AFTER FIRST SHOWER

WAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You can't believe how good a simple shower can feel, but after nearly 2 months is it beyond words to describe!!! The doctors from Trauma Burn came around this morning to follow up with my legs and said I was cleared to take a shower. Boy did it feel good, it made me feel human again. They also let us know that I will more than likely need another small skin graft on my left leg about the size of a fifty cent piece. We were a little worried that they might do it soon and cause some delay in rehab. However, they truly understand the rehab process, and more importantly what is the overall good for the patient. So, as long as the area does not show any signs of infection (which it has not for over 2 weeks now) they can wait until I am discharged from rehab and then perform the skin graft right before I come home. I am not looking forward to another surgery but I understand the need. Here is something to keep praying about, there is a chance that by waiting the area on my left stump may heal up enough to not need a graft, this is a small chance, but a chance nonetheless. Either way, it will not delay my rehab or my come home date, which we still believe to be 5/14. Yesterday was tough in therapy, but good. I am using muscles I never knew I had and a few that I had forgotten about. But each exercise, stretch, activity, etc. is geared to help me be independent when I get home, and to give me a head start on the continued therapy I will get when back home that will prepare me for my new legs. Well, I am off to a double session of physical therapy, so it is a good thing I updated now as I will probably be too tired to do it afterwards. Jamey has me a little worried as I told him earlier today when he asked if I was sore from yesterday and I said not really. So he is threatening to tell Cindy (my PT) that she needs to work me harder. PLEASE PRAY FOR ME!!!!!!!!! I am afraid I am going to need it! Continued thanks for your prayers and support, you make me feel so very special. Have a blessed day. Love, Molly and Jamey

TUESDAY MORNING

Sorry, I know I said I would update the blog when i got back up to Ann Arbor, however, I think you will all forgive me when I let you know that this update is being done by Molly and I together. Say 'hi' Molly! Molly: "HI!" I just want to say thanks for all the cards, comments, and prayers. I have no doubt it has helped in my recovery. I am counting the days until I am back in Ohio and back home. I can't wait to see you all. Keep praying for Jamey and I as we still have a lot of recovery and rehab before us, but we have made it this far and we are both positive we will make the rest of the journey successfully! This past weekend when Jamey was back home I got to see and spend time with Debby, she brought the kids and her baby sitter from Chicago and spent the weekend with me. We had great time visiting and even had a pizza party with Jordan, Alec, Sharon & Debby and I. It was great to finally have Pizza Hut bread sticks which I was craving. I am blessed to have such a special friend. Love you Debby! Also on Saturday Mike & Betsy stopped and got to watch me do Physical Therapy, lucky them! We had a nice visit as well. I thought I was going to get the weekend off from therapy, but I still had 3-4 hours a day of therapy on Saturday and Sunday. I was glad because it made the days go by fast and kept me moving forward. Monday was a big day as Jamey was back and a full schedule of Therapy with OT, PT, and Hand Clinic. After therapy Jamey and I went to visit the wonderful nurses in the Trauma Burn Unit. It was nice to see them and they were very pleased to see me and said I looked great and it was nice to see me up and about. We also sat down and I got a chance to read more of the blog and catch up on many of the days before I could get to a computer. All in all it was a busy day and I was tired at the end of it, but it was a good tired. I am looking forward to more "good tired" days in the next few weeks. Today, the care plan team will meet and discuss my progress, rehab regimen, and go home date. We will update you all tomorrow what we find out. THINGS TO PRAY FOR:

• Continued Healing of wounds and legs
• Hands to keep getting feeling and use (they are doing good, still a ways to go yet)
• Care Team to keep making good decisions about continued care plan
• Come Home on May 14th

Thanks to all of you for the continued prayers and positive thoughts. Keep them up!

God Bless You All!

Love,

Molly & Jamey

SATURDAY MORNING

I spoke with Molly last evening and it sounds like therapy is going great! She had 6 sessions ranging from 45 minutes to an hour each yesterday. Molly told me that she mentioned a little tingling/hurting in her finger to her hand therapist and the hand therapist got really excited as this is a great sign of nerve regeneration meaning that her hands and fingers are starting to return to normal. We still wont know for a while to what degree, but the hand therapist mentioned during Molly's first session that she expects them to return to complete normal function. One of the sessions Molly had yesterday was with the rehab psychologist. This is done for two reasons, one to allow Molly to talk to someone with no one else around about anything she wants to talk about her illness and recovery, etc. Secondly it allows the psychologist to see how patients are doing emotionally and dealing with their situation. I on the other hand beleive it was for a completely different reason. You see, Molly told me she wore her Ohio State shirt yesterday and I think the rehab team must have thought she had lost her mind! That's my girl, GO BUCKS! The cards, gifts, comments, emails, etc. keep rolling in and we thank each and everyone of you for your thoughts and prayers. SPECIFIC AREAS FOR PRAYER

• HANDS & FINGERS
• MAY 14th - Come Home date
• CONTINUED HEALING OF WOUNDS & STUMPS
• STRENGTH - mental and physical to keep enduring long therapy sessions
• CLARITY - Molly and I keep talking and praying for what will be the best way to share our story to help others.
• REHAB PATIENTS - There are unbelievable stories in the rehab unit of people enduring great illness and injury.

God Bless You All!

Love,

Molly and Jamey

FIRST DAY OF REHAB

Holy Cow!, I am exhausted and all I did was watch the therapy sessions. Molly spent almost 5 hours in therapy on Wednesday, and it went great. She is tired, but a good kind of tired. We then had visitors from Aunt Debby, Uncle Vic & Aunt Becky and then a past student of Molly's Tina & Sajoel came for a visit with gifts. They brought made-rites for both of us and Aunt Debby brought cookies from the Pantry. It was so good to have a taste of home. Then the best news of all came, we have a tentative "come home date" of May 14th. This would be to come all the way home to good ol' Westminster Drive!!! We are both so excited about this. The Social worker said this could be moved up if things go really well, and could be moved back if not, but we belive we will be home on the 14th if not sooner. I came home very late last night and got home after 1am and took Raymond to the Dayton Heart Hospital today, everything went well and we will get the results of his tests in early May, unless something crucial would be seen in the pictures. We do not expect this. I spoke to Molly for a few minutes on the phone this afternoon after Raymond and I got home. She got out of one therapy session because two past patients at U of M came in to speak to current patients. Both of the are miracles just like Molly in that they had very similar illnesses as Molly and have lost limbs and now are back to normal and doing well. She said she wished I had been there, but sadi it was great and sees herself doing very similar things soon. On another sinilar note, I spoke to the regional representative for the ACA (Amputee Coalition of Amercia) who lives in Cincy and said that there is so much support with this "new" family that anything Molly and I need will be there. In fact he shared with me his wife's name and another woman that have similar amputations as Molly's and the one woman is a kindergarten teacher who had a strep A infection and also lost her legs as well as her arms and is back teaching, driving, traveling, etc. etc. etc. He even said that if we wanted they would all drive from Cincy up to Ann Arbor to visit. It is unbeleiveable all the stories, people, resources, etc. out there to help Molly and I as we move into a new chapter of our lives. All this just tells us more and more what her and I will be capable of and how many lives we will be able to touch and help because of what has happened to her. As far as her prosthetics, we are still months away from her being fitted and getting her new legs and then a few more months to get then "dialed" in to fit right and be comfortable and learning how to use them, but we are so close to having all this behind us and moving forward. And on one other positive note, today Molly spent the entire day by herself other than a few short visits from Troy. I know she was apprehensive and a little worried about this, but she did great and I think a great boost to her confidence. Therapy went well again today and she is excited about seeing Debby when she gets there later tonight. It will be good for them to spend several days together and have some "girl talk" without me being around. I will try to continue to post updates on the blog, however, with not being in Ann Arbor and only getting to speak to her for a few minutes each day, they may be infrequent and short until I get back up there on Sunday afternoon. SPECIFIC PRAYER AREAS:

• HANDS and FINGERS!!!
• HEALING OF WOUNDS!!!
• STRENGTH FOR THERAPY
• SPIRITS TO REMAIN HIGH
• TRAVEL for me and all our friends and family visiting

God Bless You All!

