March 4th, 2009

Good morning all. It is 10:08 and I'm still writing from Barnes. Mary had a pretty good night of sleep last night. Aside from the usual prodding and poking from nurses throughout the night for blood tests, BP and so on, she got quite a bit of rest. This morning as I was walking into her room about 5 am, there was a doctor already in there and they were removing the drainage tube from her head and also all the bandages. It was nice to see that she still had most all of the hair she had grown back. They only shaved a small strip around the old incision and that was it. I counted her staples this morning, and she has 53 staples closing her incision. It is quite dramatic to look at, but it will all be hidden when her hair covers it. Her incision starts at her hair line above her forehead, goes strait back, then curves around the right side, loops above her ear, and ends on her hair line in front of the ear. (for those who haven't seen Mary). So basically, the whole thing will be covered. It is so nice to see Mary with her normal head shape back. She was tested by a physical therapist this morning and Mary passed all of her tests. She has been disconnected from all monitors and IV's. The therapist had her get out of bed and walk for her. She did well. She went all the way down the hall, and then did a flight of stairs! They all say she is doing very well. There is a possibility of her going home sometime today, but most likely it will be tomorrow. They said she can continue to do outpatient therapy when we get home, which is good. Her platelets in her blood are still a little lower than what they want them, so that is something that we are going to have to continue to monitor. That's about all I know this morning. All in all, for having surgery just 2 mornings ago, I think she is doing quite well! Way to go Mary!!! Thanks to all.