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Gina DiMartino

~ An Asheville Foodie, Writer, Creator & Dreamer

Gina DiMartino

Tag Archives: Bstrong

a hopeful transmission

06 Monday Jan 2014

Posted by ginamd in Uncategorized

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Tags

Boston Marathon Bombing, Boston Strong, Bstrong


I am in Texas. I have been here since the 27th. I may never leave. No. I will. Texas is not my favorite place. I’m going home in a week. Next monday. Back to the snow and frigid temperatures. We came down for my cousin’s wedding and I decided to stay to escape the winter for a little while. I’ve become a snow bird. I always thought those people were weird. But I get it now. It’s mostly because its hard for me to walk on ice and snow and it makes me nervous to drive left-footed on snowy roads. So, I stayed in TX with my Aunt, Uncle, Grandma, & 4 boy cousins.

December 11th we left Rochester for Boston and then left Boston for France. It was such a great trip and I am working on blogging pictures/stories so look for those in the next few days! We were home for 4 days and then jumped on a plane again and headed to San Antonio, Austin, & Dallas. (Which is where I am currently)

Overall. I feel like I have been gone from home forever. I miss my bed and my dog and my church and my friends! (not necessarily in that order) I have had some requests to know how I am doing and how my leg is, so here is a little update.

I have been away from PT for almost a month so I feel LAZY and like I haven’t been making very much progress. My scar is slowly fading. I am slowly gaining feeling down my leg. I have tingles all the way to my fourth toe. The three big toes have no tingles, but 4th and baby get a little. That’s only if I tap them repeatedly. My feeling is mostly normal about halfway down my calf. It’s not perfect, but I can tell if something is touching me at least. I have better movement in my ankle and toes. I can move my foot up and down and out to the right. I can’t move it inwards at all. My third toe curls pretty well but none of the others really do. I’ll try to attach a video to this post so you can see the progress. Keep in mind that at the beginning I had absolutely NO movement of my foot/ankle/toes. So any movement is a positive thing.

I still wear a brace that goes almost to my knee, but I walk around the house without it as long as I’m not standing for a long period of time. I can balance on my bad foot for about 3-4 seconds which is huge. When I first started balancing I couldn’t even put all my weight on it and that was only at the beginning of November. So I am gaining strength, mobility, and feeling every day. I still have pain. My good knee bothers me a lot because it has been taking a beating for the past 8 months. My back bothers me a lot. I think this is residual from being on crutches for 6 months and also my limp throws it off all the time. The medicine I am on makes me so tired. So I feel lazy and lethargic all the time. I just want to take a nap! My bad leg still has nerve pain, but it’s not as intense as it has been. It is mostly when I go to bed. It starts zapping me like crazy and won’t let up for a while. It also gets really sore if I walk or stand a lot. But I usually try to push through within reason. It needs to get stronger!

I do PT 3 days a week still when I am home. About 2 hours each time. I started working with a personal trainer right before we left for France so I will start a weight lifting/swimming program when I get home the other 3 days of the week. Hopefully I can get my strength and energy back! I think that’s about it! Quick update on me. France trip blogs to commence asap!

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WORLD Magazine article: Rochester Strong

29 Tuesday Oct 2013

Posted by ginamd in Uncategorized

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Boston Marathon, Boston Strong, Bstrong, Jamie Dean, Rochester Strong

 We recently had a great article in the WORLD magazine and I forgot to share it with you! Here it is! Jamie Dean did a great job sharing our story from a Christian perspective.

Rochester strong: Jamie Dean

BOSTON BOMBINGS | The DiMartino family is one among many beginning a life forever altered by the Boston bombing

HEALING: Gina, Peter, and his girlfriend (from right to left) recovering at the Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital.Enlarge Image

Photo courtesy of the DiMartino family
HEALING: Gina, Peter, and his girlfriend (from right to left) recovering at the Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital.

Gina DiMartino’s summer plans in Rochester, N.Y., include reading, sketching, visiting a local pool, and waiting for the severely damaged nerves in her right leg to regrow from her knee to her toes.