Love,

Jamey and Molly

WEDNESDAY MORNING

Rehabilitation here we come! We made it to the Rehab floor early yesterday afternoon. We recieved a short orinetation with more to come today. Molly did not get any therapy as it will all start today as well. The floor is a lot quieter than the TBC, but will take getting a little used too as Molly now has a room mate and a whole new set of nurses and techs. The really cool thing is that our new friend Sally was discharged over the weekend and Molly is in her exact room and bed. Everyone tells us that Sally is so upbeat and positive, it just seems appropriate that Molly would be in the same spot. MOLLY'S NEW ADDRESS: Molly French REHAB A6407-1 University of Michigan Hospital 1500 E. Medical Center Drive Ann Arbor, MI 48109 So, once we were in the room, somewhat settled and orientated, we took off and headed to the courtyard for a while. It was so warm and sunny, it felt good. It was getting to be about dinner time and because of the locatoin change Molly's dinner tray had not arrived yet. In fact, it was more than a locatoin change. Technically, she was completely discharged from the hospital and then re-admitted into the rehab unit. So, due to all this her tray was not ready, but the dietician had given her a "coupon" to eat in the cafeteria in case she did not like the food from the kitchen and to encourage her to eat more. So, we took the "coupon" headed to the cafetereia, which in general has very good food. We had a burger and fries and double noodle chicken soup. It was good, and Molly ate very well. she said it tasted so good. It was nice to get to sit and actually eat together. Did not realize I had missed something so simple as that. We got back to her room and she was getting tired so went back to bed and we watched a little TV. She recieved her schedule for today. She will have four 45minute therapy sessions today with OT & PT. Along with this we will meet the social worker, the rehab psychologist, the recreation therapist, the occupational hand thereapist, the rehab doctors, and probably get an initial visit from a prosthetist. All in all, I do not think Molly will have any trouble getting to sleep tonight, as she has from time to time in the past. Somewhere in all this we will need to eat three meals, a couple of snacks and hopefully do laundry, as there is a day room with washer and dryer for us to use. This is all very exciting and even a little overwhelming, but we are looking forward to rehab and believe that we will only be here for a short time (2-3 weeks) before returning to the land of Scarlet and Gray!!! Lastly regarding visits. Visits are welcomed by all at this time, however, if during the week, plan on coming later in the day after 3pm as from 7:30am - 2:30pm Molly is in the Therapy department and participating in Rehab and will not be able to visit, and probably not even able to see anyone. Weekends are wide open. Come as you please, however, understand the she may be getting a lot of visitors and she does need her rest and will want to spend time with everyone, but not all at the same time. SPECIFIC PRAYER AREAS:

• Hands! Her strength will come, but much of her independence and ability to excel in rehab is linked to her use of her hands.
• Spirits! Keeping our spirits high during rehab will go a long way to its success and getting home quicker.
• Accomodations! First time having a roommate, plus smaller room and does not have the window side, so we are not able to "decorate" like we had in the other rooms, also, hoping to get along with roommate and does not get disturbed at night so Molly can sleep.
• Travel! I am headed home tonight late and will be home through the weekend. Debby is coming over tomorrow and staying through the weekend. Certain family and friends will be traveling this weekend to visit.
• Raymond (Molly's dad)! I am traveling home to take Raymond to the Dayton Heart Hospital for some tests. Pray that they are ok and he will not need any additional procedures, surgeries, or other specific care.

Thank you all again and again for your constant prayers and positive energy being sent our way. We feel it and know it makes a huge difference.

God Bless You All!

Love,

Jamey and Molly

TUESDAY MORNING

Well, unfortunately we did not make it to rehab yesterday. Sunday night Molly had a sleepless night and did not feel real well. The surgeons decided to run some blood work and keep her in TBC for a little while longer to just be sure nothing else was going on, ie: infection, etc. On the good side, the weekend was great with lots of visitors, great weather and Molly got up and out and about a lot the past several days. Last night when she was feeling better we watched the First Grade Musical that Molly missed but was very involved with. Krista (her principal) and Monty came up on Sunday to visit and brought her a DVD of the program. While this is disappointing, we truly understand the decision. We still know that it will happen in the next day or two. Molly did get the opportunity to rest a little throughout the day and by afternoon she was feeling a lot better. Mom and Dad came up for a visit yesterday as well so while Molly slept we went shopping again. The problem with my first shopping trip was that while I was really proud of myself for picking out shorts and shirts that matched, they were all the same outfit only different colors. So Molly looked like she was wearing the same thing each day. OOOPS! Anyway, Mom helped me pick out some things that could go with the other stuff I already got so we can mix and match. the hardest part is knowing that once rehab is over and her wounds are healed completely most if not all the clothes we buy will never be worn again or given away, etc., because we have to get things a little bigger than what she would normally wear to be "baggy" enough to not rub her wounds while wearing them and working in rehab. So, finding something that will be comfortable, somewhat stylish, and relatively inexpensive is not real easy. On to other good news. The feeding tube got to come out last evening. This was not a planned thing, but the tube got clogged, so it was going to have to come out anyway. So, as a patient who is "alert and mentally capable of making decisions" Molly could decide not to have it put back in. Part of the decision is that every discipline except the trauma surgeons have said it is OK to remove. And since she will be going to rehab soon, they will remove the tube anyway, it seemed ridiculous to put it back in for a day or two. So, we left it out, and made a 300 calorie, 6g protein, Chocolate Hot fudge Milk Shake to celebrate and drank almost all of it. Thanks again for all the cards (she received a 2 inch stack yesterday) positive thoughts and especially the prayers. We know that is your faithfullness in keeping us in your thoughts and prayers is what has gotten us to this point so fast. God Bless You All! Love, Jamey and Molly

SUNDAY MORNING

Visitors, visitors and more visitors was the theme for yesterday. It was great, Molly and I enjoyed seeing familiar faces other than each other's. Tammy & Cindy from school came in the early afternoon, then Peg, Keith, Jen and Aaron came in the late afternoon/early evening. It was great to see them all. We also had a few surprise visitors yesterday. Ward from Toastmasters stopped on his way to visit family in Flint. Then friends of a friend's parents who happen to live in Ann Arbor, who we have never met, stopped in just to say 'hi' dropped off some candy and offered help with anything since they are so close by. After everyone had left, Molly and I were tired, but also made us feel so good to know we have such good friends, family and even friends of friends to "just be there for us!" It is an awesome feeling, thank you all! Yesterday also brought another trip outside, occupational therapy, eating, very little medicine, getting into the wheelchair with no assistance, you know, same ol', same ol'! It is so great that these types of things are become the norm and not the exception. Today marks the last day in the Trauma Burn Center, and it is unbelievable the amount of nurses, therapists, doctors, techs, etc. that have stopped by to say goodbye already because they know they will off for the next day or so and want to say goodbye before we leave. Some of them never even had Molly, but just know her/us from the unit. They almost all say the same thing, "We are kinda sad to see you go, but glad and happy to see you go." Our response has been "Don't take this the wrong way, but we don't want to see you anymore either." We have become so attached to many of the nurses and doc's, it will sad to not see them anymore, they are truly a very special group of folks who have an incredibly difficult and sometime unpleasant job. We thank God for each and everyone of them. Molly and I have been discussing short, intermediate, and long term goals for her rehab and us in general. We are excited and looking forward to rehab and what life is going to bring us, yet nervous and anxious at the same time. The more we talk about it, the more clear we are that we can help a lot of people on many different levels by sharing our story. It all seems overwhelming at times, but exciting as well. We see so many possibilities with a book or even books, opportunities to speak about prayer, trauma, amputees, team building, how to get involved with your loved ones health care, how to talk to doctors, and for all my Toastmasters friends out there, I have truly seen and experienced what Toastmasters is all about. Not to make this a commercial, but anyone wanting to know more about Toastmasters go to www.toastmasters.org or feel free to email me at jameyandmolly@gmail.com. Molly and I have a lot of work to do, not just in rehab, but in getting back to normal and preparing our message for so many. It is amazing how God prepares us for things without us even knowing it at the time. But when we stop and think about all the things that have happened in the last few weeks and what our new definition of 'normal' is going to be, and how the many things that her and I have done in our lives as well as the lives of so many that have played a huge role in saving Molly's life and aiding in her recovery and now rehab is truly beyond explanation. I love this next part so much as Molly and I believe this has played a huge role in her recovering so quickly! SPECIFIC PRAYER NEEDS

• HANDS & FINGERS!!!
• WOUND & GRAFT HEALING!!!
• STRENGTH (Physical and Mental)!!!
• WISDOM & CLARITY!!!
• All the nurses, doctors, therapists, techs, etc. in the Trauma Burn Center and the SICU that played a huge role in Molly's recover
• All of our friends and family and all of our new friends for their support, prayers, visits, comments, cards, gifts, etc. You all are truly special to us.

God Bless You All!!!

Next Blog will be from 6A (our new home for the next few week) Rehab. We are sure that if they are a half as good as the rest of this amazing facility that they will be a cut above anyone else out there!

Love,

Molly & Jamey

SATURDAY

REMINDER OF EMAIL ADDRESS: jameyandmolly@gmail.com REMINDER OF HISTORY OF MOLLY'S JOURNEY: www.mfrenchtrek.blogspot.com We finally said goodbye once and for all to the dialysis unit. Molly had to make one last trip to the dialysis unit to have the catheter they used for access to do dialysis treatments removed. with it gone, we are officially done with dialysis. Other great news is that she does not need finger sticks anymore to check her sugar levels will not need blood drawn as frequently, probably only every few days. This is all indication that her body is very close to functioning normally again. They still have to do all the vital sign checks every 6-8 hours. when they stop in to do that I turn on the monitor, place the pulseox on her finger, hand them the BP cuff and hit the button to pump up and take the BP. The fact that I am able to do this in truly the indication that Molly is OK. the nurses only do it now because they have to prove with documentation they are still taking care of Molly. In addition, she is only on 3-5 medications now and this includes her vitamins and supplements. She does not even take any pain meds during the dressing changes. Yesterday she spent an hour with PT, and an hour with OT. Then her and I sat outside for about an hour. She is able to transfer herself from wheelchair to bed and vice versa completely on her own and getting stronger all over and more use of her hands. Her wounds continue to heal and the grafts look great! We were informed last night that she will move to rehab for sure on Monday and then the real hard work will begin. We are both looking forward to that. We have lots of friends and family stopping by this weekend, so will be a good weekend but busy. She is looking forward to seeing everyone. SPECIFIC THINGS TO PRAY FOR:

• HANDS & FINGERS!!! Once she gets more use of her hands and fingers she will not be as bored and will feel more normal again as she will be able to provide a lot of her own care, hold a book and turn pages so she can read, write, use the computer, etc.
• HEALING OF WOUNDS!!! Her wounds look great, but still have a long way to go, once healed she will be able to do a lot more without concern of injuring them, etc
• SPIRITS!!! Hers and mine. Some of the reality of everything is becoming more and more evident as we begin thinking about getting home and all the normal things we take for granted that will be impacted.

