Dear Friends and Family,

Our lives were changed on December 13, 2002, when our daughter, Marla, was in a car accident. She suffered multiple serious injuries, including a severe brain injury to the area controlling speech and interpretation of auditory input.

Mary and Leo have been living in Denver since the accident, staying at the home of friends Bob and Annie Brooks until moving with Marla to her townhouse in early June. We do physical, speech and occupational therapies with her on the five days of the week that she does not receive those at Craig Hospital, in Englewood, Colorado.

Marla’s right eye is continuing to heal and improve from her October 3rd corrective surgery at Presbyterian-St. Luke’s to help compensate for the loss of eye muscle control that resulted from the cranial nerve damage experienced in the accident. For the first few weeks following the surgery, Marla had little control over her right eye, and it wandered, causing dizziness and disorientation. As she has healed and her motor control has returned, her eye alignment has improved. She still experiences some double- vision, but her dizziness and disorientation are gone. Her eye is slowly adjusting and returning to a more natural position, and hopefully her double-vision will be eliminated. This process may take several more months. However, Marla’s physicians seem encouraged by her progress.

Marla had surgery on October 3 at Presbyterian-St. Luke’s to correct the nerve damage in her right eye, which she cannot move to the right past center. This creates double vision unless her left eye is patched, or obstructed with tape on her glasses. The surgery involved moving muscles from above and below her eye to the outside. In addition, Botox was injected into the muscle on the left inside of her eye to relax it. Hopefully, this will result in her ability to move her eye and not see double. There is a 2-3 month adjustment period, during which the brain re-learns and re-establishes the correct neural messaging to cause the eye to move as intended. During this time, Marla’s right eye may wander without much control, and we hope this will not interfere with her therapies.

Marla has given us permission to share her near-death experience. Several months ago, shortly after going home from Craig, Marla was trying to communicate something to Mary and Leo. She pointed at the months of the calendar that had passed since her accident to let them know it was something she had been wanting to tell them for a long time. Unable to use words to express herself, she drew a beautiful picture that said it all. As Leo and Mary asked her questions, the story emerged, leaving all three deeply moved. She drew two clouds, one small and one large. On the smaller was a figure like an angel. When asked if the figure was her, she nodded, “Yes.” She said “heaven above,” and waved. Mary asked if she was waving good-bye to herself. Marla nodded, acknowledging the fear and pain of the accident.

Marla has had a busy but enjoyable summer, with continuing therapy days at Craig, hikes in the mountains, and fun with family and friends on a variety of different outings. Please visit the updated Photo Gallery to see pictures of her recent adventures!

Marla’s strength continues to improve. She has been on several hikes in the mountains–one in the Indian Peaks Wilderness Area west of Boulder, and more recently near the Maroon Bells in the Maroon Bells - Snowmass Wilderness area. She’s been able to hike 2-3 miles and keeps up a decent pace! She’s pretty tired once she’s done, but the physical conditioning that she does during therapy both at Craig and with Mary and Leo is obviously yielding results. During a recent visit to Glenwood Springs with Mary and Leo, Marla went swimming, and was able to complete a half mile in the lap lanes! She’s found that utilizing a pair of flippers, paired with her strong kick, really helps her to compensate for her injured right arm.

Marla’s summer has gotten off to a great start, with many visits from family and friends, her 30th birthday, a couple of weddings, hiking, and more! Be sure to drop in the Photo Gallery to see updates from Marla’s recent activities.

Marla continues to improve in her physical endurance, while her speech progresses on a somewhat slower pace. Marla’s workouts on the stairmaster, stationary bicycle, and treadmill, have prepared her to go on several hikes! Meanwhile, Mary and Leo’s diligent home therapy on her shoulder and hand continue to reap rewards in increased flexibility in Marla’s injured right arm. Marla underwent surgery at Swedish Hospital in Englewood on Thursday June 26th, on her left ear, to repair damage to the small bones suffered in the accident. Some cartilage was removed from her outer ear to provide tissue for the repair. The procedure was a success, although Marla endured a great deal of pain after recovery from severe headaches. She ended up staying overnight, and the headaches continued through Friday. Finally Friday evening, Mary, coordinating with Marla’s doctors, found a medication that helped relieve Marla’s headaches. She slept well Friday evening, and awoke Saturday feeling much better. It is hoped that the repair will help to improve Marla’s hearing and comprehension. It will likely be some time, after healing has occurred, before the benefits are evident.

Marla, Mary and Leo continue their busy schedule of therapy at Craig. Marla was disappointed to learn that Jean and Peggy, her PT and OT from the very beginning at Craig, were being re-assigned to other patients. The primary duty for both is inpatient therapy, and with new patients coming in, both were needed on the inpatient team full-time. Marla had grown to like them both very much, and was sad to have to transition, but she understood. She continues to enjoy working with Celeste, her new PT, Marcy, her speech therapist, and Lisa, who works with her on recreation therapy in the pool. Marla has switched to a Monday, Wednesday and Friday schedule, each day with 6-7 hours of physical, occupational, and speech therapies. She now gets a day of rest on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so that helps her to keep up with the hard work of the long days at Craig!

Marla, Mary, and Leo continue with a full schedule of therapy classes at Craig Tuesday through Thursday, as well as home therapy, stretching, and rehabilitation on evenings and days off. Marla continues to enjoy visits from friends and family at the Brooks’ home on Race street. Some recent highlights for Marla include:

Nicole Diamond, Marla’s dear cousin, paid her a visit over a fun weekend (April 27-28), traveling all the way from Baton Rouge, Louisiana!

Marla (and Mary and Leo) have had an eventful several weeks since Marla graduated from the Craig inpatient program, with therapy, outings, swimming, and more! Be sure to drop by and see the updated Photo Gallery to see pictures!

Marla has been swimming in the Craig therapy pool twice, each of the last two Fridays. It has proved to be a tremendously positive experience for her. Before her first swimming session, she was very apprehensive and nervous. She even seemed somewhat sad. Leo asked Marla if she really didn’t want to swim, and she indicated that she didn’t want to try. Mary and Leo believe that she remembered having been able to swim so well before the accident, and worried about not being able to meet her expectations.

The past week has been pivotal for Marla, as final preparations were made for her discharge from the Craig inpatient program, last Friday, April 4th, 2003. On Friday evening, she came to the duplex of Bob and Annie Brooks, friends and long-time colleagues of Leo at Glenwood Springs High School. The duplex is near City Park in Denver, and Bob and Annie have generously loaned their home away from home to Mary and Leo, where they have lived for the past 3 months.