It’s not how she imagined the summer.

DiMartino, 31, also didn’t envision sharing a room in her parents’ home with her 28-year-old brother, Peter, while he waits for his nearly severed Achilles tendon to mend. Like hundreds of others injured in the Boston bombing in April, a spring trip brought a summer season of coping with the aftermath of terrorism.

Nearly three months after two bombs at the Boston Marathon killed three people and injured at least 265, the long recovery continues. At least 15 survivors are coping with missing limbs. Others are healing from nerve damage, broken bones, and burns. Families are learning to care for them. Many—including uninjured bystanders—are confronting the trauma of a day seared into their memories.

For DiMartino, some days bring pain and frustration as she learns to manage an injured leg and a foot she may not feel for at least a year. But the Christian and worship team member at a local church says the experience has also brought an unexpected sense of clarity. “I know I’m right where God wants me to be,” she says. “And that’s a good feeling.”

The journey from terror on a Boston sidewalk to comfort in a Rochester living room hasn’t been easy. But DiMartino’s story is one example that offers Christ-centered hope for others facing a summer they didn’t expect.

For DiMartino, confronting life changes began before the Boston bombings. In March, the Liberty University graduate (MBA) had just moved back to her parents’ home in Rochester, N.Y., after living and working in Kansas for several months. (DiMartino has worked for Starbucks for nine years.)

She wrestled with uncertainty about her future, and contemplated the next phase of her life. The time in Kansas didn’t bring answers. DiMartino returned to Rochester, played keyboards at Northridge Church, and prayed for guidance.

She also prepared for a road trip: Her family planned to travel to Boston to watch her mother, Mona, run in the Boston Marathon.

The group included DiMartino, her parents, her brother, Peter, and her sister and brother-in-law from Asheville, N.C. Peter’s girlfriend flew up from Houston with her young son. The group enjoyed a weekend of visiting relatives and watching a Red Sox game in seats atop the Green Monster—the 37-foot, left field wall at Fenway Park.

On Monday morning, DiMartino tracked her mother on an app that showed her location on the marathon route. By Monday afternoon, the family gathered at the finish line. The mood was festive. DiMartino’s father crossed the street to get a better angle for a photo.

The next thing DiMartino remembers is a loud sound: “Everybody was kind of lifted up and floating backwards.” The blast muffled DiMartino’s hearing, but she could see blood pouring from her leg. A piece of shrapnel had sliced a 9-inch gash near the bend of her knee, severing a main artery and two main nerves.

The blast also hit Peter, nearly severing his Achilles tendon and causing serious burns on his arms and back. Peter’s girlfriend suffered a severe leg injury, but her son escaped with a cut.

With DiMartino’s father forced by police to stay across the street, and her mother nearly three-quarters of a mile away, her uninjured sister, Kim, took charge. “She took off her coat and shoved it in my leg,” says DiMartino. While Kim and her (also uninjured) husband tended the family, DiMartino remained lucid: She tied a tourniquet around her knee, and tied her bag (containing her wallet, ID, and phone) to the tourniquet. “Then I laid down on the sidewalk,” she says. “And I thought: ‘Okay, I might die now.’”

Emergency workers quickly loaded DiMartino onto an ambulance with another victim. The man pleaded with workers to find his 4-year-old son, and he held DiMartino’s hand during the transport. One of the last things DiMartino remembers is a paramedic calling ahead to the hospital to tell doctors: “We have amputees here.”

Nearly 24 hours later, DiMartino awoke in the Intensive Care Unit of Boston Medical Center. She was thankful to discover she didn’t lose her leg, but she also learned her injury was serious.

On Friday, doctors operated for a third time. As police and FBI agents in nearby Watertown, Mass., combed the streets looking for accused bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, surgeons leaned over DiMartino’s leg, meticulously reconnecting her nerves.

The surgery was successful, but doctors told DiMartino her nerves would have to regrow from her knee to her toes before she could feel her foot again. The estimated time: 400 days.

