Marla is off to a good start in 2005! She continues to adapt to life in Glenwood Springs, and has made several new friends, including Leigh Phipps, at whose home Marla hand-made some artistic drink coasters as Christmas presents. Marla remains active in the Beta Sigma Phi sorority, and has developed new friendships through the organization, as well.

Recently a number of other members and friends of the Glenwood Springs High School Class of 1991 came together in a spirit of generosity and caring to contribute toward Marla’s taking yet another step in her recovery. Many of her high school classmates donated towards getting an adaptive-recumbent bicycle that will allow her to enjoy a new measure of independence and mobility. The bicycle will be especially fit and adapted to Marla’s needs, with controls on the left side. Marla will travel to Denver to be fitted within the next few months, so that the bike may be constructed in time for her to use this spring and summer. She and her family are already looking forward to fun and exciting bicycle outings together! We are continually amazed at the generosity and caring of Marla’s wonderful community of friends and classmates. We express our heartfelt thanks to you.

December has been a very busy month for Marla, and for Mary and Leo as well. Right after Thanksgiving, Marla had an appointment with Dr. Sachar, the surgeon who emplaced her artificial elbow. Upon reviewing her most recent x-rays, Dr. Sachar found a break in the ulna (one of the primary bones in the forearm), that Mary and Marla had been suspecting for some time. Marla was very disappointed to hear the news. She has gone through so much during her recovery process, and so many surgeries, that she was quite sad at the prospect of another surgery . However, Dr. Sachar immediately scheduled Marla for surgery on December 8 in order to stabilize and secure the bones in her forearm.

October brought about big changes in the lives of Marla, Mary, and Leo. On the weekend of October 9th and 10th, after weeks of preparing and packing Marla’s belongings at her townhome in Northglenn, they moved back to Mary and Leo’s home in Glenwood Springs. It was an exhausting process, as packing had to be fit in between therapies at Craig as well as doctors appointments and other commitments. Leo especially became worn down, as he continued to manage financial concerns with Marla’s mortgage company, surrounding the details of vacating her home. That effort required many hours, in combination with hard work packing and moving boxes, patching walls, and last-minute repairs and fixes–all tasks that Marla and Mary, due to physical limitations, could not offer much help with. Thankfully, many friends chipped in to help in many ways, including packing, moving, and unpacking, and thank you to you all, from the depths of our hearts (you know who you are)!

Marla, Mary and Leo have had a very active end-of-summer and beginning of fall. On August 8th through the 13th, Marla participated in the Colorado Brain Injury Association’s (BIAC) Challenge-by-Choice camp at the Breckenridge Outdoor Education Center (BOEC) in Breckenridge Colorado. The program was expressly developed for traumatic brain injury (TBI) survivors.

This program offers TBI survivors the opportunity to expand their potential and reach beyond their limitations in a challenging, yet safe and supportive program of outdoor adventure. Each camper is paired with a buddy during the week, and Marla was paired with Vikki Kusumoto, a volunteer from New York. Vikki’s brother Joe is a BOEC staff member. Vikki, with her infectious smile and gregarious manner, became fast friends with Marla. Campers and their buddies were each members of one of three different groups. Marla’s group named themselves the “Sun-baked Sardines,” in honor of the jam-packed sun-room in which they held their meetings at the BOEC Griffith Lodge.

Marla’s summer continues to be busy and fun, with several exciting activities keeping her active. She continues to work hard on her physical therapy each day, doing exercises to stretch and strengthen the muscles in her right arm. Now that she has an artificial elbow, she still has a lot of conditioning to do to recover the strength in the muscles of her biceps and triceps that atrophied during the 18 months that her elbow was held in a straight and locked position. Leo continues to work with her tirelessly each day, doing 2-3 repetitions of therapy.

It has been a busy spring for Marla, Mary and Leo, in follow-up to her elbow replacement surgery of April 22nd. The first two or three weeks post-op were very difficult for Marla due to the amount of pain that she was experiencing. The 6 hour surgery required an incision that extended from mid-tricep on the upper end, to the wrist on the lower end, and in addition to the emplacement of the artificial elbow, required re-positioning of muscles and nerves. Such an intense procedure invariably led to difficult post-operative pain. It was very stressful for Mary who was trying to work with Marla’s doctors and nurses to find a solution. Finally, two weeks after Marla’s surgery, her neurologist at Craig hospital ordered the dosage on her epidermal pain patch to be doubled. This, in combination with oral medication, helped Marla very much, and we’re happy to report that by now her pain has subsided almost to the point where she no longer needs a patch.

April, along with the typical roller-coaster of Rocky Mountain springtime weather, delivered some pivotal developments in Marla’s recovery process. The most important of these was her right elbow replacement surgery, which took place on the afternoon of Thursday April 22, 2004 at Swedish Medical Center in Englewood. Mary, Leo, and Marla packed their bags Wednesday night, and arrived at the hospital Thursday before noon for pre-operative preparations.

Mary stayed with Marla during the hour of surgical pre-op procedures. Leo and Mary arranged to be with her step-by-step each and every minute of the entire pre-surgery prep and post-surgery hospital recovery process. This helped Marla feel more comfortable and secure, as Mary and Leo are adept at communicating with Marla and helping her interact with her medical care providers, which is a vital process during such a sensitive surgical and recovery procedure.

March has brought spring and even summer-like weather to Colorado, and Marla is loving every minute of it. With the temperature regulation difficulties caused by her brain injury, she is frequently cold–so she in particular is glad for the arrival of spring.

Marla continues to make strides and progress in her speech and with her injured right arm, through a combination of hard work, dedication, and help from Leo and Mary. Leo works tirelessly with Marla on physical therapy each day, while Mary continues to help her with speech exercises, interactively and on the computer, where she is using a new software program called CHAT.

Marla, Mary and Leo have had a very busy 6 weeks to start 2004. Marla was excited to resume therapies at Craig upon returning to Northglenn in early January after being in Glenwood Springs during the end of 2003.

Marla’s right eye was evaluated by her eye surgeon during an appointment in mid-January, and the news was great–the surgery was a success, and the eye has settled in the perfect alignment. Her problems with double-vision and dis-orientation are in the past. The gold weight will remain in her upper left eyelid for now, to offer protection while the muscle control and nerve function continue to heal. She also got the good news that she doesn’t need glasses, her eyesight checks in at 20/20.

Marla enjoyed a wonderful holiday season, filled with friends and family. She, and Mary and Leo, were in Glenwood Springs from Thanksgiving through the month of December. Marla continued her therapies there, working with physical therapist Joe Mazzotta at Valley View Hospital, and speech therapist Trish Weitzenkorn.

Marla has re-gained almost full control of her right eye. Although a final evaluation of her eye’s progress and status will come from her eye doctor at an appointment in January, 2004, it appears that her October 3rd corrective surgery was a success! The surgery helped correct the loss of eye muscle control that resulted from the cranial nerve damage experienced in the accident.