Thursday Night

WOW what a long day. Molly was restless and agitated all night last night. This morning Mom & Dad drove up early to be with Molly and I as sher prepared for surgery at 8:30am. Molly continued to be agitated and a little scared, but we prayed for her surgery and her peace of mind and she was better. About an hour into the surgery the surgeon came out and talk with us about the surgery. Molly did well during the surgery, but the news about her legs was not great. They had to debreed not only skin but also some muscle in her calfs. This is a big concern as it will definately cause a lot more rehab challenges at the least. On the negative side, it may be a sign that the muscle is dying and may require additional debreedments. If this becomes the case, there is a threat of having little to no use of her legs or even the possibility of losing them all together. We will not know the ultimate outcome for at least several days, probably weeks and could even be months until we know for sure. The good news to all of this is that it is all confined below the knees. During the surgery they also took a look at her left hand and performed a fasciotomy like they did on her legs last week. This was to look at the muscle there. It looked better than the muscle in her legs, but not completely healthy. No debreedment was necessary on her hand muscles, but they will be keeping a close eye on her hands and fingers as well. After the the surgery they did admit her to the Trauma & Burn Center as her legs are more like a burn than anything else and will require daily trips to the "tub" to scrub her legs and re-wrap them. Also, after the surgery her blood pressure was quite low so they needed to give some fluids but was concerned that this would inhibit her oxygen exchange and cause some puffiness again, so instead of administering the hemo-dialysis they decided to hook her back up to the CVVH machine that she was on earlier in the week that is a mild form of dialysis and will be able to keep the fluid off her as they continue to give her fluids. I know this sounds like pouring water into a screen door, but is is waht she needs to get her blood pressure up. When I left her blood pressure had increased significantly. they will probably keep the CVVH on for a few days. They decided that sincer her blood pressure was low and she was really sedated due to the surgery that the vent would stay on until tomorrow. All in all, not the day we were hoping for, however, she does continue to make progress with her lungs, oxygen exchange, and liver function. the slight setbacks today when looking at the big picture were to be expected and are minor compared to getting her legs in the best shape possible and to give them the best chance to survive. I am not discouarged with todays news or outcomes, it is just one small step in a very long journey. I still know without a doubt that Molly is going to be ok and have a full recovery. I have known and felt this confidence and peace since making the decision to send her to U of M. I was very tired today and a little grumpy and the news did not settle with me well at first, but having had a chance to reflect, pray and relax a bit, I am as confident as ever. Keep the prayers coming, I have seen some amazing answers to prayers thus far in this journey and know more and more prayer will continue to be answered. We all have to just keep sending them up! MOLLY'S SPECIFIC PRAYER NEEDS

• Legs - Strong oxygenated blood flow to every cell in her legs, feet and toes to keep further tissue, muscle and skin from dying
• Left hand - Strong oxygenated blood flow to every cell in her hand and fingers to keep further tissue, muscle and skin from dying
• Toes & fingers - the doctor has already indicated that she will loose toes and tips of some fingers, however, God performs amazing miracles and can heal anything, please pray that these become one of his miracles and she doesn't lose any of them
• Right hand - Still very swollen and difficult for her to use, no tissue death on the hand now, pray for continued blood supply and swelling to go down.
• Ventilator - Pray for her to get off the ventilator and do well with her breathing and oxygen exchange so she will not have to go back on.
• Pain management - her legs specifically, but her entire body hurts, and the "tubbing" will be very traumatic and painful as these procedure begin tomorrow.
• Kidney function - Pray for her to get off the CVVH machine asap and back to the Hemo Dialysis and ultimately fully functioning kidneys
• Liver - Her liver is returning to normal, but not there yet, pray for full liver function
• Lungs - continued clearing of her lungs and no lung damage
• Mental health - As she begins to be more aware of her condition and the horrific trauma her body has received due to the bacteria's toxins, she will need time to be angry, sad, depressed, etc, etc, etc. Just pray for comfort and peace of mind.
• ME - I am doing great and am confident, but I do feel myself getting tired earlier each day. Molly is going to need me more as the journey progresses and my strength will become more and more important. Please pray for God to give me all the strength I need to help and support Molly and her dad.

God bless you all, you will never know how comforting the prayers are and how good it feels to know that hundreds of thousands if not millions of people around the world are praying for Molly and her healing.

Thank you all and PRAY HARD!!!