Let's take this step by step as this may take a lot of work and would be great to have the feedback of other guys here at certain stages....
I'll start.... I'm using PS7 but will apply to your CS... ( @
MrToM ..... don't say it... lol ) .... I hate it whenever I use CS with internet on....
You can bring out detail by using levels adjustment....
from here, you can delete whatevers not needed. Blend the details into your background. Now you've got the needed details to work on.....
It has been said in numerous image enhancement discussions that you can't improve on what is not there. For extreme washout issues, you can only do so much to bring out detail..... but there's no harm in giving it a do or die try....
Give it a try as well. You might be able to take it a step further.... and post what you came up with.
Others may have other ideas for this first step. Let's wait and see what they got....