Back at the Hospital - Request for Prayers

I'm back at the hospital. It is a mixed experience. It is wonderful to see Heather again, yet I don't ever think I will enjoy being in this place. It is not a very pleasant environment, and it is hard to be away from Hannah. Heather is really struggling with being away from Hannah for so long.

Heather's sister went home to Jackson tonight. She has been so great to take care of Heather, particularly when I have not been able to be here. Heather's parents have also been troopers to spend so much time supporting Heather here at the hospital. They left this afternoon to spend a night in their apartment in Provo where they will be spending the winter.

Heather and I just spoke with the doctor about tomorrow's (Thursday) surgery. He told us that he is not very impressed with how the homografts (cadaver skin grafts) are looking, though she seems to be making great progress in almost every other area. He explained that there are several places on her legs where it appears that the tissue underneath the grafts is having problems and needs to be cleaned up (i.e., shaved off or cut out). He said that tomorrow they will take all the grafts off and clean all that up. He said that in areas where the wounds are not improving very well he may need to put a wound vac (like the one on her abdomen) on them until they are healthy enough to do grafts. He told us that he may do some autografts (grafts using Heather's own skin) in places where the wounds are healthy enough to have a high likelihood of successful grafting.

Heather is obviously nervous about tomorrow's procedure, which will likely occur in the early afternoon. She asked me to ask family and friends to please pray that the wounds on her legs will require minimal tissue removal, the tissue on her legs will be ready for grafting, the grafts will be successful, and her legs will heal quickly. We would greatly appreciate your specific prayers in this regard.

I asked the doctor some questions about her prognosis. He said that they have not yet had to remove or go into the muscles of her legs much at all. Therefore, she should be able to return to full functioning (including strenuous activities involving her legs). He did have to remove some fascia (a fibrous layer that covers and protects the muscle) from her legs, but that should eventually be replaced with scar tissue. He said that she will most likely stay on the Burn ICU until she leaves the hospital, and that she will likely require inpatient rehabilitation when she leaves here. We can probably do that in Utah County, which would be nice. He said that it will probably take her six months to feel back to normal, and that she will be receiving wound treatment and follow up for a year or more (though it will become very infrequent).