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Gina DiMartino

~ An Asheville Foodie, Writer, Creator & Dreamer

Gina DiMartino

Tag Archives: Bostonmarathon

Only mostly dead

10 Monday Jun 2013

Posted by ginamd in Uncategorized

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Bostonmarathon, Bostonstrong, Bstrong, mostly dead, princess bride, wiggle your finger

Today I can wiggle my ankle. It’s really a muscle in my leg working as hard as it can to do anything, but I couldn’t do that before. I was showing Pete this morning and I felt like I was in the Princess Bride. “Look! You wiggle your finger! Doesn’t that make you happy?!” Haha I feel like I will have many more of those moments as time goes on. As my nerves hopefully heal. Some day I will have control if my ankle. It won’t just twitch awkwardly. Someday my toes will wiggle again… Someday!

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ABC News story

06 Thursday Jun 2013

Posted by ginamd in Uncategorized

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Tags

13Wham, abc news, Bostonmarathon, Bostonstrong, Bstrong, dimartino siblings

People have been asking, so here’s the story from our local news that Peter and I did together. I haven’t even watched it yet. I don’t like seeing myself on videos!

DiMartino Siblings Recovering Back At Home In Webster.

Link to our fund site:
http://www.gofundme.com/dimartinofamily

not for a moment

02 Sunday Jun 2013

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Bostonmarathon, bostonstron, Bstrong, meredith andrews, not for a moment, storms

We sang this song today at church. I love my church and it has been so nice to be back worshipping with people I love. Brit did an amazing job singing this and I just took a moment to reflect on the words.

Listen to it.

Listen to the words.

“You were reaching through the storm and walking on the water even when I could not see”

“You were singing in the dark and whispering Your promise even when I could not hear”

It just made me think, sometimes we don’t know what God is doing or why He is sending trials our way. We can’t see, we can’t hear. But He is reaching for us, singing in the dark, keeping His promises. He can see. He can hear. He knows what’s up ahead. He will never forsake us. Not even for a moment.

Just one more truth to cling to throughout this storm.

You were reaching through the storm
And walking on the water
Even when I could not see
In the middle of it all
When I thought You were a thousand miles away
Not for a moment did You forsake me
Not for a moment did You forsake me

And after all You are constant
After all You are only good
After all You are sovereign
Not for a moment will You forsake me

You were singing in the dark
And whispering Your promise
Even when I could not hear
I was held in Your arms
Carried for a thousand miles to show
Not for a moment did You forsake me

And every step every breath you are there
Every tear every cry every prayer
In my hurt at my worst
When my world falls down
Not for a moment will You forsake me
even in the dark
even when its hard
you will never leave
after all

the bird song

29 Wednesday May 2013

Posted by ginamd in Uncategorized

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Tags

Bostonmarathon, Bostonstrong, Bstrong, storms

There’s a bird that hangs out around our house. I’m not sure what kind of bird it is. But it is always singing. Sometimes its on one side of the woods, sometimes the other. You can hear it no matter where you are in the house. It sings all day. You would think that would get annoying, but this bird just sounds so joyful. So happy. It just has to proclaim. And proclaim it does. I like the bird. It’s nice to hear his cheery song all throughout the day. Last night there was a huge thunderstorm. It was loud and rain was pouring down. Several times I woke up to loud crashes of thunder and the house shaking on its foundation. And one time when I woke up I noticed that the bird was chirping. Nice and loud. Amidst the thunder and the rain, his song could be clearly heard. I rolled over and went back to sleep, but I remember thinking, wow even in the midst of this awful storm, that bird is still so happy.

How does that bird always sing? He hasn’t a care in the world. And even when storms are raging all around him, he still lifts his song. It just struck me. Made me think before I drifted back to sleep. Maybe I need a little more singing in my storm. Maybe I can learn a lesson from a crazy bird. There’s a quote someone said that goes something like this: “Instead of telling God how big the storm is, tell the storm how big your God is”. And maybe that’s just what I needed to remember today. God knows already how big my storm is. He knows my knee hurts and my ankle hurts and I can’t feel my foot and I can’t walk. He knows what I am going through and what I will be going through. And maybe I just need to think about that more often and think about the storm less.

Maybe I need to start singing.

The Marathon Ahead-DiMartino Family

22 Wednesday May 2013

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Bostonmarathon, Bostonstrong, Bstrong, dimartino family

My Brother-In-Law just set up this site because so many people were asking how they could support us and make donations. Thank you all so much for the overwhelming support you have given so far. Our family, friends, church body, and communities have been such a huge blessing to us as we adjust to our new normals.

http://www.gofundme.com/dimartinofamily

Thank you!