God and all of your continued prayers and positive thoughts have gotten us this far and we have no doubt they will get us all the way home and beyond. THANK YOU!

God Bless you all,

Love,

Jamey and Molly

FRIDAY MORNING

So long, farewell, Auf wiedersehen, good night, that is what the kidney doctors popped in last night to tell us. They stopped by to simply tell us goodbye that she did not need them anymore. Her Creatine levels continue to drop from 1.6 to 1.2. Normal is less than 1, but they are more concerned with the numbers staying level and that fact that they did for several days and are now dropping even more is a great sign, so the access catherter for them to do the dialysis will be coming out today and NO MORE DIALYSIS!!! Another answered prayer. Rehab will start on Monday as the rehab department did not have a bed available yesterday and they do not normally do admissions on Fridays, as the patient would come in and would not do much over the weekend anyway. So Monday it is. Yesterday, Molly got dressed again, transfered to the wheelchair all on her own, went to Physical Therapy for almost an hour and did a great job, doing most of the exercises on her own with little or no assistance. We then went to the rehab floor and met Sally. Sally went through a very similar illness as Molly 2 years ago and lost both her legs below the knee. She was in the reahb center because she had had some issues with her one leg and was needing some additional sugery and to be refitted for her prosthtic. We talked with her for about 45 minutes and really helped Molly and I to truly see that "normal" will once again be part of our lives. We exchanged emails and phone numbers with Sally and she told Molly to call anytime for support, vent, just to chat, etc.. What a blessing Sally and others like her will be in the coming months. We then went outside for a long time, ate, and then went back to the room. Occupational Therapy came in and worked with her hands and fingers and of course Molly did great! The therapists really beleive that Molly will only be in rehab for a short time, and could possibly go straight home after rehab here instead of finding another facility. We will know more come Monday when we meet with the entire rehab team and talk about goals and timeframes, but coming home within the next few weeks seems like a real possibility. Of course that does mean the "real work" will begin, as we begin our new life together without nurses, doctors, therapists, etc. But we are both looking forward to it. SPECIFIC PRAYERS NEEDED

• Rehab goes well and we can come straight home after that
• Healing of wounds and stumps so prosthetics can be fitted and we can begin that journey
• Spirit, for both of us as the reality of everything will become more and more real as we enter back into 'normal' life
• Sally, our new friend as she is moving into an apartment on her own that has stairs and she needs to rehab again after having additional surgery.

God Bless you all, and thanks again for all the support, gifts, cards, and especially the prayers. They do indeed work and are answered!

Love,

Jamey and Molly

THURSDAY MORNING

Good Morning, let me correct that, GREAT Morning! The wound team make their rounds starting at 8am on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Yesterday was the 5th day since Molly's skin grafts and was the day the dressing came off for the first time to see how they were doing. I got tied up in some traffic and did not make it to Molly's room until about 10 minutes after 8, and of course the team started with Molly. They were all filing out as I walked in. But just like everyone else and everyting else at this facility, Dr. Kozlo and Dr. Wahl looked at the team and said, "lets glove back up and do it again for Jamey." This speaks volumes as to the type of people this healthcare team really is. And of course she said it with a smile and then of course had to tease me a bit about being late. They jsut make you feel at home and truly a part of the team. Anyway, the results of the wound rounds were great. The skin grafts look awesome, they are stuck really well with only two small quarter size areas needing some extra attention over the next few days/weeks. There is an outside chance these areas could still need some grafting, but if they do it will be very quick and easy and these spots will not hinder any progression with rehab. Speaking of rehab, some of the rehab team was in yesterday, but I was out buying clothes, so I missed them, but they introduced themselves to Molly and indicated there was a good chance she could move to rehab as early as today! I can hear you all now, Jamey was out buying clothes instead of at the hospital with Molly. Let me explain myself. I brought some clothes up for her to wear, and she did get to put them on yesterday. However, due to the wounds still healing, and her loss of flexibility the therapists thought it would be best to get some bigger more baggy clothes until the wounds are gone and the flexibility is back. So, I was "rehab clothes" shopping at Wal-mart. I used the Walmart gifts cards we recieved, these came in very handy. Speaking of the clothes, it was funny when they asked me what shirt for her to wear, so i pulled out a OSU Tshirt of Molly's. You should of heard them, but unfortunately it was going to be to small, I'm not so sure, i think they were just refusing to put it on. Anyway, they went and got Molly a Tramua/Burn T-shirt for her to wear and keep. This was fine except they have a big 'M' on the front and they said the only color left (they come in pink, red, green, yellow, etc.) was dark blue with Yellow print. Of course my comment was, makes sense that would be the only color left as know one would want them. On the more important and serious side, Molly looked great in regular clothes and more importantly she said it felt good to have clothes on. i can't imagine not wearing clothes for over 6 weeks. She put the clothes on mostly by herself, went to therapy and did pretty good. Still needs some assistance, but did great. Within a few days of intense rehab, she should be doing all the "getting ready in the morning" stuff all by herself. The therapists goals for Molly are to have her "modified independent" which means that she will ultimately be able to do everything for herself by herself and may only require some "modified" tools to help. For instance prosthetics and a wheelchair would be considered "modifications." In addtion to these exciting things, we went outside yesterday for almost an hour, people watched in the main concourse of the hospital while we had something to drink and went to Occupational Therapy for about an hour. It was a big day for her and I. While we were outside, we walked all around the hospital and got to see all the buildings from the outside as we walked up and down the sidewalks, who knew their were so many hills in Michigan. I got my work out too. In store for today, blood work early to determine if dialysis will be needed or not, Molly and I both beleive dialysis is behind us, but the blood work will tell the tale. Have half or more of the staples removed as they do dressing changes on her wounds. Get up and gete dressed again, work out in the Physical Thereapy Gym and then go to Occupational Therapy, and possibly move to the Rehab Center. In between times, eat as much as we can, get outside again, and catch a nap or two. The days are getting more and more activity filled, this is good, but tiring at the same time. SPECIFIC THINGS TO PRAY FOR

• NO MORE DIALYSIS
• Continued healing of wounds and grafts
• Get moved to Rehab
• Quick return o function and use of hands and fingers
• Able to find a suitable facility close to home (I will be working with the rehab team here to determine what a facility close to home will need and offers, then start making phone calls)
• Strength (physical and mental) to get us over the next several weeks/months. While it has been long and hard up till this point, the next few weeks will be some of the hardest.

God Bless You All!

Love,

Jamey and Molly

WEDNESDAY'S QUIZ

To start today's posting I am going to give you all a short quiz:

1. Who, at the last minute) did NOT have to have dialysis yesterday?
2. Who, for the second time in two days, spent over an hour in Physical Therapy yesterday?
3. Who, for the first time since being sick, spoke to her dad on the phone last night?

If you answered anyone but Molly, then you are either on the wrong blog, or in need of serious consultation (feel free to contact me separately and I can hook you up with some good health care folks, it will however, require a short drive to Ann Arbor)

Molly had a great day yesterday. It all started when i arrived around 9am to pick up her breakfast tray to take it to her in the dialysis unit, and she was still in her room. I at first thought something was wrong or they had forgotten her, but she told me, in her yet stronger almost normal voice, that they ran blood work first thing in the morning and said her Creatine levels are stable and she did not need to go to dialysis. Her level was at 1.6, anything under 1 being "normal" but more important than the level is its stability and she was at 1.6 on Monday and Sunday. So no dialysis. Later in the day Dr. Heung, one of the nephrologists (kidney doctor) came in and was very excited and pleased. He said they would continue to monitor her blood levels each day and would make a decision each day about dialysis based on that. He did say though that because of how quickly her numbers and output leveled out over the past few days that he believes we are done with dialysis and her kidneys are functioning almost normally again. YEAH!!!

Molly also went to the one of the therapy rooms and spent an hour with Sophie the physical therapist on sitting up, stretching, transferring from bed to chair, etc. She did great! Needed a fair amount of assistance to do most of these things, but was able to do them all. and Sophie was very excited and pleased with how well she could do everything. Molly has a long way to go to regain her strength and flexibility and to relearn how to do somethings, but she is motivated as am I and the therapist is certain everything will come back, and come back quickly.

In addition to the physical therapy, Molly had a long visit from Terry in Occupational Therapy. this was done in her room, but did a lot of exercises and activities. Including a visit from Carol the "Occupational Hand Therapist", (how specialized is that?) to re-design some splints for her hands and to determine some overall function. Carol's department is right next to the rehab center and has scheduled Molly to come to the Hand Therapy department each day after she completes the intense rehab each day. This will be for both hands as the left had the amputations of the index finger and half the thumb. Also for the right hand as it is very weak and she has lost a lot of function with it due to the compartment syndrome and many weeks of non-use. Carol said her hand function will come back and they have a lot to work with, it will just take some time and hard work.

In addition to all this, the dietitian was in and felt that if Molly can up her protein intake daily that she would make a recommendation to the doctors to discontinue the Dobbhoff tube (feeding tube). Although that may still be a few days as she still needs the extremely high calorie count to help with the wound healing. But should be very soon to get rid of the tube.