The next two weeks brought a steady stream of visitors, as her parents alternated visits between DiMartino and her brother. (Peter was recovering from surgery and skin grafts.) Friends and leaders from her church in Rochester drove six hours to visit. And the day before DiMartino left for rehab, another visitor arrived: Steve, the injured man who rode with her in the ambulance.

From their stretchers, Steve and DiMartino greeted each other with tears. DiMartino inquired after his son. He was unharmed. She asked Steve about his own condition. He said he was fine. She pressed, and she learned the truth: The paramedics had been right about his injury. He lost his leg from the knee down.

CHANGE OF PLANS: The DiMartinos along the marathon route with signs for mom.
DiMartino family

CHANGE OF PLANS: The DiMartinos along the marathon route with signs for mom.

CHANGE OF PLANS: Peter working with his therapist in Boston.
Associated Press/Photo by Charles Krupa

CHANGE OF PLANS: Peter working with his therapist in Boston.

CHANGE OF PLANS: Gina recovering at home with a young friend.
DiMartino family

CHANGE OF PLANS: Gina recovering at home with a young friend.In the months since the Boston bombing, dozens of survivors have learned to cope with injury and trauma. Like the DiMartinos, some families had multiple victims. For example, brothers J.P. and Paul Norden, ages 33 and 31, both lost their right leg above the knee.

Major injuries mean lost income and mounting medical bills for many. Weeks-long hospital stays cost tens of thousands of dollars. Depending on the level of technology, a single prosthetic limb can cost between $5,000 and $50,000, according to the advocacy group Amputee Coalition. Patients must replace the limbs every few years.

Depending on caps in patients’ insurance plans, some could face a lifetime of medical bills. And though donors contributed more than $30 million to The One Fund Boston to help cover expenses for survivors, the fund’s administrator acknowledged it wouldn’t be enough to cover all the needs.

For now, many survivors are focusing on moment-by-moment recovery. Some are finding encouragement in their churches and communities. An overflow crowd packed St. Ann Catholic Church in Neponset, Mass., for a memorial service for Martin Richard, one of three killed in the bombing. The family scheduled the service for June 9—Martin’s 9th birthday.

The many children at the service included Martin’s 7-year-old sister, Jane, who lost her left leg below the knee. Priest Sean Connor talked with the children about hope, and remembered Jane’s first words to him after she awoke in the hospital: “Where have you been? You have to pray.”

For those coping with post-traumatic stress, Alasdair Groves—a counselor with the Christian Counseling & Education Foundation (CCEF)—says it’s important to remind survivors: “This is a normal response to an abnormal situation.” (Indeed, some military officials are beginning to drop the “D” from “PTSD,” recognizing that stress after a traumatic situation like combat is less a disorder and more a normal reaction to something terrible.)

For Christians coping with trauma, Groves says it’s important to learn to embrace both God’s sovereignty and His goodness: “It’s like the story of the redemption of the world: It started great, it went bad, but it’s going to get better. That’s how God works.”

Groves emphasizes that’s not a trite saying, but a process that takes time. Those helping survivors of trauma must give room to grieve and suffer. But Christians who embrace God’s sovereignty can believe God will use evil for good, he says: “You will be useful for having gone through this.”

Back in Rochester, that’s DiMartino’s hope. These days, she balances doctor appointments and rehab with sketching, reading, welcoming visitors, and slowly returning to cooking. Her blog features recipes, music, and pictures of smiling visits with friends.

She’s thankful she and her brother are safe, and says she doesn’t mind sharing a room. (Peter moved back to his parents’ home to recover, and DiMartino can’t climb the stairs to her upstairs bedroom.)

Still, some days are hard: She can’t leave the house without help. She still hasn’t gone into a crowd of people. Everything takes longer. She knows her recovery will be a long process. Not long after returning home, she blogged: “I did sit down on the couch and cry tonight. … But my sweet parents sat with me. Cried with me. And prayed for me. And I know God’s mercies are new every morning. …”

DiMartino says reflecting on her experience helps: She thinks about how her sister—with no medical training—knew exactly what to do in the critical first moments after the bombing.

