Marilyn Cieszykowski's Page

Hi friends,

We have established this blog to keep you up-dated on Marilyn's recovery. This will make it easier for Gareth to keep you informed and still give Marilyn his full attention. THIS BLOG WILL BE UPDATED DAILY TO LET YOU KNOW HOW MARILYN IS PROGRESSING.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION: This email was sent out by Gareth on Saturday, October 6:

By now you have heard the terrible news about Marilyn. On Wednesday, October 3rd we were riding beater bikes down into the village of Vlicabamba, Ecuador when the brakes on Marilyn’s bike gave way on a downhill. She was unable to slow down the bike hit a dirt burm and was ejected nearly 30 feet into the air. It was a horrific and unexpected accident. We were expecting to have a quiet, relaxed day. With significant difficulty we were able to evac via air ambulance and she is now a patient at the Neuro Intensive care Unit at the University of Colorado hospital, Denver.

Her injuries and condition are as follows. She remains unconscious but responsive to touch and voice. She suffered a closed head injury – difuse axonal injury – small injuries on different parts of her brain. In addition she has bruising on the left upper portion of her brain and in the brain stem which has caused her left eye to be dilated and unresponsive. She has good motion on the right side of her body and poor motion on the left. Her prognosis at this time is unknown – the recovery will be very slow. We do not know if she will be able to return to her work as a nurse practitioner.

The experience has been mentally draining and has left us on precarious financial footing. The air evac ($60,000) was not coverd by insurance and has placed a significant financial burden on us. While Marilyn is in recovery I will need to take over her financial obligations. We will be establishing a charitable account in Marilyn's name to help defray these expenses. For now, I want to let you all know how much I appreciate your thoughts and love – please keep sending them. I will talk to each of you in days to come – for now reliving the experience with one person at a time is just too much. Please forward this to anyone who loves Marilyn that I probably have missed – not thinking fully clearly at the moment.