Well, today is the big day, as the dressings come off today to let the doc's and surgeons take a look at the skin grafts and the donor site. If all looks good, we will be looking at just a few more days in the Trauma Burn Unit and then on to Rehab. Her wounds, other than the grafts and donor sight now only require daily cocoa butter. My guess will be that within a day or two her graft and donor site will only need cocoa butter as well. Then will be the big move.

Once in rehab she will be assigned several therapist that all specialize in different areas. They will each see her 2X per day for approximately for an hour each time. There will be very few breaks during the day because every single thing she will do will be turned into a therapy session. Then once that is all over she will see the hand specialist for an hour. This will require a lot of strength, courage, pain tolerance, stamina, and mental strength as many of the things they will be having Molly do were once second nature and required no thought, and now those same things will require a lot of energy and thought to even attempt. But if anyone can do it it will be Molly, and I am sure she will excel and will impress the therapists the same way she has impressed all the doctors and nurses in the other units thus far.

SPECIFIC PRAYER NEEDS

• NO MORE DIALYSIS, NO MORE DIALYSIS, NO MORE DIALYSIS
• Get the wounds healed so she can reduce her calorie intake and get the feeding tube out.
• Hand function so she can start doing more things on her own
• Physical strength to endure rehab
• Mental strength to endure rehab as well as the continue to endure her recovery and being away from home. Being away from home is beginning to wear at both of us.
• Nurses and doctors in trauma burn (the unit has been on lock-down, because a new patient was admitted due to a brutal assault and the assailant has not been caught. This puts the staff on edge.)

Molly and I continue to thank God each day for all of you and your support. I know I say this about everyday, but there is no way to fully express our thanks for the thoughts, prayers, cards, comments, emails, gifts, support. Each and everyone is felt and appreciated. Thank You!

God Bless you,

Love,

Molly and Jamey

TUESDAY MORNING

I was looking back at all the blog postings over the last several weeks and I was seeing a pattern, I started many of the blogs with "Molly had a great day" so in the spirit of not repeating myself, "Molly had a great weekend!" I hope it is not because I wasn't here, but she did have a great weekend with many visitors from friends and family. She enjoyed all the visits and really lifted her spirits. I hear that dialysis went really well on Saturday morning, and that yesteday, Monday she went and visited the rehab room and did very well. She ate quite a bit yesterday, did therapy had some milkshakes, had "MOMBO" rounds, etc., etc., etc.. It was a big weekend and a big day for her, but she was feeling great last evening when I left around 11pm. She told me that it felt good to be tired from doing stuff instead of being tired from being sick. Just as a reminder to everyone and to new visitors to Molly's Blog, you can reach us directly at: jameyandmolly@gmail.com and for anyone wanting to read about the history of Molly's illness you can read about it at: www.mfrenchtrek.blogspot.com Anyway, we are looking forward to a great week. Her kidneys continue to show signs of waking up, enough in fact that up until last evening the kidney doctors were considering not sending her to dialysis this morning, however, they did decide to send her. The good thing is that she did so well Saturday that today should go well. Also, since her kidneys are functioning somewhat and at least getting rid of fluid, when they run dialysis they should not have to take off any fluid and just simply filter her blood. The other good thing is that since they were still debating whether or not to send her today and this was after three days since her last treatment means that each session will be more as and when needed instead of going just because it is scheduled. Hopefully, by the end of this week we will be at a point where she will not need dialysis anymore. Tomorrow during wound rounds they will take her dressings down and look at her grafts. If they look as everyone expects them to look, her dressing changes will be very light from that point on, requiring only light sedation and pain management. Her other wounds sites look great from what I could see last night and now only requiring cocoa butter. (of course when I say only cocoa butter, it is a special cocoa butter with lots of other good stuff in it) but this is good as the wounds do not need to be wrapped, and have all the scrubbing and specialized ointments and creams to be applied. In fact, last evening as I was walking in i ran into one of the chief's and the attending trauma surgeon and they both told me before I even saw Molly, that she was doing great and that by the end of this week or the first of next week for sure she will be moved off the Trauma/Burn unit and to the Inhouse Acute Rehab Unit. WOOOOOHOOOOOO! Once in rehab she will get 5-7 hours of therapy everyday. In fact, every activity she does from the time she gets up in the morning until the time she goes to bed will involve therapy. I have know doubt that if the rehab center follows the same level of quality as the rest of the U of M Hospital does as well as the team approach her rehab will be amazing! She is looking forward to it, as am I. A few weeks of rehab here we will be ready to search out an inpatient, rehab center closer to home for a few weeks. What a great day that will be!!!! We continue to be amazed at the all the cards, comments, emails, phone calls, visits, etc, . we continue to recieve and all the gifts of money, gift cards, etc. Molly and I were talking about it last night about how special all these are to us and no way for us to every properly say 'thank you' enough and share how much they are all appreciated. We still beleive the best way we can express our thanks and appreciation is to use our experience in a manner that helps others both emotionally and financially by spreading the word, helping to educate (families, victims, community at large, and even healthcare workers and physicians) raise money, etc. As for me, I had a good weekend and got caught up on my rest on Saturday and got all my errands, etc. done on Sunday & Monday. It feels good to get home and get things done, but it felt good coming back to Michigan (Wow, those are words I would have never expected to say). But it was nice to see Molly, because after 3 full days, I missed her and couldn't wait to get back to see her, see how she was doing, and to see how her weekend went. It is very cool to see the little changes and improvements she makes each day and I am in awe when you see them added up all at once. SPECIFIC AREAS TO PRAY FOR

• Kidneys to continue to improve and to get off dialysis
• Wounds to heal so she can get to rehab this week
• Rehab to go well so we can get back to OHIO in a few weeks
• Wisdom to ask the right questions as we look for a place for her to get rehab closer to home
• Strength, courage and wisdom as we begin to look at how we want to help others and to spread the word.
• Travel mercies for all the friends and family coming up to see Molly
• Trauma/Burn nurses working this week. They have several very difficult cases this week, both from the illness/injury perspective, but also from the patient and their family as well.

Thanks again for all the prayers and positive thoughts, keep them coming!

God Bless each of you today,

Love,

Molly and Jamey

SATURDAY EVENING

I left Ann Arbor on Friday afternoon after Molly returned to her room form skin graft surgery. She was in a little pain form the donor site (the area the surgeon took good skin to use for the graft). That and being wore out she was feeling pretty good. The surgeon talked to us and said he was very pleased with the grafts. He said there might be a few small areas that may need to cleaning up later on, and possibly some small grafts, but these will not interfer with rehab. Molly will need to remain in bed and keep her legs immobolized for 5 days. On Wednesday they will take down her dressings and look at the grafts. He expects them to be in good shape and get her back to regular dressing changes and activity. Knowing this and seeing that she was doing well I left for Greenville. Mom & Dad and Aunt Marty stayed. Well, I got home on Friday afternoon and the first thing I did was don the colors (Scarlet & Gray). Unpacked, started laundry, sorted mail, played with the dog. Then I looked for the cat and couldn't find him, after 15 minutes or so, he strools out from his hiding place and does a double take at me, and looked at me as to say "Oh, your back, I need a nap" and that is exactly what he did. I am glad to see that Molly and I being gone has not effected him at all. Today, I heard from Mom & Dad on their way home and they said Molly had a good day today. She ate during dialysis and said the food tasted good. She got along well with dialysis and then ate lunch (chicken and noodles Mom took up) and said it tasted good. Her pain was under control and therapy worked with her arms, hands and fingers for about 30 minutes. Then my aunt Marty called and let me talk to Molly a little. She sounded good with her voice coming back even more. She said dialysis went good and she did not feel bad afterwards at all. In fact, during dialysis, one of the nephrologists (kidney doctor) stopped by and said she was doing great and her kidneys are definately starting to work and that in the next few days they will monitor her very closely, (kidney output, blood levels, etc) and come Tuesday for her next scheduled dialysis treatment, they may be ready to take her off the dialysis treatments and do them just as needed. This is great news. With her making such great progress in all areas, once the dressings come off on Wednesday, the hope will be that within a few days of that she will be moved to the inpatient acute rehab center for a couple weeks, then back to the Buckeye State. WoooHooo! Not being in Ann Arbor for the next 2 days, I may not update the blog until Monday evening or Tuesday, so if you don't see an update for a couple days don't get too worried. SPECIFIC PRAYER AREAS

• Kidneys continue to do their job so she will not need dialysis anymore
• Keep eating well so she can get the feeding tube out for good soon
• Healing of grafts and donor sites, so she can get to rehab
• Travel safety for friends and family, many will be traveling over the next few weeks.

God Bless you all,

Love,

Jamey & Molly

FRIDAY MORNING

This will be a quick posting until later today or tomorrow morning. Molly is heading to surgery this morning to graft her stumps. The surgeon was in early and said they looked great and she was ready to get them grafted. Her surgery will last about 1 1/2 then post op, etc. She is going to surgery @ 10:30am. Here is the great news, this could very well be her last surgery, and after the 3-5 days of keeping them wrapped and laying still in bed, the dressings will come off and should only need light wound care to the grafts on the stumps, continued cocoa butter only to the other sites, and normal care to the new donor sites (which, if they are like the previous, will hurt more than the other sites and will feel like a real bad rug burn) for a few days. After that, she will be ready for rehab. We could possibly be looking at starting rehab at the end of next week or the beginning of the week after. On other news, her kidneys continue to show good progress. She still needs dialysis, but mayber for not that much longer. I will update you all on the kidney's progress in the next post. SPECIFIC PRAYERS

• Successful surgery and for the grafts to take completely
• No more than 3-5 days are needed to be in bed and still
• Start rehab in 7-10 days.
• Kidneys
• Travel, I am headed home after surgery, mom & dad, aunt Marty & Ashley are here this weekend, as are some school friends on Sunday.