She thinks about how her spring swimming regimen gave her the upper body strength she would need to use crutches. She thinks about how God is taking care of her family through practical help from her church and friends: “That gives us hope.”

DiMartino began that kind of reflection in the hospital, blogging on April 26 about Matthew 6: “We may never be the same as we were before,” she wrote. “Even if we get to ‘normal’ physically, these events will always be with us.” She continued: “I don’t know what that will look like one month from now, one year from now, ten years from now. But I read these verses and I am comforted. My Father knows what the future looks like, and He tells me: ‘Do not be worried about your life.’”

DiMartino says that’s been a surprising comfort: “I had no idea what to do with my life in March. … And I know it’s not a great answer, but now I know where God wants me to be because I can’t be anywhere else. And I know what he wants me to do because I can’t do anything else. … I’m excited to see what He does with this time, and I just hope I use it wisely.”

In the meantime, she’s happy to return to church. After her second Sunday back, she blogged about a worship song with the line: “You were singing in the dark and whispering Your promise even when I could not hear. …”

She wrote: “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. … He can see. He can hear. He knows what’s up ahead. He will never forsake us. Not even for a moment.”

pieces

10 Saturday Aug 2013

Posted by ginamd in Uncategorized

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Tags

Boston Strong, Bstrong, meredith andrews

Its been 116 days. 116 days since I have felt my toes. Since I have worn two shoes. Since our world was blown to pieces. And today it feels like it. I have to remind myself, the doctor said 400 days. That means I’m 1/4 of the way there. The hardest 1/4 is over with. There will probably be no more surgeries, casts, open wounds, blown eardrums, or bed pans in the next 3/4. I have to keep telling myself the glass is half full. Most days I can stay positive. I can keep my mind off of it. Off the pain, the frustration, the exhaustion. But not always. Some days the glass is just half empty.

I started walking on a treadmill. Its been 2 weeks. I hold onto the sides, and I walk. I started at .8 mph. For 9 minutes. I made myself go up a speed and up a minute every day. I got up to 1.7 mph and 14 minutes. That is a victory. I intend to keep increasing both my pace and time. I also started doing a leg press with both legs. Also improvement. Also I can move my ankle back and forth a little. Up and down doesn’t work yet, but you can tell the muscles are trying so hard. I also walk around my house with no crutches at all. I use them when I go out of the house, but I can function most of the day without them.

I think sometimes when you are so close to something it is so hard to see the tiny improvements you are making each day. Its nice when people notice. When people at church made a huge deal about me not being in a wheel chair. When I finally got to play with the worship band again last week and I had people I never met coming up to me so excited to see me up on the stage. When one of the PT assistants wasn’t there for a few days so when he saw me again was astonished that I was walking on a treadmill, and doing the leg press. Through the eyes of other people I see improvements. I have to remind myself of where I was. When Dara wouldn’t let me use crutches without supervision. When I mostly traveled by wheel chair and ambulance. When I had a full leg cast. When I couldn’t put any weight on my foot. When my leg was bent at a 70 degree angle for 12 weeks. See. I have come so far in this first quarter.

Perspective.

I love Meredith Andrews lately. All her songs seem to speak to me. This one in particular. About all our pieces.

It’s a complex puzzle you call your life
It’s an uphill climb, it’s a constant fight
And it wears you down
Feeling like you’re alone, like you don’t belong
And you won’t be loved if you don’t measure up
And you wear your scars
Like they’re who you are

Give Him your wounds, your bruised and broken pieces
All your questions, all your secrets
You don’t have to hide who you are
You belong to someone greater
Than all your past mistakes and failures
Rest in who He is
He knows how to make your pieces fit

He’s the light on the road when you’re lost in the dark
And He won’t run away if you show your heart
Wants you to believe it
You can taste that freedom

