prudent doctor would have prescribed an adequate protein diet. He testified that Johnson was severely malnourished when she came to him, and that he was required to administer nutrition for several weeks before removing the Marlex because she was not strong enough to endure the surgery. He concluded that reasonable care would have included serious consideration of "hyperalimentation" because no vitamins and little food was being maintained in Johnson's system.
Dr. Webster, testifying on his own behalf, admitted that Johnson developed an infection that involved the Marlex mesh and that the infection was present in September 1979, when he treated her for an abscess. His testimony did not indicate that he informed Johnson of the complications resulting from the infection. He admitted, however, that Johnson continued to have difficultymental anguish. She began experiencing continuous pain in her left rib area approximately 10 days after the gastric wrap was performed. She regularly vomited vitamins, food, and drinks, and endured the intense odor of the fistula draining from the incision in her abdomen. During a trip to visit her brother in November 1979, Johnson became very weak and required assistance from her mother and husband when she dressed or used the toilet. On one occasion, she lost consciousness in the bathroom, and when she awoke, she was in her brother's bed, and blood was escaping from the surgical incision. Immediately thereafter, she returned home and was admitted to Hermann Hospital in a dehydrated, malnourished, septic condition, and placed under the care of Dr. MacFayden. She then underwent surgery