God Bless you all,

Love, Jamey and Molly

THURSDAY MORNING

I don't even know where to start, Molly had what I beleive to be her best day yet. She felt good, looked good, and everything about her day was awesome! I got to the hospital around 10am yesterday and the first thing I noticed was her feeding tube was removed! YEAH!!! But before we all get to excited, late last nigth around 11pm they did decide that the tube did need to go back in. After reviewing her calorie intake the best decision was to insert the tube again. Molly ate great, but there is no way she can eat enough to get the 3,500 - 5,000 calories per day they would like her to eat to aid in the healing of her wounds, stumps and skin. So, until her calorie count does not need to be as high, and she can start eating more and supplementing it with "power" shakes etc, the tube will need to remain. We talked about it and she understands and is truly OK with it, it is a little frustrating and I can't even imagine how annoying it has to be to her, but I know she will get along fine with it. Her and I talked and her/our goal is to get it back out by this time next week. Again, I can't imagine what it is like, I can't even brush my teeth without gagging myself. Molly's dressing changes took longer yesterday than normal because they put suction vac's on her stumps. These are rough sponges placed on each stump and then wrapped in what looks like seran wrap and attached to a pump that provides suction. These then slowly "scrub" the ends of her stumps and suctions away any fluid, dead skin, etc. from her stumps. they also help to "form" the stump. These are a little painful so her pain meds have been increased slightly. They are painful because of the suction being constant, and it is a little like having a brilo pad constantly rubbed against an open sore. I know, I grimmaced as I wrote it, but that is what it is like, and she said that once they are in place they are not too bad. I got to see her wounds and stumps yesterday while they were down and in my "vast medical opinion" they looked great. So much in fact the the right leg, besides the stump, is now just getting cocoa butter cream (with lots of healthy other stuff like vitamin E, etc) without any dressings. So no more sticky yellow cloth patches, wrapped tightly in steril guaze, etc. The left leg is probably not far behind to start receiving the same care. My guess is within a few days, the only care with dressings will be her stumps, and the surgeon said that they could possibly do graft on them as early as this Friday. If not, they will vac her stumps over the weekend and take a look at them on Monday. Jerry (Mollys uncle), Karen (Molly's cousin) & Olivia (Karen's daughter) came for a visit yesterday and it was a great visit, Molly was so glad to see them as was I. They got here at a perfect time, as the dressing changes were over, Molly's sedation had been removed and subsided, she had eaten, gotten up in the chair and was ready to just sit and visit without any interuptions. It was great for them to see her this way (the last time they saw her she was still in the SICU) as she does not remember their last visit. It was great for her as well as she could truly enjoy their visit. Now on to what is in my opinion the biggest news of the day, Molly may disagree, but really when you stop to think about it, this is much more important than anything else. She got another huge stack of cards, but did not feel like opening them right away, so me being nosey I looked at the return addresses to at least see who they were from. One was from the Woody Hayes Football Center in Columbus, Ohio. I made her open that one. It was a very short, but very nice post card stating that they had heard of a fellow Buckeye facing challenge and wished her the best and a quick return to the Buckeye State. Signed by the head Buckey himself, Coach Jim Tressel. Now, what I find to be the truly amazing part is that it actually made it to Molly and did not mysteriously get lost in the mail room. So, we are not sure how Coach got the news about Molly, but thank you to whoever out there that made it possible. I know Molly appreciated it, but it REALLY lifted my spirits. GO BUCKS! As I stop to think about the enormous amount of cards, comments and email we recieve, (my appologies for not answering all our email) and all the connections out there, like the one above, but also with the New England Patriots, NASCAR, Buckeyes, and a lot of other professional sports, possibly with folks like Oprah, and other personalities and just as important the millions of people around the world that are now aware of Molly's journey. With this kind of support and publicity there is no doubt in my mind as well as Molly's that truly millions of dollars can be raised so we can bring education and awareness to the public and hopefully the health care world about the importance of taking an active role in your own health care, especially since a 10 minute test that costs very very little can make a huge difference. Molly and I continue to struggle with "why" this has happened, especially when it could have been so easily prevented, but we also get excited when we think about the possibilities out there and how we have been given an opportuinty to help so many people. SPECIFIC PRAYER NEEDS

• Kidneys still, they are coming around, but not quite there yet
• Skin and wound healing. Getting closer by the day, but still a ways to go
• Feeding tube to be removed, once the wounds heal she will not require as many calories, as well as as her appeite comes back she can eat more (hopefully very very soon)
• Voice, getting stronger, just not quite there yet
• Spirits (hers and mine)
• Travel for family and friends & me (going home this weekend, I have to do taxes, Uncle Sam still needs his payday I guess)
• Raymond ( Molly's dad) Keep his spirits up as well
• Paula and Bennie (Molly's cousins) each of them facing some possible health issues

God Bless you all, you are all such a comfort and blessing to Molly and I. Thanks for all you have done and continue to do.

Love,

Jamey & Molly.

Contact Information

I am reminded regularly (which to anyone that knows me, is not surprised that I need constant supervision and constant reminders, and with Molly not able to be my brain right now, she will be happy to know that many of you have picked up the ball in this regard) to post contact information more often. Leave Molly & I direct emails at: jameyandmolly@gmail.com See the entire history of Molly's journey at: mfrenchtrek@blogspot.com Send cards (no flowers) to Molly at: University of Michigan Hospital Trauma Burn Center 1500 East Medical Center Drive Ann Arbor, MI 48105

T O D A Y ' S P O S T I S B E L O W

WEDNESDAY MORNING

Well, yesterday was just as expected, crummy. I am not sure which is worse, having a bad day unexpectedly, or knowing in advance that you will have a bad day. Yesterday was the latter, as we knew Molly would have dialysis early in the morning and then go to the operating room afterwards. It worked out well in that she did go directly from the dialysis unit to pre-op. However she left her room at 6:45 am and did not get back to bed until 3:45pm. It was a loooong day for her and saying she was exhausted would be an understatement. On the bright side, dialysis did wear her out, but she is tolerating it better and did not get dizzy and get to feeling bad while it was going on. Of course having to get up that early would be enough to make you feel bad regardless. Then, she went to the OR and that went well also. The surgeon told me that he was very pleased with what he saw on her stumps and used what he called a giant water pic to get the old "scabby" stuff off. It also is a way to "shape" her stumps so they will better able to be fitted for the prosthetics. He indicated that their is a chance that they could do the skin grafts on her stumps this Friday, if not, then next week. He also said the rest of her legs, the grafts, donor sights, etc. look great. Onward and upward. Eating seems to be going ok at this point, but she definatley needs to eat more. The bad part is that they keep telling her "eat so you can get that tube out, but do not eat right now because you have 'this or that' procedure coming up." This gets frustrating for her, but the good news is that her calorie counts do keep coming up when they let her eat, so hopefully the tube will be out soon. Possibly sooner than expected as it got clogged last night and her nursee was using all kinds of tricks of the trade to get it unclogged, like using hot coffee, lots of constant pressure, even Coke. If these tricks do not work they will have to take the tube out. I have requested the doctors come in and talk to us before they put a new one in. Hopefully, if they have to take it out, we can keep it out for a few days to see how she does. My guess is that if she knows she has to eat or thetube goes back in, also, if not being fed she will feel hungry, and not having a tube down your throat would make eating more enjoyable, that she will be able to eat enough to keep it out. So, I am not sure if we should pray to get the tube uncloggged, or for it to stay clogged and have them take it out and see how she does without it. The biggest thing to pray for right now as I see it with my "vast medical knowledge" is for her kidneys. I see each time she goes to dialysis she looses a little ground to feeling bad. It effects her eating, her strength, her therapy, her overall spirits, even her next day does not always go that well as she is still zapped of strength. So, I believe that if she could get off the dialysis completely she would make even more amazing progress. Besides, being a man and I want to be able to "fix" stuff, I feel helpless because she feels so bad that there is nothing for me to "fix" so I have to just let her "feel bad." I think all the other stuff will fall into line much quicker if she could get off dialysis. We have lots of visitors planned to come see Molly today, and later this week and over the weekend. She is looking forward to seeing everyone and I know this will help to keep her spirits high. There is no doubt in my mind that her positive attitude and spirit is playing a big part in her quick progress. Even on the bad days, we talk a lot about the good day we will have the next day, and how close we are to rehab and getting back to Ohio. This always helps to make the bad days a little more tolerable. We continue to be amazed at the number of cards, emails, voice mails, blog comments, etc. that you all send our way. That along with the continued prayers and positive thoughts help more than you could ever imagine. The gifts, gas cards, gift cards, $$, etc. overwhelm us at times, and we are truly grateful. It is because of all these things that we know God directing each of you to do, say, or send the right thing at the right time to help us. It is also because of all this that we know more certain each day that God has something really big planned for Molly & I, and whatever it ultimatley is, each of you have a big part in it. SPECIFIC THINGS TO PRAY FOR

• Kidneys, kidneys, kidneys (oops, she only has two) The sooner they start working normally, the sooner she can get off dialysis, and the quicker the rest of her recovery/rehab will be.
• Continued healing of her legs so they can be grafted and get her to acute rehab
• Fingers, hands and arms. Strength and functionality so she can continue to refine her motor skills to do the normal things we all take for granted
• Voice, continues to get stronger, but not there yet, and everyday "down" day sets the voice back a little as well
• Spirits, to keep them high as they are best medicine on the "bad" days
• Me, I feel myself getting tired at times and not as motivated as I need to be to stay an active cheerleader and a part of Molly's healthcare team with the doctors, nurses, therapists, etc, and to ask the right questions and make proper suggestions for her care.
• Travel mercies. Lots of family and friends on the road this week, weekend and next week.
• Raymond (Molly's dad) He is staying strong, but he really misses Molly and the trip up here is very hard on him, so he probably will not see her until we get her back to Ohio.
• Raymond agian for his health. He and I are going to see his doctor on Friday for a consultation regarding the results about his recent cardiology tests.

