Thank You

Hello all of you who have been following our blog. I initially thought the blog was a weird idea but that it would really benefit our far flung family members who wanted to stay up on the family news. It has turned out to be much more than that and it has really been an amazing experience. Thank you all so very much for caring about our little family and our troubles. The love and generosity that have been shown to us throughout this difficult time have left us amazed and very grateful. The love, support, and prayers of such wonderful friends and family have helped us weather this storm of ours. Now that I am finally home, all I can say is Thank You!, and I love you, and I am so grateful to have a chance to live more of this wonderful life.

Love, Heather

Home Sweet Home!

Heather is home!!!! It is truly incredible to have her back home again. It is hard to believe that she has not been here since September 30th. I think it was initially weird just to be out of the hospital and out of a hospital bed, but it was fantastic to drive into our driveway and come into the house. She just came into the living room, sat down on the couch, and cried (actually, we all cried). She has had a wonderful day just being at home. It makes a world of difference to all of us to be here together.

Thank you to all who made her homecoming so welcoming by shoveling snow, giving kind and thoughtful gifts, putting up signs and balloons, yelling welcomes from the street, bringing dinner, and just loving and praying for her. I wish I could have recorded all of her reactions throughout the day. It has been wonderful.

I won't be continuing the blog from here; however, Heather wants to write something in the next post. Thank you all for your prayers and support and for your interest in our lives over the past couple of months. It has been therapeutic for me to be able to write down what has gone on. Knowing that others are reading and are interested helped me to feel support through all of this. Thanks. It really has meant a lot. If you would like further updates or want to contact us, you are welcome to call (801-423-0906), visit, or email (Mark: mark_beecher@byu.edu; Heather: hz.beecher@yahoo.com).

I have included a few pictures from today.

Home Tomorrow!

The results of the culture they took from Heather's abdominal wound came back showing no signs of infection (i.e., we could have gone home Wednesday). So, we are scheduled to head home tomorrow (Friday) morning! We are very excited!!!! Hopefully, nothing bad will occur before then, and things will go as planned.

Heather's back seems much better today. It is still quite sore, but it is no longer so inflamed and "angry." It's really nice to see it finally improving. The last few days she has been struggling with quite a bit of swelling in her legs and feet, from her knees down. It makes it painful for her to walk. She has been sitting in her wheelchair a lot so that her back doesn't need to have a dressing on it, but that makes the swelling worse. Last night we were able to elevate her legs and feet in her bed, and they seemed better today. I imagine that will be a bit of a battle for a while. We are just excited that she is well enough to finally go home.

Is It Infected or Not?

Last night while I was with Heather one of the wound care nurses came in and looked at Heather's abdominal area (without taking the dressing off). She said that she did not think the wound was infected, but that the film the nurses had seen in the wound earlier that day was perfectly normal when you take the wound vac off. She said it was just "sluff." This was nice to hear and frustrating at the same time because that likely meant that Heather didn't need to take the antibiotic that had caused the allergic reaction.

The doctor came in today (Tuesday), and he and the nurses looked at the wound without the dressing on it. They all agreed that it was not infected but just sluff as the wound nurse had suspected last night. However, they still want to keep Heather in the hospital until Friday to see what the cultures show. We'll see.

Heather has been in considerable pain because of her back. She just can't seem to get it to heal. It appears today that she is having a reaction to the cream (bacitracin) they have been using to keep it moist and from getting infected. Bacitracin is an antibiotic, vaseline-like ointment. They told us today that many people begin to have a reaction to it after using it for an extended period. We have tried several other lotions, but they all really sting. They are going to begin using plain vaseline tomorrow. Hopefully that will calm the irritation and pain. She is really tired of having a hurting back.

Another Allergic Reaction

The excitement never seems to cease in our family. Apparently Heather is allergic to the antibiotic they gave her. Within about an hour of giving Heather the IV antibiotic she began having intense itching and redness throughout her body, which progressed into breathing difficulties. They gave her benadryl and oxygen, and she seems to be doing fine. They just started her on another antibiotic. Hopefully, she won't be allergic to that one. Man, this is fun!

