Moving on Friday

It has been decided that Larisa will be going to Winchester Medical Rehab Center in Winchester. As of right now, the intention is to move her tomorrow. The lady from Winchester is coming today to meet Larisa and assess her needs. Chantel said she was as nice a pie....Super sweet lady and was very excited to have Larisa come. I know that made them both feel better.

They will load her up in a patient transportation ambulance and make the hour drive to her new home -tomorrow. Truly a great sign of progress. As to the length of her stay, it is too early to determine and will only be determined as they begin doing extensive physical therapy. It will all be determined on how she progresses and how well her body heals and retrains itself to function properly.

Everyone is excited about this move - it will put her closer to her family and friends. She will now be only 30 mins away from home instead of an hour and a half. This is going to be a great help as Chantel and Sergio tend to the needs at the house and be there for Larisa. It will also be nice that friends will be close by as well to visit. Larisa was excited about going. She is a bit anxious, just to be going someplace different and new, but knows it is the next step.

Yesterday she was fitted with her new back brace. It is a true fashion statement -- bright yellow! It goes up under her chest down to her hips. It is soft inside and hard plastic on the outside. It wraps all they way around her back like a corset. They will be encouraging her to tighten up as tight as she can stand it to help keep everything in place. This brace is to help the fractures she has in her lower vertebrates. She will need to wear this during all Physical therapy, when she is sitting up and moving around. It will be an adjustment, but hopefully in time, it will give her some relief.

Yesterday she was in a lot of pain. They had been moving her around a lot- fitting the brace, draining her leg, xrays, and checking her ankle. She was really tired last night and was ready for her medications.

The wound nurse came in and checked her leg wound on her thigh today and could not believe how much better it was looking. The muscle inside is really starting to heal and closing the opening significantly. The drain will need to remain in there for about 2-5 months. Just depending on how it heals. The open wound on her foot, is not really on the ankle, but more on the top of her foot by the ankle is causing her lots of discomfort and is taking a longer time to heal. They are watching it closely. The wound on the foot will require a skin graft, which they will do in about 3-4 weeks. She will need to go back to Fairfax Hospital to have that procedure done. They are still not sure about the need to do a graft on the thigh yet.

Overall she is doing great. It is hard to believe that almost 4 weeks ago, she was fighting for her life. Now she is awake, healing and continues to fight to be better. The blessings that she has received over the past 4 weeks are overwhelming and truly a testimony that One greater than ourselves is not only aware of us as individuals, but will comfort, heal and bring peace as we trust those who help us and strive to exercise our faith in Christ. That is what helps us make it through these trials and challenges successfully and come out better people for having experienced the challenge.