Give Him your wounds, your bruised and broken pieces
All your questions, all your secrets
You don’t have to hide who you are
You belong to someone greater
Than all your past mistakes and failures
Rest in who He is
He knows how to make your pieces fit

You are completely known
You are completely loved
This is where you belong

Give Him your wounds, your bruised and broken pieces
All your questions, all your secrets
You don’t have to hide who you are
You belong to someone greater
Than all your past mistakes and failures
Rest in who He is
He knows how to make your pieces fit

drive

25 Thursday Jul 2013

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Tags

Boston Marathon, Boston Strong, Bstrong, left foot driving, left foot gas pedal

I can drive. I can drive. I can drive! Whoop! It is so freeing. Here are a few pictures. People have been so interested in the foot pedal situation so I figured I would share with everyone exactly how driving with my left foot works.

IMG_5678

The left pedal has a bar that goes over to the regular gas pedal. So when I push the pedal on the left, it in turn pushes the regular gas. There is a plate over the regular gas so I can not push it on mistake with my right foot. This is also nice because I have somewhere to rest my boot without worrying about it getting in the way.

IMG_5642

It took some getting used to. I have to go to a driving class two different days. I practiced indoors with fake pedals at first. And then drove the school’s car for about 45 minutes each day. The instructor took me through all different types of area so I would get used to driving in stop and go traffic, on the highway, on small side roads etc. I then had to get an amended drivers license that says I am allowed to drive with special equipment.

IMG_5640

It also pops right out so that if someone else needs to drive my car they can.

slow and steady

25 Tuesday Jun 2013

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Boston Marthon, Boston Strong, Bstrong

I got a new boot. And my leg brace is at 0 degrees. Which means I can now straighten my leg all the way. If my leg would cooperate. Which it isn’t currently and it is hovering somewhere around 13 degrees. I have to stretch it every day. PAINFUL! The new boot is a walking boot. Which means…walking! Right now I can only put my toes down and barely put any weight on it at all, but my poor baby leg hasn’t had any weight on it in oh 68 ish days?? So it is a WHIMP! I started doing some muscle strengthening with it today and it was not fun. I can BARELY squeeze my quad muscle. It just twitches and dies. But I will keep working at it. Also, the best news, I don’t have to wear my brace to bed anymore! I still have to wear this huge puffy boot to keep my foot from flopping around, BUT no brace! And that is SOO much more comfortable for sleeping. So nice! I’m off all pain meds except for the nerve pain one, and I don’t have to wake up during the night anymore to take them. Also good for sleeping. I don’t notice anymore feeling in my leg, but as the doctors keep saying, it will just take time. So things are progressing, but slowly. I am anxious to be walking around like normal and not have to use crutches, but know I need to have patience. I was cleared to start swimming so I can’t WAIT to start doing some laps and water walking! I think it will feel sooooo good! Overall I’m doing great. I have lots of soreness/stiffness but I know that’s just part of the process. Next week I’m taking a class so I can start driving, which is awesome! Summer is here and I’m enjoying the hot weather and the sunshine. Can’t wait to get into the pool!

Just a quick update for you all. Thank you so much for your prayers!

meant to be

14 Friday Jun 2013

Posted by ginamd in Uncategorized

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Tags

Boston Marathon, Boston Strong, Bstrong

A girl who checked me out at the store tonight asked me what happened to my foot. I’m always so reluctant to say “I was in the boston bombing” It just sounds weird to say. Also, then people feel really terrible for asking you. But she didn’t skip a beat. Her eyes opened wide and she said “Well, there must be a really important reason you are still here. I’m glad you’re still here”

WHAT!?

What an amazing response!

NO ONE has said that to me since the bombing. There must be an important reason I am still here. I admit I have thought about this. I could have died that day. But I didn’t. God spared my life. God spared OUR lives. How humbling to think about that. So much more pressure! Whatever he has for me to do, I need to be able to do that with excellence. I can’t wait to see what God has in store for me.

So humbling, but so, so exciting!

Only mostly dead

10 Monday Jun 2013

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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!

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

≈ 1 Comment

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.

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