lunes, 2 de junio de 2008

June 2 Facebook update

Well, here I am at home again. Unfortunately I'm not home long enough to be able to write to everyone, so I'll just say thank you to everyone at once. I leave early in the morning and don't get back home until around 11:00 at night, so if I want to sleep, I can't be at the computer for long.
As people have requested that I keep updating here, I will. I have to admit, though, that it's not in my nature to want to give updates when I'm not happy with what I'm going to write. Today I didn't really want to write anything to not worry anyone.
Today we had our first actual update by a doctor. As most of you know, the health system here in Spain is much different than what you are accustomed to. One of those differences is that information for family members is scarce and difficult to some by. Also, on weekends, the hospitals basically shut down, and no information is given. So, any information I had was only what Mauri and other patients' families told me...
...The doctor didn't really tell us anything new except that she was disappointed in the evolution of his case. Originally it was thought that they might not have to do grafting operations on Mauri's back- and only on his arms and hands, but now it doesn't look so good. Up until now they had been cleaning off the dead tissue every two days, but they will try doing it every day now to see what happens. They may decide to do the first operation on either Wednesday or Friday. She couldn't tell me, though, exactly what type of operation- if they would go directly to using grafts of his own skin or if they would use something else first. She did say he was very lucky to have his legs unburned because they have a lot of choice of healthy skin for use in grafting.
She also couldn't assure me that all would be well with his lungs/kidneys, but she assured me that they are constantly monitoring everything to try to keep him safe.
What she had to tell us made me a bit uneasy, but...
...I was looking forward to seeing Mauri. When I got to the window, though, I realized that he wasn't well. They had recently finished cleaning off the dead tissue and he was still in pain, and a bit groggy from the meds. So he couldn't talk much, and we basically just looked at each other through the window. What worried me, though, was that his morale was down because he'd heard that it was likely they'd have to do more grafts than what was originally expected. Plus, he'd seen a bit of a reflection of himself in a window, and definitely wasn't happy with what he saw.
In the afternoon, he still wasn't able to sit up, but he was able to talk better, and was able to appreciate the new toys I brought him: walkie talkies so that we could actually hear each other (the phone system through the window of the hospital doesn't really work well), and a cell phone so that I could call him and wish him a good night.
That seemed to lift his spirits a bit...
...I called to say goodnight and he seemed a bit happier, and said that he was sitting up in the bed. He was also joking a bit more again, so I feel a bit better again.
It's frustrating for me because I feel helpless, and I see how frustrated he is with his situation. I know he's in pain, and that he's worried about a lot of things that he shouldn't have to worry about. Unfortunately this a slow process.

Well, I'm off to get some sleep.
Thanks again for your best wishes and prayers.
I'll keep updating as I can...

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