Monday is the day.
That's when Aimee Copeland will leave the Augusta hospital where she was admitted nearly a month ago with a rare, flesh-decaying infection that claimed her left leg, right foot and both hands.
Copeland, 24, will move from Doctor's Hospital to an inpatient rehabilitation clinic, her father, Andy Copeland, told the AJC on Wednesday. He declined to say where Copeland will get rehabilitation treatment. He said the family is considering several clinics across the country and will finalize plans for her stay Wednesday evening.
"She's real excited about leaving" the hospital, Andy Copeland said.
Copeland has made a rapid recovery from the horrific incident that began May 1 when she suffered a deep cut on her calf after falling onto rocks when a zip line she was riding snapped over the Little Tallapoosa River near Carrollton.
The University of West Georgia graduate student soon became infected with a bacteria that normally is harmless, but in Copeland it caused necrotizing fasciitis, which destroys body tissues. The bacteria's toxins did extensive damage, forcing doctors to amputate Copeland's left leg at the hip, her right foot and hands. Surgeons also removed part of her torso. They also performed grafts to replace skin that was removed. Doctors at first gave Copeland a slim chance of surviving the ordeal.
Andy Copeland has detailed his daughter's impressive recovery in occasional blog updates.
"After the initial amputations, doctors told us she could be here for months," he said. "It's simply amazing to me how far she's come" in about seven weeks.
On Monday, doctors upgraded Copeland's condition to good from serious. And over the weekend, she went outside in a wheelchair for the first time since arriving in May. The family issued a photo of a smiling Aimee basking in the sunshine.
Copeland will spend about two months learning to use her amputated limbs — as in shifting from her bed to her wheelchair, her father said.
After that, she will move on to another round of therapy in which she'll learn to use prosthetic limbs.
Meanwhile, Aimee Copeland plans to work on her graduate thesis in psychology. She wants to graduate from UWG in December.
"She is very ambitious with her plan right now," Andy Copeland said. "She said, 'You know, I want to have that done and I want to be able to walk in December.' She meant walk across the stage in prosthetic limbs and get her master's degree. I don't know when she's going to find time to work on her thesis. But she's going to work it out."