Update 5/6/13

06 Monday May 2013

Posted by ginamd in Uncategorized

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Bostonmarathon, Bostonstrong, Bstrong

Everyone is asking for an update, so here’s a quick synopsis. Peter and I are in rehab. We get Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy for 1 1/2 hours every day. (3 hours/day total) We also had speech therapy evaluations to see if we suffered any brain damage which neither of us did.

I am very mobile. I am independent in my room and get around with the walker. I can take my wheel chair to go visit Pete, and I am getting very confident with crutches. I have tons of nerve pain in my foot which is a good thing. I still have no feeling in my foot or ankle and have a full leg cast that is keeping my knee bent at a 70 degree angle.  Pete is harder to move around. He has skin grafts and burns and a large hole in his left foot. He has to keep his right leg straight out in front of him so he can get into a wheel chair with help and has to have a leg rest keeping his leg up. It’s not very comfortable for him though so he usually only gets into the wheel chair when he has to go to therapy.

Rebekah will be joining us here today! I’m not sure what time, but she is coming. We will all be on the same floor and our rooms are all close to each other. She has had a lot of complications and a lot of pain. I don’t really know all of her injuries, but bones in her hand are broken along with bones in her leg and foot. She hasn’t gotten out of bed much except to move to a recliner. She still has lots of pain so you can be praying for that. That they would get her meds balanced right and the she would start to heal and feel less pain.

Noah is at home in Texas with his grandpa. He is all recovered and had his stitches removed and before he left here was running around and mostly back to his normal self. He got tons of loot from the red sox and many others so he was enjoying being a celebrity in Boston. Pray for him as he will have emotional things to deal with and also he will be missing his mom!

Kim & Colton are back home in NC. They are doing well. Adjusting to being back to work/school. Colton’s parents came to visit so that was really encouraging for them.

Mom & Dad went back to NY for a few days and Dad is actually on his way here right now. He will be here until Wednesday when he will take me HOME! I am being discharged and can’t wait to get back to NY! I will be looking forward to lots of visitors. (And good food)

bittersweet melodies

03 Friday May 2013

Posted by ginamd in Uncategorized

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Tags

Bostonmarathon, Bostonstrong, Bstrong, Pete DiMartino, Peter DiMartino

Tonight I did something I haven’t done in a long time. Maybe ever. I prayed with my brother. We held hands, closed our eyes, cried, and prayed. He was worried about our friend’s dad who isn’t doing well health wise, so we prayed for him. We prayed for peace and a painless night and for sleep. That seemed to apply to us also so I prayed the same things for us. Peace. Painless nights. Sleep. He squeezed my hand tighter and tighter. I cried harder and harder. When I said “amen” he hugged me. As much as you can hug when one of you is in a hospital bed and the other in a wheel chair. But we made it work. He hugged me and said he loved me. And then handed me the box of tissues.

This has been so hard. I don’t know why it happened to us. It’s hard to stay upbeat and positive all the time. But, tonight I prayed with my brother. And for tonight, that’s enough.

Shauna Niequist

02 Thursday May 2013

Posted by ginamd in Uncategorized

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Bostonmarathon, Bostonstrong, Bstrong, Shauna Niequist

So this is one of the most amazing things that has happened to me throughout all this crazy bombing/hospital/rehab/leg cast situation. Famous people have been visiting all the victims. Red Sox players, Celtics, Patriots, the President, Kevin Spacey, Bradley Cooper…Anyway, my sister emailed Shauna Niequist, who is one of my favorite authors and explained to her our situation, and she made this video for me and sent me a package full of cards and goodies from Chicago. (I haven’t gotten the package yet as this rehab place is over protective and won’t let us get any mail) But I am SO excited to see what is in it!

A few weeks ago I had the privilege to review Shauna’s new book Bread & Wine. You can see the review here. I love her writing. She is an inspiration to me and it is just the coolest thing that she sent me this video. The body of Christ is amazing. And I’m so glad she’s my “sister”.

Password for the video is Gina (capital G)

God of Angel Armies

29 Monday Apr 2013

Posted by ginamd in Uncategorized

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Bostonmarathon, Bostonstrong, Bstrong, Chris Tomlin, God of Angel Armies, Psalm 34:7, Whom shall I fear

The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them.
Psalm 34:7

I’ve spoken to so many people today and the same subject keeps coming up so I can’t help but put down a few thoughts about it. Maybe it will answer some questions for you. Or maybe it will just make you more confused.

