Aimee Copeland moved closer to rehabilitation this week after physicians began skin grafts to close a “massive” wound left in her battle against a flesh-eating bacteria, her father reported Friday.
In his occasional Facebook updates on his daughter's recovery, Andy Copeland said she began the grafts Monday and more grafts were planned Friday.
“The surgery today will bring her one step closer to her biggest challenge yet,” Copeland said. “Rehab.”
Amazingly, Copeland said, his daughter has undergone the grafts without the benefit of pain medication. Instead, she’s relied on meditation to get through the procedures.
Aimee Copeland suffered a deep cut near Carrollton on May 1 after falling onto rocks when a zip line snapped over the Little Tallapoosa River.
She soon became infected with bacteria that causes necrotizing fasciitis, which destroys body tissues. The bacteria’s toxins had already done extensive damage in the days after the accident, forcing doctors in Augusta to amputate Aimee’s left leg at the hip, her right foot and both her hands.
To save the woman’s life, Copeland on Friday revealed surgeons also removed a large area of skin and fascia, which attaches the skin to muscle, from her abdomen, side and hip to keep the bacteria’s toxins from spreading to her muscle. The grafts are being performed to replace the skin that was removed.
Copeland said his daughter, a University of West Georgia graduate student who is studying holistic pain management, “opted to meditate” through the procedures instead of relying on medication.
“Aimee despises the use of morphine in her treatment,” Andy Copeland said. “Aimee told me that she feels she is a traitor to her convictions when she uses pharmacological pain management.”
The father said morphine “makes her groggy and confused and it gives her unpleasant hallucinatory episodes.” He added, “I know the pain was significant, but Aimee’s courage is greater.”
Andy Copeland said his daughter has been looking at her wound for a while and is proud of the progress she’s made.
When her condition was upgraded earlier this week to serious from critical, Aimee's reaction was, “Really?”
“In Aimee’s mind, her condition has been stable for some time,” Andy Copeland said. “She can breathe on her own, the trache is gone, she no longer needs dialysis and she is able to eat on her own.”
She still needs supplemental nutrition through a stomach tube and help with other bodily functions, the father said.
Andy Copeland said rehab “is where Aimee will regain her independence and learn to function without assistance.”
Although he didn't mention it, the Copeland family has asked internationally known triathlete and double amputee Scott Rigsby to be a resource and provide emotional support when Aimee is introduced to prosthetics.
Benefit concerts in Snellville
Two concerts are planned in Snellville Friday and Saturday to benefit Copeland and her family. The concerts are from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday on the Snellville Towne Green. More information is available at www.snellvillepride.com and by writing aimeesweekend@gmail.com.
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