Karen's Blog

Update from Karen's Parents: April 21st at 1pm

In keeping our promise to Paul to update the blog during his absence, here is the latest news.

Karen is still making "baby steps" in her effort to regain her abilities and it will be a long fight, perhaps 6 or more months of rehabilitation. The good news is that she has progressed enough to leave INOVA Fairfax Hospital where she has been since her admission on March 26. She will be transferred and enrolled as an inpatient at the intensive rehabilitation facility at INOVA Mount Vernon Hospital. I will give more details once we arrive there and Karen is assigned a room.

This has been a very emotional experience for her mother and me as Karen has beaten the odds in first surviving and then slowly progressing with rehabilitation. There are good days and bad days and we have been advised to expect plateaus in progress, too. She has many months of tough times ahead to restore her ability to stand, talk, feed herself and comprehend her surroundings. At this time she remains on a feeding tube. Knowing Karen's energy and toughness, I know that she will do her best. How far she is able to progress is to be determined. The wonderful care at INOVA Fairfax Hospital saved her life and started her on the path to recovery. Also due a big thanks are the three Fairfax County EMS Paramedics who restored her breathing on the running trail. They are true heroes! And also deserving of our thanks and gratitude are you, her friends and fellow runners, who have sent expressions of support.

Thank you!

Judy and Ken Rasmussen

posted by Karen's Blog @ Friday, April 21, 2006