Thanks agian for all you all do! You will never know how much it means to Molly & I. God Bless each of you!

Love,

Jamey & Molly

TUESADAY MORNING

What a great day yesterday! I don't even know where to start. Molly's day started very early with the wound team waking her up around 4:30am to begin dressing changes. Then the Grand rounds took place, then the wound rounds, then she went to radiology for a chest xray (standard procedure for people recovering from ARDS), in fact they now come get her and take her to wherever she needs to go, because she is "floor" status and can transport to these places instead of them bringing the portable equipment to her room. From then she had a little lunch which she ate pretty well. With lunch she had apple juice and she said that it was the first thing she had eaten/drank that actually tasted the way it is supposed to. Speaking of eating, the therapist was in and had Molly start to use the utensils to eat with. This will be slow and frustrating for her, but a step in helping her get stronger and feel more normal. Because of this and her able to eat food that required lots of chewing, she was also put on a regular diet and not the pureed soft stuff. While the food at the hospital is pretty good, (not great) any food that is pureed simply can't be good! So, this should go a long way in getting her to eating more. After eating, the thereapists (3) had her sit up in bed on her own and balance herself. she did great. then they had her transfer into the wheelchair from the bed and she did it mostly on her own, just with some assistance and them steadying her. Once in the wheelchair we were off for almost two hours. we went outside (it was gorgeous) and walked all around the courtyards (you can imagine how big they are with 5 hospitals, three floor clinical center, hotel, medical school, administration, etc.) We went into the Cardiovascular Hospital from the outside into the big atrium with seats and benches, water falls, and tropical trees and plants. There is a heart healthy cafe called the "atrium" (I thought this was clever if not funny). We shared a 4-berry fruit smoothie. It was really good. By this time Molly was starting to get a little tired and we headed back to the room. Once back in the room she got back into bed rested and had a lot of visitors. Phlebotomy, nutritionist, nephrology, surgical (you know, all the people in your life you want to see, haha) Anyway they all had did their thing, gave us updates, etc. The phlebotomist drew some blood and felt Molly was a little anemic which is not uncommon given everything she has been through and may account a little bit for her not feeling well on Sunday and feeling so drained. In fact she said that if her or I had a blood count like Molly's we would probably not even get up, but Molly has basically got used to feeling bad and tired, so it seems normal to her. Because of this they did decide to give her a unit of blood lat night. The nutritionist stopped by to give us really good news and that is that with Molly's calorie count intake that she was going to suggest removing the feeding tube, but since Sunday was not a good day with eating, she recommends keeping it in a few more days. This is great news as this means that Molly is getting close to eating enough to sustain herself without the need for the tube feeding. Plus, when the tube is gone she will feel more like eating because there will be no tube down her throat, and she will feel hungrier more often. So, should see the tube gone in the next few days. The nephrologist (kidney doctor) indicated that her kidney output continues to look good. We discussed doing nocturnal dialysis which means that she would go for 6 hours to the dialysis unit and have the dialysis done three times per week while she hopefully sleeps. This may be a great option once we hit rehab, providing she is still needing dialysis then. The big concerns would be if she could truly sleep, if she can, then we wont lose a day of rehab to feeling bad due to dialysis. The down side would be if she cannot sleep then she not only feels bad, but has no sleep. We are still thinking about it and may give it a try later this week or next week. But the good news is that her kidneys continue to show signs of waking up and getting closer to normal output. Last night output was 600cc's. along with this, Molly is starting to have more sensation like she needs to go, which is also a great sign. I continue to be amazed at how excited we and especially the nurses and doctors get about pee! What an odd and sick profession the medical profession is! (That must be why I like and get along with them so well.) The surgeons stopped by then and thought that Molly would benefit from a quick trip to the OR for a little debreedment of her stumps. The skin grafts on her thighs and the donor sites look great. 60% of her stumps look great, with the other 40% looking good, but would benefit from a "good scrubbing." While this could be done at the bedside, the surgeons felt it would be easier on Molly and them to make a quick trip to the OR to do it. This will be done later today. Again, working as a true team and making sure we are an important part of that team, they felt it was best to give Molly one big day of feeling bad instead of two. Meaning that the surgeons talked to dialysis and had them schedule Molly early in day today for dialysis, then take her to the OR, knowing that both of these will wear her out, so why not do them both on the same day and as early in the day as possible to giver her time to recover and rest so this evening and tomorrow will have a better chance of being another good day for her. So, today will be a big day and will probably not feel to well, but should be a big step in feeling better the rest of the week and the weekend and as we move towards next week and hopefully get her stumps grafted. We still have a lot to talk about, as the requests to speak, write a book, share her/our story/testimony, keep coming in. This, along with, we are now getting to the point of needing to start looking for a rehab center close to home, a prosthetists, and just regular life stuff will keep us quite busy with things to talk about. She mentioned yesterday as a good anicdote for our book "Breakfast? Never, and lunch and dinner always warmed up." As she gets interupted so often with "we need to take you to this", "we need blood for that", "let us poke you with her", "how does this feel" and "take this", that she never gets to eat when her meals come, so they always need warmed up. Now that I think about it, pureed hospital food that has been warmed up. No wonder she hasn't wanted to eat! Going hungry probably isn't a bad choice. BIG PICTURE, we continue to move forward and keep making steps in the right direction. Probably will be looking at 2-3 more surgeries, another week until grafting for her stumps, 2 weeks for the grafts to "take" and then 2 weeks of acute rehab. Then we should be able to get back to O - H - I - O!!!!!! Then we will be looking at 3-5 weeks of acute rehab, then return home with several weeks of home health, many many weeks of outpatient therapy, then get fitted for prosthetics and start therapy and training all over again to learn how to use her new legs. The great thing about all this, outside of the few remaing surgeries, this is all REHAB stuff and no longer looking at recovery. WooooHoooo!

SPECIFIC PRAY NEEDS

• Continued healing of kidneys, voice, hands & fingers, wounds
• Overall strength
• Spirits (hers and mine)
• Safe travel for friends and family
• Wisdom to make good decisions about our new future
• The unbelievable amount of trauma patients in general, but specifically those with similar illnesses to Molly's and their families.

God Bless you all!

Love,

Jamey & Molly

MONDAY MORNING

Molly continues to improve and had a much needed day of rest yesterday. However, yesterday (Sunday) did not go as well as we had hoped for. Molly and I were so looking forward to a nice day of rest, friends coming to visit and a trip outside. However, we had a "down" day yesterday. Molly just didn't feel very good all day was unable to eat very much and did not get out of bed. On top of not feeling well she was very disappointed that she felt bad and could not visit with friends the way she wanted too. It was great to see Tammy, Scott & Lane as well as Michelle, Sonja and Zach and my Aunt Marty and Molly said she was glad to see everyone, she just wished she had felt better so she could have enjoyed it more. Not sure is the dialysis from Satruday was catching up with her or what, but she felt a little nausious and had a small fever most of the day. Again, it was not a bad day as the doctors and nurses continue to be impressed with her progress, she jsut didn't feel as good as she had hoped for. On a side note to that, she was hot all day. This is comical as I was freezing all day because she was so hot we had the heat off in her room. It felt like a meat locker. She was asleep for a little bit, I was covered up in the chair and shivering, when she woke up she said, "can you turn the fan on and turn down the heat some more." What a role reversal, I am the one usually hot and she is always covered up and cold. We laughed about that. When I left last night she was feeling a little better but was just exhausted and worn out. I think the dialysis from Saturday, her trying too hard to eat, the new room, the excitement of having friends visit, the reduction of her pain meds, etc. just caused her body a day to adjust. Spring is beginning to "spring" in Ann Arbor as the temperature is warmer, the sun is out, the birds are singing, the kids are playing in the yards, and things are beginning to green up. Since this week is a week of rest for Molly, we are hoping to get outside a lot this week and enjoy the weather and just take it easy as we prepare for grafts, therapy, etc. next week. In addition to this, we have a lot of things to talk about, now that her voice is getting stronger. I have decisions to make regarding my role in Toastmasters in the coming year, I/we have several requests for speaking opportunities and need to determine how soon and what to share, what color to paint the barn, decide if she/we want to participate in the "nocturnal" dialysis program, etc., etc. I continue to stay with Dirk and Melissa (cousins) and their two girls in South Lyon about 20 minutes from the hospital. It is great and saves a ton on hotel expenses, plus it is a lot like being at home with their dog "Jersey" and their cat "Kastania". We talked the other day that we can definatley see the light at the end of the tunnel, while it is just a pin sized light, it is there. We are probably looking at 4-6 weeks to get back to Ohio at this point, but, these 4-6 weeks should go by quickly as we will be transitioning into a rehab setting and mind set in the next week. Once we are in rehab, Molly's days will be filled with lots of activity and I am sure she will be exhausted at the end of the day from all the hard work she will have to do. It is amazing to me how slowly the clock can run with seconds painfully seeming like hours, yet days are gone in the blink of an eye. I have a hard time believing we have been here for over a month and the awesome progress Molly has made during that time. She amazes me every day with her strength, determination, positive attitude and will to get better and not let this experience get her down. Her strength helps me as does the many prayers, comments, and cards. We continue to talk a lot about "whats next" and each day we are more certain than the day before that God has given us this experience to help others. We know that Molly has already been a tremendous inspiration to others with her pure determination, but we have also received many "thank yous" indicating that this experience has opened a lot of peoples eyes to their own health care. I have seen how important it is to be a partner with your doctor and health care team, and not just an observer. It is this "total team" approach that enables you and/or your loved one to get the right care at the right time. Everyone is different and what might be the traditional course of care for most may not always be right for everyone, so being a member of the team is important. SPECIFIC PRAYER NEEDS

