's legs have been looking the last two days. She said that each day the infection as well as the grafts are looking better and better. YAY! They are going to keep her on the antibiotics through next Monday. At that point the doctor will reevaluate what areas (if any) need to be regrafted. She does think some regrafting will be necessary, but we're hoping and praying it will be minimal. The surgery would then be on Tuesday of next week. Just like last time, Mary won't be able to move for 3-5 days after surgery. My mom is guessing that she will be in the hospital about a week after the surgery takes place.
That's about all we know at this time. I think Mary is feeling a little better today than she has the last two or so. Apparently the pain was pretty bad Wednesday and Thursday, and she was back on the really heavy narcotics. Today when I talked to my mom, she and Mary were in the middle of making lists of things to do for the wedding and receptions, so I'm taking that as a good sign! :)

Back in the Hospital

Mary got back to the burn center of the hospital last night at about midnight. The doctor saw her this morning. They are "very worried, but not ready to book an O.R. yet." She definitely has an infection of some sort. They don't know why or how, but she does. So they wrapped her in special anitbiotic wraps and have "soaker tubes" hooked up to her legs that administer more of the antibiotic every 4 hours. My mom likened this to soaker tubes in a garden. They are going to do this for the next 2 days. At that point, the doctor will examine them again to see what to do next. She (it's a different doctor that's on rotation there for the next couple weeks) said she can't tell until the infecton is taken care of if the grafts just aren't taking or if they are what she called "ghosting." Not totally clear on the difference, but either way, they would have to redo at least some of the grafts. They said her thighs are healing nicely, but her calves and shins are not and especially on the left leg. Now for some good news.....if they have to regraft, they CAN use the same donor sites, so they don't have to take more of her "normal" skin. Also, the doctor mentioned that regrafts heal a lot quicker than first grafts.

That's pretty much all we know at this point. We are just very thankful that the doctor from Salt Lake came to Boise when he did and she didn't go another week or more before this was caught. I'll post again as soon as we know more. Mary is pretty down today at the thoughts of more surgery and just being back in the hospital....as you can imagine. Thank you for your concern and prayers!!

Setback

Today was Mary's appointment with her doctor from Salt Lake. It did not go well. He asked if they wanted the good news or bad news......."The good news is Mary's a very nice girl. The bad news is her grafts look terrible." :( This is definitely not what we were hoping to hear. He said it could be an infection. If it is, they will treat it.....not exactly sure what all that entails. But if it's not an infection, then they'll need to redo the skin grafts from her knees down. Mary, Kyle, and my mom are on their way back to Salt Lake today. They are going to admit Mary back into the Burn Center and do a culture to figure out if she has an infection and go from there. The doctor thought she'd be inpatient for at least a couple days depending on what they find. If they have to redo the skin grafts, obviously longer. I will keep the blog updated as soon as I hear anything. Please continue to keep Mary in your thoughts and prayers.

Home Life

Mary has been home for almost 4 days now. She is really enjoying not being at the hospital! They (Mary, Kyle, and my mom) still have about 5-6 hours a day of wound care and physical therapy. Kyle is very good at pushing Mary and getting her to work hard! Yesterday she saw a doctor here in Boise. The doctor seemed to think everything looked like it was healing really well. She even mentioned that the spot the other doctor thought might need to be regrafted was looking good. She said she thought Mary probably wouldn't need another surgery. Yay! Keep those prayers coming!! They also gave Mary some new wraps and bandages that she is liking a lot better. Mary continues to be able to do more each day......yesterday she walked up the stairs "like a normal person" as she put it. Her feet are looking a lot less swollen each day, and both the donor sites and the skin grafts continue to heal at amazing rates. Skin is so cool......it is really just incredible stuff!! Mary has loved being able to see and visit with people. Thank you to everyone who was able to come to the Open House. And if you missed it, please feel free to call and come over to say hello. I know Mary would love it. She and Kyle went to dinner and a movie last night....I'm sure it felt great to be out doing "normal" things again. Mary's doctor from the U of U is coming to Boise next week (apparently he does this once a month) so she will get to see him next Tuesday. So we may know a little more then....but so far everything at home is going well.