Homecoming Postponed

Though it's not terribly surprising with how things have gone throughout this whole ordeal, we are sad to announce that Heather will not be going home on Wednesday as initially predicted. Yesterday and today Heather's abdominal wound was covered with a film of pus and she had a fever. Concerned about infection, they have ordered a culture on the pus and are giving her a broad spectrum antibiotic. The culture will take 2 to 3 days, so they want to wait to find out exactly what it is before sending Heather home. This means that she won't go home until probably Friday (I'm not holding my breath.). As I said, we are not surprised, but we are certainly disappointed and frustrated. I just want her home and healthy. They have promised (as if they really can) to have her home by Christmas.

Painful Back, but Doing Well

Heather continues to improve daily. She is getting really excited about going home on Wednesday. It kind of seems like it will never happen.

Her back continues to be the main problem. It just won't heal. Yesterday and today she has spent the day in her wheelchair, sitting up without any dressing on her back, hoping that the wounds will dry out and heal. She also tried to sleep on her side last night so as not to put any pressure on her back. However, she still put a dressing on her back last night in case she needed to sleep on it. In the morning the dressing was stuck to her back just like other nights. It is miserable and painful for her. We don't know what to do to help it heal faster. Every dressing they put on it sticks to the wounds and then reopens the wounds when they remove the dressing. It is really frustrating.

She has been walking quite a bit, strolling back and forth down the halls several times each day. She gets stronger each day.

She's Got No Strings, and Now She's Free

Heather is no longer attached to any machines or tubes! They took her wound vac off today! She now just has a dressing that covers her abdominal wound. It is a big step, indicating that she is healing really well.

The only thing still attached to her is a pic line (peripherally inserted central catheter, which is a form of IV line. They rarely use it, but it allows her to receive medications directly into her vein. They just screw syringes onto these short [about two inches long] tubes that go into her vein.).

She ran a bit of a fever last night, but seems to be doing better today. All in all she is still doing quite well.

The 17th is the Date!

It's official! Barring some major, surprise downturn or mishap (which, based on our experiences thus far, we are not ruling out completely or taking lightly), Heather will be home on December 17th. She continues to do really well. They continue to work with her extensively in physical and occupational therapy (Today she will be baking something in their kitchen.). It is clear that she has a long way to go to build her strength back up, but we are very excited about her going home.

Lots of Walking

Heather has been working hard in physical and occupational therapy. They had her down in their therapy area doing laps around the room. She was quite stiff last night after her workout, but in a good way. The occupational therapist worked with her on learning how to bathe and do other household tasks, in preparation for going home. She will definitely have to take it easy for quite a while, but she is getting stronger daily.

They decided not to take the wound vac off just yet. She will have it on at least for a few more days. I'm still not sure whether they will suture/staple the wound or just let it heal on its own. We'll see.

Good News Continues

Heather continues to do really well. I'm amazed at how well she has done these past couple of days. She is so much stronger than she was even last week. She gets up and walks a couple of times per day. As mentioned in the last post, she has to get up to go to the bathroom now too. She still gets tired really easily, but has much more mobility and independence.

When they changed the dressing on her abominal wound yesterday, they said it looks so good that they will probably take the wound vac off tomorrow (Yay! The last tube will be gone!). They said that they will probably need to take her to a doctor that can either staple or stitch up the remaining wound. It is really healing quickly. Her other wounds are doing well too. Her back continues to be sensitive and painful, but it is healing. Her legs and the grafts are doing great! The cellulitis on her hips seems to be going away too. Heather's friend, Michelle, has come in several days in a row to put essential oils on her hips. This seems to have been quite effective.

Better Every Day

Though she had a some trouble with nausea last night and ended up throwing up in her bed, Heather is doing quite well today. She has taken a shower two days in a row, which is really nice for her. She looks great and seems healthier and stronger every day. Though her back is still painful, it seems to be calming down. She has been walking more each day (with the help of a walker). She seems more like herself to me. They have begun talking about her discharge. They are tentatively aiming for December 17th, but she may be able to leave sooner. Heather is excited about this, but also quite nervous. She still feels weak and vulnerable, and it is scary to think about not having all the support she currently enjoys.

One more thing. Heather got her catheter out today. It is wonderful to see one more tube go. I think they take it out so that Heather has to get out of bed a couple of times per day.

Exercise

Yesterday the physical therapists took Heather down to their rather extensive gym and gave Heather a work out and a half. They had her walk using parallel bars as supports. They had her walk 15-20 feet using a walker. She did all kinds of leg and arm exercises and spent time on a bicycle-like machine that required her to "pedal" with her arms. She says that she is quite stiff this morning, but she is ready for more today. They were able to transport her to and from the "gym" seated in a wheelchair, which they have not done up to this point. When they brought her back to her room they let her stay in her wheelchair for a while. She enjoyed being able to wheel around the room and explore the relative independence the wheelchair provided.

