Fireplaces, Heating Stoves, Flues and Chimneys - brick chimney foundation needs repair

my 25 feet chimney is supported in the basement by two brick posts. The dimension of the posts are about 1.5 feet (one and a half bricks)by 2.5 feet(2 and a half bricks). the very bottom section of one of the posts is badly damaged. while the the rest of the chimney looks sound, there are many bad bricks in that section. One of the wider sides (the 2.5 feet side) just need some repointing, while all the bricks on the other side are damaged. some of them have only half of the brick left. I called many masons, but never got a reply. maybe the job is too small for them or something? i want to try to fix it on my own. I understand that the foundation is supporting the weight of the entire chimney. therefore, i am very nervous.
so, my question is if i remove one brick at a time and replace it with a new one(allowing the mortar to harden) before moving on to the next one, will i risk damaging the structure of the chimney? will the chimney collapse on me? what do you suggest that i should do? I would really like to show some photos of the job in question. if you would like to see it, please leave me an email address and i will send some photos over. Thank you very much in advance.