• Wounds to continue to heal
• Voice to continue to get stronger
• Kidneys to continue to "wake up"
• Overall strength
• Finger, hand and arm function
• Spirit and positive outlook to continue
• Dale & Terri Crandall and family (Dale is a long-time friend and a fellow Toastmaster in Greenville). Terri recently broke her hip, Dale's father passed away and several other family tragedies have recently happend to the Crandal family that is requiring them to be in multiple places at the same time. In addition, Dale has been challenged with his own health issues.

Keep us, and the many many others struggling with health issues in your daily prayers. Also, don't forget to pray for yourselves as well.

God Bless,

Love,

Jamey & Molly

SUNDAY MORNING

Molly is in a new room as of 6pm last night. Her new room is still in the Trauma Burn Center but no longer in the ICU. She will still have the same doctors and nurses, just wont be "bugged" as much. In fact the only reason she is to remain in the TBC is that the surgeon(s) only want the wound team in the TBC to treat Molly's legs, thus she will remain in TBC. Her new room is a private room with a pretty good view and should be a lot quieter and easier for her to rest. I ran into her trauma surgeon as he was leaving the other day and he stopped me to tell me that he was very pleased with Molly's progress and that he told the staff in the unit "let her rest" this coming week. So, outside of her dialysis she should have a lot of rest next week. Speaking of dialysis, she had dialysis yesterday. It went well, she actually went to the dialysis unit and 4 hours later she ws done, with no dizziness or lightheadedness. She was very tired afterwards as usual but did not have all the nasty side effects. Now the really good news, later in the evening after dialysis she had her "daily" catherization and had over 4oo cc's. This is about 1/2 the volume a healthy person produces. This is further evidence that her kidneys are waking up, so hopefully she will only need dialysis for a few more weeks. The biggest things we need to concentrate this coming week will be continued therapy on her hands and upper body and continued wound care, getting her out of bed and outside regularly, and eating more. All of this will go a long way in helping her when she gets skin grafts on her stumps and when she enters rehab. Her voice was a little stronger today, still a ways to go, but getting better. Troy stopped by to see her today and told her he was happy about the her voice and that it must have been frustrating for her not able to talk for the past several weeks. Molly said "YES", then i said, now that she has her voice back it is only going to be frustrating for me. She just rolled her eyes, again! Last night her nurse who had Molly a couple of weeks ago when she first got to TBC said how great she is doing and how great she looks. She also said that they are all amazed at how quickly Molly is progressing, and that it would normally have taken someone months to get to the point that Molly is at now. SPECIFIC THINGS TO PRAY FOR

• Kidneys to continue to "wake up" so we can discontinue dialysis all together
• Finger, hand and arm to strengthen and return of the "fine motor" skills
• Continue to eat more to compensate for the calories she gets with the tube feeding so she can get the tube removed.
• Voice to continue to get stronger.

God Bless you all!

Love,

Jamey & Molly

SATURDAY MORNING

Good Morning, Wow, the last couple of days have been busy, busy, busy. And unfortunately we have not been able to get out and about these last few days. Thursday of course was dialysis and made Molly feel bad and pretty much wiped her out. On top of that, there was some trouble in getting a good blood flow to and from the machine and had to stop it it once and restart. This made dialysis take 51/2 hours instead of the the 4. The rest of the day Molly was exhausted, just like she had run a marathon. Then the nephrologist (kidney doctor) came in and said he would like to put a new access line in for the dialysis. It is commonly called a "tunnel" line. It is inserted in the her right upper chest and is "tunnelled" under her skin and then the catheter end of the line is placed directly into the right atrium of her heart. This type of access is much more secure which will ultimatley give her more freedom, especailly when she begins rehab. it also has less chance of infection and should make dialysis go better. Also, her kidneys do continue to show signs of returning as they continue to produce 200cc's of output a day. While this is not nearly enough (needs to be close to 700-750) and it is only volume, it is not filtered meaning that her kidneys are not filtering yet, but it is a great sign. Molly did eat a little more on Thursday, but not much as she did not feel much like eating or doing anything for that matter. The good news is that as bad as dialysis makes her feel and seems like a "lost" day, the doctors are still impressed and pleased with her overall progress. In fact the term "rehab" is being used a lot more than "recovery" now. On Friday, I got up early as the procedure to put in the "tunnel" line was to be first thing. However, due to the wound rounds, scheduling and other "things" the procedure did not take place until almost noon. It was an easy procedure and they only use "conscious sedation" instead of anesthesia. It only lasted about 40 monutes and she did great. The down side to this was that it always takes a few hours for her to "wake back up" completely so we "lost" another day of getting up and around. During the time she was getting her new line put in, they brought a new bed for her. The old bed was designed to help take care of her skin quality, but that is looking great so she is now in a normal hospital bed, which will make it easier for her and therapy to transfer her as well as for her to move around in the bed on her own, which will help to strengthen her. Again, the word "rehab" is being used a lot more than the word "recovery." Molly did eat a little more on Friday, but still not a lot. So, her tube feedings will only be at night while she sleeps. This will help so that during the day the tube will not be hooked up so she can get out and about more. Also, it will mean that she will need to start eating more on her own to make up the difference. By not being hooked up, hopefully she will begin to feel hungery and want to eat. She wants to eat right now more for the "sensation" and feeling more normal, but because of the tube feeding, she just doesn't feel hungery. The wound team (nurses, therapists, and surgeon) said her grafts, stumps and donor sights continue to look great. Starting this weekend or the first of the week for sure they are going to put the vacuum pumps back on her stumps. This will help them to heal quicker. The had discontinued them before due to some little infections in the wounds (this is common, and nothing they worried about). Now that those have cleared up they can put the vac's back on. We are still looking at late next week, or more probably the week after to graft her stumps. Then after a few days of rest to let them attach, we will truly be looking at rehab. From the therapists point of view, they want to see her getting up out of bed each day into a chair or wheelchair. They want to get her up to their unit and start doing some upper body activities. And MOST of all they want to get her hands back to working so she start doing some of the ADL's (activities of daily living) on her own or at leat with minor assistance. This will be huge as it will make Molly feel more human again and less at the mercy of the nurses and techs. The therapist have said that her function in her hands will come back it is just going to take some time, so we as much as possible keep working on them. The reason they are so weak and have little function is due to several factors. First, the compartment syndrome that cause everyting to swell up and reduce the blood flow. Second, they remain swollen due to numerous IV's, not able to get them elevated for a long time. Third, in the critical care settings when people are not fully awake, and able to move much on their own, hands, arms legs and feet begin to "curl" up and this causes difficutly in then moving them. Fourth, just naturally weak due to non-use. All of these things combined will just mean it will take along time and a lot of effort from Molly, me and the therapist to get her hands back to functioning well. On "other" hospital news. there are currently 4 other patients in the Trauma Burn unit suffering from a strep A infection just like Molly. 2-3 years ago the nurses said was the first patient they ever had with a strep infection. So, either the infection is on the increase, or as the the one nurse put it, it is such a devastating bacteria that people who had it never made it this far. I just share this with you to keep these folks in your prayers as well as to bring some awareness to each of you. Strep infections can be deadly, and while we may not hear about them regularly, they are out there, and the medical profession is just now learning how to fight it best to not only save victims lives, but to save quality of life as well. SPECIFIC PRAYER AREAS

• Hands and arm strength and return of normal function
• Wounds to continue healing
• Kidneys to return to function so Molly can get off dialysis completely. We lose a whole day of therapy, eating, etc three days a week due to dialysis.
• Spirits, hers and mine.
• The many lives affected by Strep infections, and trauma in general
• Continued direction for Molly and I. (we continue to talk and pray about what God wants us to do with this, and beleive and feel that we can truly help lots of people by sharing our experience) We just are not sure what all the encompasses just yet.

God bless you all!

