Day 18 - October 17, 2008

Morning update:

There was no angiogram yesterday. I believe they will probably try to do that today. Also on the agenda for today: GOING OUTSIDE!! They are hoping to get her into a wheel chair and take her for a stroll in the beautiful weather outside today!!!!!! That's just AMAZING news! She'll love that (especially after 18 days of being stuck in a hospital bed)!!!

She seemed to get pretty good sleep last night, and was as excited as she could be when I told her the score of the football game. She is really proud of you boys!

The feeding tubes are all gone now. We've got to be sure she gets adequate caloric intake, but she's said she'll eat all day and all night if she has to - she doesn't want the feeding tube back! So, I finally got to see my mom's nose for the first time in 2.5 weeks yesterday! She sure has a cute nose. :-)

I stayed with Mom last night, and we had a long talk on a lot of topics. I won't get into details, but let me say this: I no longer have any concern regarding her emotional state. She completely grasps the severity of her injuries and the possible implications. She grasps the magnitude of the recovery / rehab process she will have to go through. She understands what she can and cannot control and isn't at all worried about those things that are outside her control. She's an amazing woman - we're all very, VERY blessed to have her in our lives.

She's on the schedule for the plastic surgeons on Monday. They may or may not work on both legs, depending upon how they must repair the right leg. If the right leg goes smoothly (and the easiest repair), they'll probably repair both. There are LOTS of risks with the surgery to repair the muscle / skin. We need serious prayer on this issue. There are so many things that can go wrong - but the surgeon is confident they can repair it (even though it may take several tries to get it repaired). The optimal solution on her right leg is that they are able to use the existing muscles in her leg fill the void. Far fewer risks are associated with this method. However, there is damage to the remaining muscles, so they won't know until they begin the procedure if they will be able to go that route. Option 2 would be to take a muscle from somewhere else in her body (likely her abdomen) and use that in her leg. Again, we won't know until they are in the operating room how they will be able to repair it.

That's the morning update... if we get more information, I'll keep you updated!!