UPDATES
March 2005 Update
Marla is ready for spring as weather has begun to warm in Glenwood Springs–as the weather is warming, she hopes to get out on her new bicycle! Many of her high school classmates donated towards getting an adaptive-recumbent bicycle with controls on the left side. On March 11th, Marla and Leo traveled to Denver, where Marla was fitted for her new bicycle at AngleTech cycles, of Woodland Park. Although the weather is still a little chilly for her to get riding, she is definitely looking forward to taking the bicycle out for rides!
On February 17-18, Marla, Mary and Leo went to Swedish hospital, where her eye physician performed surgery to release the stitches holding the corner of her right eye partially closed. The stitches, which had been in place since her in-patient stay at Craig Hospital, helped prevent dryness in her eye, but Marla has been eager to have them removed. The procedure was done on an out-patient basis, and lasted a couple of hours from start to finish. Marla’s eye was very sore and swollen afterwards, and she experienced a lot of discomfort caused by the remnant of a loose stitch rubbing against her eye. Fortunately, her optometrist in Glenwood Springs, Dr. Hollenbaugh, was able to clip off the end of the remaining stitch. Marla’s eye has since healed nicely, although she still moisturizes her eye frequently with eye drops to prevent dryness.
At the same time, Marla had a bit of a scare with her kitty Puck recently. Puck has always had a weird fetish for ribbon. This time it got him in trouble–he knocked over a vase which contained some flowers whose stems were bound by some shiny ribbon. After knocking the vase over, Puck proceeded to tear the ribbon off the flowers and ate it. It blocked his digestive tract, which required surgery to un-block (this happened the same day as Marla’s eye surgery!). Poor Puck! Marla’s relieved that he’s doing fine now. Although the veterinarian had to shave his tummy for the surgery, so he still looks funny with his naked tummy!
For Easter, Marla and Mary and Leo are planning to travel to Montrose to spend the holiday with grandparents Howard and Mary. The family is so thankful to celebrate Marla’s healing during this season of renewal and rebirth! Thanks for checking in on Marla, and please visit the messages section to drop a note. Our sincere thanks to all of Marla’s supporters, including her amazing friends from high school, who donated the funds to purchase her new bicycle. We are continually amazed and grateful for all of you.