Her back continues to bother her because it tends to stick to whatever it contacts. It is hard to get it to heal when there is constantly pressure on it. Her other wounds continue to do well. She says that the leg pain she has comes from using the muscles she hasn't used in so long. The leg pain is, not surprisingly, worst where they had to remove tissue down to the muscle.

Appointment Results

Sorry I didn't post yesterday. It was a busy day, and I didn't have my laptop with me. Heather had her first appointment back up at the UofU Burn Unit since she was discharged from the Burn Unit ICU. They loaded her on a stretcher and put her in a van designed for transporting medical patients to get her up to the UofU. I rode in the back with her. We left the Utah Valley Specialty Hospital at about 11:30am and didn't get back until after 4:30pm, so it was a long day of traveling for Heather.

The Burn Unit at the UofU Hospital has an outpatient clinic in which we were seen. They took down all of Heather's wound dressings. They were very pleased with how everything is healing. They said the grafts look great, and that they no longer require the extensive dressings she has had thus far. They gave her a fancy pair of spandex-like pants that she will wear for the next several months (She will have multiple pairs so that she can change them daily.). These pants put pressure on the grafts to keep the scars soft, smooth, and flat. She may still require some wound dressings on a few isolated spots on her legs, but other than that they just recommended the pants and lotion. They said she is ready for full range of motion in her legs. They spent considerable time rubbing off scabs (mostly where two pieces of grafted skin come together). They got a lot off and said the skin under the scabs looks great and healthy. They also found 4 or 5 staples that were left from when the grafts were initially put on. Heather was thrilled to have those pulled out.

They said her back looks really good and shouldn't require much dressing other than lotion and a soft t-shirt. This turned out to be a bit premature. Heather wore just a t-shirt last night, and her back oozed and stuck to it. This meant that when we pulled it off this morning it ripped the skin off a bit and reopened sores. She is very frustrated with her back and the pain it causes her. They were redressing the sore spots on her back when I left her this morning. It is close to being healed, but not close enough for either of us.

They said that her abdominal wound seems to be healing very well. She will continue to wear the wound vac for a week or two yet. The wound should close up on its own. It is truly amazing to see a wound that was over a foot long, over four inches wide, and over three inches deep just close up. It is now about a foot long, one to two inches wide at its widest, and about 1/4 of an inch deep.

Heather was exhausted after all her adventures yesterday. Through all that process she stood up four times (She also stood up with physical therapy right before she left.), took several steps (with significant help), and had all of her wounds worked over. She was emotionally spent too, as you can imagine. I think she is most frustrated that her back continues to hurt her so much.

I am finding that having Heather here in Utah County is more of a difficult balancing act than when she was in Salt Lake. It is harder to keep perspective and sane when I am working, seeing Heather multiple times per day, trying to maintain a relationship with Hannah, etc. It was easier when I could focus on work and Hannah for half of the week and on the hospital and Heather for the other half of the week. I look forward to the day when Heather can go home with great anticipation. My family has been a fantastic support to me. My sister, Tiauna, continues to be the primary care-taker for Hannah. Hannah and I have spent many nights at my parents home in Orem. This works out well because I can visit Heather right after work, take Hannah to my parents' home at around 6:00, put her to bed at 7:30, and then return to the hospital to be with Heather until it is time to go to bed. Hannah and I randomly head home and spend nights there too, but it is nice to have the option of using my parents' home and to have the support of family to help take care of Hannah.

Basic Healing, Appointment Tomorrow

I didn't post anything yesterday because there really wasn't anything to report. Heather did well. Her dressing changes are, thankfully, uneventful these days. She has continued to stand up about twice per day. They talked about taking her down to their physical therapy/gym area today to practice walking using some parallel bars for support. We'll see if she feels up to it.

The hardest part for her (and for me) right now is just the drudgery of being in the hospital and not making progress as fast as she would like. It is extremely frustrating and discouraging for her to be away from family, and especially Hannah. It is really hard not to get down about missing all of Hannah's discoveries and excitements during this Christmas season.

Heather has an appointment back up at the UofU Hospital tomorrow. We are interested to see what the burn doctors have to say about how her wounds are progressing. We are unsure whether she will have to go by ambulance or if she can go in a wheelchair-equipped van. Either way it will likely be an adventure.