There are lots of photographs on the news or online or in magazines of the bombing. We are in a lot of them. We were a large group, so it is expected that of the 10 of us, we’d show up in a few pictures. I’m wearing a fuchsia tshirt, so I’m easy to spot. Anyway. I haven’t really looked at any of the pictures. I haven’t watched any of the news. I lived it, I don’t want to see it over and over. For me that works, for others, they want to explore every photograph and put the pieces together.

Anyway, there have been several comments that whenever we show up in a picture, there is utter chaos surrounding us, but we all look so peaceful. We are either laying patiently on the ground, or sitting calmly. In the midst of chaos, peace. And I never would have had a second thought about it, but several people have brought it up today. And I’m not ready to write about all that happened in those moments. The explosion etc, but I would like to address this one subject.

First of all, there must have been hundreds of angels all around us. The new Chris Tomlin song Whom Shall I Fear kept running through my head. “The God of Angel armies is always by my side”. So yes, I believe there were angels all around us. We were so close to the bomb, we should be hurt much worse, or even dead. Although our injuries are extensive, they should have been much worse. Second, Colton brought this up to me today. People keep asking “where was God in all of this?” Just look at the pictures. Look at the chaos and then look at me or Rebekah, or Peter or Kim or Colton. That’s where God was. We are His children, filled with His Spirit. In the midst of chaos, He WAS there. Third, I believe that God gave us so so much grace. Grace to think clearly. To know how to respond in trauma. To know to tie tourniquets. Or to coach people to breathe. Or to know how to communicate with the first responders. Not one of us lost control or freaked out.

Someday I’m sure I will look at the pictures. But I just want you to know today, that God was there. He was with us. We would not be where we are today if it weren’t for Him. And as we are experiencing more and more of His grace everyday, we are amazed and speechless and we just keep clinging to Him.

I know who goes before me
I know who stands behind
The God of angel armies is always by my side
The One who reigns forever
He is a friend of mine
The God of angel armies is always by my side

My injuries

28 Sunday Apr 2013

Posted by ginamd in Uncategorized

≈ 11 Comments

Tags

Bostonmarathon, Bostonstrong, Bstrong

Dad don’t read this.

So everyone is asking what happened to me and what’s wrong and what’s going on and how quickly I will recover, so I figured I’d explain it all as best I can.

When the bomb went off, something made a huge gash in the back of my right leg right near the bend of my knee. It is about a 9-10 inch horizontal cut. It was so deep that it severed my main artery and 2 main nerves. I lost a ton of blood. I think I got at least 4 units, but I’m not sure if I got more than that. My left leg has some cuts on it as well, but nothing that required stitches or anything. It is all black and blue and ugly with scratches and cuts, but it will heal fine. Back to my right leg. So in my first surgery they repaired my artery and cleaned it all up. A portion of my calf was also cut off/blown off? But it was small so it’s not like I’ll have a huge gap in the back of my leg where my calf should be :-). Ok so second surgery I have no idea what they did. Third surgery they reattached my nerves and closed up the wound. My entire leg is in a splint with my knee kept bent at an angle. The reason for this is so that the nerves don’t get stretched while they are trying to heal. I also have a boot on my foot. I am getting a hard cast on Tuesday and it will again be my entire leg. And I’m sure I will keep the boot on my foot.

My foot has no feeling. I have a small spot in the arch of my foot where I can feel if someone is touching me, but other than that, nothing. I also can’t move my foot or my ankle. This is because of the nerves being cut. Nerves repair at a very slow rate. In my case, since the nerve now has to “grow” from my knee to my toes, they said it will take roughly 400 days for the nerve to get all the way down. So I may not feel, or be able to move my toes for over a year. I’m not sure what this means for walking. Also, since it is my right leg this also means I may not be able to drive for over a year. Which is a very frustrating thought!

Since the nerves have been reattached I have CRAZY nerve sensations going on all in my foot and toes which is a really good sign, but still no feeling. So if you are praying for my injuries maybe this will help you be a little more specific. Pray my nerves repair way faster than expected, pray I regain feeling and movement in my foot/ankle/toes, pray that I don’t die being in a full leg cast for 8 weeks :-), and pray that my wound heals up perfectly.

Thank you all so much for the unbelievable support, love and prayers. I certainly couldn’t do any of this without you.

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