Love,

Jamey & Molly

jameyandmolly@gmail.com to email us comments directly

http://www.mfrenchtrek.blogspot.com/ to learn more about Molly's illness from the very beginning

THURSDAY MORNING

Good Morning Friends - Remember to help your friends, families, neighbors, and stranger to understand what Molly is facing and has faced, send them to www.mfrenchtrek.blogspot.com And feel free to email us direct at jameyandmolly@gmail.com Tuesday and Wednesday were great days. Molly continues gain strength and improve in every aspect. The doctors said yesterday that her skin grafts continue to look great as do her stumps. He said he would think that they could graft her stumps next week, not for sure, but very likely. If this is the case, this could very well be Molly's last surgery. YEAH!!!! As I left on Tuesday night, one of the Chief Residents (one who typically quite and does not show a lot of emotion, more business like, yet extremely nice and likable, just not as "social" as some of the others) said to me as I was leaving that "Your wife is doing great, we are so happy for you and her. She has become the star patient on the unit, we all like you and her a lot and can't wait for her to get out of here, but will miss you both when she does." That kind of stuff from the staff means so much. Yesterday, we got to go outside again, but this time in a wheelchair so we were much more mobile and got to see some of the hospital. It was just her and I. It was beautiful out yesterday, but quite cold, so we did not stay out too long, but got to get a little sun. Molly said "its cold, but it feels so good." As we were leaving the unit, it was like a reception line with much of the staff lining up to say hi, tell her how great it wass to see her up in the chair, told us to remember to come back, etc. Again, this place keeps amazing me each and everry day with not only their medical care and capabilities, but their "team" approach to everything and the deep genuine care and concern about their patients and the patient's family. I can't begin to tell you how many times a staff member (even those that have not really taken direct care of Molly) have asked me if I needed anything, if I was doing ok, if I was eating and getting rest, etc. As you enter the main entrance to the hospital there are several very large banners with pictures of doctors, nurses, patients, etc. with short "marketing" type mesages on them. But in the middle of these is one with no pictures and simply says, "Our triumphs do not come from research alone, Or from the hands of a single doctor, but from the rewards as a result of working together." This is more than a few words on a banner here, Molly and I have truly seen this in action, it it makes a huge difference in the way medical care is delivered. They do not just talk about "team" here, they truly live it. Now, don't gete worried, this new found respect for U of M only goes as far as their medicine. However, I must say that I may feel a little guilty rooting against Michigan come this fall . . . . but only for the first minute of the game! Go Bucks! O - H Back to Molly. She continues to eat a little at each meal, not a lot but some. She says the food is pretty good, but I question that as she said the fruit cocktail they gave her during the swallowing study was coated in barium to help it show up in the x-rays, and she said that tasted good. I guess we need to pray for her tastebuds to wake up too. Other great news yesterday is that her voice is starting to come back a little. It is still very hoarse and she has to strain a bit to get it out, but it is there. She still continues to whisper a lot because it takes considerable effort to gete her voice, but the good news is that it is back a little and with each new day, it should get stronger and stronger until I am sure I will be wishing it was gone again. LOL! We did a lot of exercises with her arms and hands yesterday and she did great. She and the therapist set some short term goals for the end of the week and we are working towards these goals. Since the therapist cannot be there all day, she basically sees how Molly is progressing, and then adds a few new exercises and lets her and I work on them throughout the day. Last night I went to Einstien Brothers Bagels (a bagel / coffee shop here in the hospital) and got a frozen strawberry smoothie, and split it with Molly. These things are wonderful and Molly really enjoyed it as did I. Today she will receive dialysis, get dressing changes and then hopefully later today if she is not too tired from the dialysis we can go for another stroll outside and througout the hospital. This is great for her spirits and mine, and helping her build up her strength. For those of you wanting to come visit, please contact me first, as Molly is really looking forward to visits and wants to be able to enjoy them, but if she has dialysis or some other procedure it really wears her out and she is unable to enjoy the visits. So, please call me or email me first so i can let you know what is scheduled, etc. Also, do not want to overwhelm her or the staff with too many visitors at one time. Just so you know, she gets dialysis on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. SPECIFIC PRAYER AREAS

• Continued healing of her wounds
• Return of normal function of her kidneys
• Overall physical strength
• Voice to return to normal (this one may come with conditions :) )
• Hands, arms and fingers to return to normal function soon
• Spirits for her and I
• Clarity to help us know how to help others

Thanks again for all the prayer and thoughts, you will never know how much it means to us.

Keep praying each day, not only for us, but for the many families struggling with similar and worse things than we are. Pray that they know peace and have no fear as they face their struggles.

God Bless each of you,

Love,

Jamey & Molly

TUESDAY EVENING - AFTER THE SWALLOW STUDY

Molly aced the test today. That is the good news, the bad news is that it after 5pm and we have not been able to get any food for her yet. As a way to better manage her intense schedule of "things" that have to be done each day, as well as not wiping her out completly on the days she has "wound rounds" and dialysis, it was decided to mover her dialysis days to tues, thur, sat. Becuase of this she needed to have dialysis again today to start the new schedule. Also, she had some physical therapy today and on top of all that, she went outside on the gurney they used to transport her to the swallow study. We were outside for about 10-15 minutes. She got cold, but said it felt great. With all this and the need to still do her dressing changes (which requires sedation, and therefore can not eat or drink for 4-6 hours prior) she has not been able to eat as of yet. However, while I am typing this she is getting her dressings changed and once she is un-sedated (not sure if that is a real word or even a medical procedure) she will be able to get her something to eat. She will be on a level 3 diet. Regular, eat anything you want when you want diet is a level 4 diet. This is a little softer, easier to digest diet to get her started. since she has not eaten in over 4 weeks they want to start slowly. Also, chewing can be tiring when you haven't done it in a while so they do not want her to get tired chewing and then not be able to swallow. After a week or two she should be on a regular level 4 diet. Dialysis went well today, they ran for 3 hours and took off 1/2 liter of fluid. She did great and did not get light-headed or dizzy at all. It did as normal tire her a bit, but not like in the past. This shows she is getting stronger and able to tolerate these procedures better. Also, her kidneys are still showing signs of improvement as they are producing about 1/4 of volume that normal healthy kidneys produce (thus the need to continue dialysis). But it is a positive sign and hopefully in a couple of weeks she will not need dialysis anymore. So, hopefully after today, she will get normal dressing changes daily with mon, wed, and fri. being "wound round" day where the surgeons come in while the dressings are down to take a look at them. This can take a while as the surgeons have lots a patients, surgery, office hours, regular rounds, interns, residents, med students, and I would imaging a private social life. Once the nurses take the dressings down and get them cleaned, they leave the wounds uncovered until the surgeons come for alook. Usually within an hour or so, but depending on other things like emergencies, etc, can be several hours. Thus the reason I suggested changing the dialysis schedule. Plus, until the docs have seen her wounds, hey keep her pretty heavily medicated. The only other thing going on besides the normal dressing changes will be the dialysis. Terry the Occupational Therapist was in today and gave us a bunch of exercises to do and rigged up some therabands for Molly to start using so when she goes to acute rehab her upper body will be ahead of the game. Also, we really want to get Molly's hands and fingers working well so she can start to do a lot of the daily things for herself so she can start to feel normal again. This will be a HUGE moral booster for her. That way she can hold a book to read, write, brush her hair, which will have to make her happy since it wont be me doing it anymore. For those of you who know me, hair care is not a to priority for me since I do not have much to take care of. Trusting me with her hair is like trusting a skinny chef. Here is the "big picture" as Molly and I see it right now. The only things she needs is the feeding tube, daily dressing changes, and dialysis 3 times per week. She will continue on the feeding until she is able to eat enough with high calorie suppliment shakes to equal the amount of calories she is getting with the feeding tube. We expect this to happen in about 1-2 weeks. Within a week or two she will get grafted for her stumps and then will have to be in bed with limited movement for 3-5 days. then after 10 days to 2 weeks she will start in the acute rehab. Until that point she will be getting out of bed regularly if not daily. Continue exercising her arms, hands, fingers and upper body. Eat, eat, and eat some more with lots of snacks, shakes and ice cream (this of course really upsets her, lol). So for the next few weeks, we are in a "more of the same" mode until her wounds and grafts heal to the point of starting rehab. Lasty, regarding Moll's recovery. She is now officially on "Floor Status" which means that she is off the monitor, and they only check her blood work and blood sugar ever 4-6 hours. She will be able to rest better at night since she will not be interupted as often. This is a very physical sign that she is making great progress. Molly and I continue to talk regularly about what we are being called to do with this experience. While we do not have a crystal clear picture of that calling yet, we are sure that we are being called to help others. Your prayers in this area are important to us as the prayers for Molly's healing are. SPECIFIC THINGS TO PRAY FOR

• Voice to return
• Kidney function to return fully
• wounds to continue to heal
• stumps to continue to heal and be ready for grafting
• Strengthening of upper body, arms, hands and fingers
• Returned function of hands (especially the right hand)
• Able to tolerate diet and switch to regular diet soon and remove feeding tube
• Keep her spirits high. While all this good news are great signs of progress, it does bring us that much closer to the need to start using her muscles more and will be a very obvious indication to her how weak and sick her body is/was. Also, as she moves around more and more will be a more constant reminder of her legs, so high spirits will be a high priority from this point forward.
• Travel safety for the many friends and family making the trek to Wolverine country.
• Clarity for Molly and I as we continue on this new journey together and what we are supposed to do with this experience.

Thank again for all the prayers, thoughts, cards (she only received a 2 inch stack yesterday) and messages.

God Bless you all,

Love,

Jamey & Molly