Insurance Sucks!

I'm sorry, but there is just no other way to say it! So, the insurance company has decided that they will not pay for Mary to stay at the hospital and do wound care and physical therapy there anymore. They will only pay for it in Boise. So, my mom, Mary, and Kyle are heading to Boise tomorrow! I'm sure it's a little bittersweet....nervous about leaving the hospital only one week after surgery, but also kind of excited to be coming home. They will probably discharge Mary sometime tomorrow afternoon. Before she goes they are going to measure her for the compression pants, which is the next step after bandages. I guess the wound care and physical therapy will now be in the hands of the doctors and nurses here in Boise. Also, the doctor from Salt Lake will be coming for his trip to Boise in the next two weeks or so. I'm sure it will be fine, just not what we were planning on. We will definitely be praying for a safe trip home tomorrow and praying that the staff at the wound center in Boise will take good care of our Mary!

Looking Good

The title says it....things are looking good! They've unwrapped Mary's legs twice now and taken out all the staples. The doctor is very pleased with how her grafts look. Mary was able to tolerate both checks very well. They've even had her up and moving a little. She's doing great! Okay she did pass out once after standing up, but wasn't hurt and was laughing about it after. They're going to take it pretty easy with her physical therapy for a little while so as not to disturb the grafts. They haven't said yet how long they want her to stay in the hospital, but I'm sure Mary is hoping she'll get out sooner rather than later. As far as what's going to happen when she gets out, they're not sure yet either. Mary is thinking she'll stay local, probably at Kyle's parents house for a week or so. The doctor mentioned having a nurse or healthcare worker go to Mary and do wound care after she's out. No one is wanting to risk infection! We'll see how it all works out, but so far she's doing really well after her second surgery!!

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!!