Emden resident Nathan Rohlfs miraculous recovery from covid complications

 

[December 12, 2020] 

On Saturday, December 5, a parade of more than 150 cars, trucks, and tractors, led by fire engines and rescue vehicles proceeded to pass slowly past Nathan Rohlfs’ home. The parade showed how much a small community means when one of their own needs support.

Nate has spent the past three months in hospitals fighting Covid-19. It was the struggle of his life that he nearly lost.

In September, the 43-year-old Rohlfs had been flown by helicopter from Springfield Memorial to Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis with complications from covid and pneumonia. The prognosis was not good.

For most of his three months in hospitals, Nate was heavily sedated and breathed with a ventilator, his blood circulated through an ECMO, and a feeding tube inserted through his nose.

Through a video interview, Rohlfs’ wife Cari (Redding) Rohlfs and his mother Kathy Rohlfs provided a timeline of Nate’s long journey leading to his return home last week.

Cari and Kathy report that on August 31, Nate was feverish and tests showed he was infected with the corona virus. He quarantined himself at home. The fever continued, his head throbbed, and at times he became sick at his stomach.

To Nate and Cari, this seemed to be the usual course for the disease, especially for a young, healthy man like Nate. The family observed the social distancing and masking rules, but did not become alarmed for a week.

Then, September 6, when Cari checked on Nate, sequestered in his room, he was breathing with great difficulty and speaking in delirious ways.
Cari got Nate to the car and rushed him to Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital (ALMH) in Lincoln. The emergency room at ALMH connected oxygen to Nate and sent him by ambulance to Memorial Medical Center in Springfield.

Doctors in Springfield discovered that Nate’s covid had progressed into pneumonia, causing his lungs to stiffen. By September 9, Nate’s breathing was increasingly labored even with the CPAP machine and oxygen. That day, Nate was sedated and put on a ventilator that was turned up high to help his oxygen levels. The sedation put him into a near-coma state so that he could not move.

On September 11, in their daily telephone report the doctors at Memorial informed Cari that they did not think Nate was going to make it. They planned to send Nate to Barnes Hospital in St. Louis for treatment in a few days. Cari was not sure he would make it for a few days until he could be transported. She asked the doctors at Memorial to see whether Barnes had openings that day. By evening, Nate had been airlifted by helicopter to Barnes.

When Nate arrived at Barnes Hospital, doctors adjusted his ventilator, which improved his oxygen levels. The family was temporarily relieved, thinking Nate was getting the best possible medical care. A week later, on September 19, his condition had regressed, and he was attached to an ECMO machine to continuously filter and oxygenate his blood.

On October 3, Nate was bleeding and had a CAT scan, but they were unable to find the source of the bleeding. Nate’s lungs were still stiff, and it seemed the ECMO was not doing its job. Nate was put on more antibiotics due to infection. He remained motionless under heavy sedation.

Two days later, scans of Nate’s lungs started showing improvement.

On October 11, Nate finally tested negative for covid, so Cari was finally allowed to visit him. She stayed in a hotel next to the hospital for the rest of his hospital stay. The family was relieved that Cari could finally be with him because until Nate tested negative, no one was able to be with him. As the family said, some people with covid have had to spend their final moments alone.

Though Nate’s covid was negative, he was fighting the ventilator. The next day doctors surgically inserted a tracheotomy to place the ventilator into his throat instead of through his mouth. The doctors cauterized the trach site to prevent bleeding.

After 28 days on the ECMO, Nate was removed from it on October 17. His lung volume was improving. But he was not completely out of the woods yet.

On October 28, one of Nate’s lungs collapsed and doctors inserted a chest tube to re-inflate it.

At this time, doctors told Cari that Nate would likely never be able to live off the ventilator. If Nate made it six months, doctors told Cari, he could be put on a lung transplant list. She refused to believe them, telling them they did not know Nate. He is a fighter, she told them.

Along the way, Nate’s body became dependent on the sedation. He was still having fevers. When doctors lowered the ventilation, his oxygen levels would drop.

Nate’s fighting spirit was apparent the very next day. Two days after that, Nate was moved to the less critical side of the ICU. On November 10, he was taken off the ventilator. But two days later, Nate had another setback and had to be hooked back up to the ventilator. He remained on the ventilator this time for more than a week.

On November 19, doctors inserted a new chest tube to re-inflate one of his lungs. That same day, Nate was moved into a lung patient rehabilitation room at Barnes.

The next two weeks, Nate continued to improve. Nate’s second chest tube was removed November 24 and his tracheotomy on November 29.

After 87 days in the hospital, Cari brought Nate home on December 2. Two buddies carried him to the house.

Since Nate has been home, Cari reports that he is continuing to do well. Nate gets worn out easily and is trying to build up his strength.

Just standing up and using his walker to go down the hall can wear him out. Cari explains that after being sedated for so long, Nate’s right foot drops. He is wearing a special brace to help him walk.

Cari was delighted with Nate’s care at Barnes Hospital, which she describes as “incredible and amazing.” Kathy says that doctors have called Nate’s recovery a miracle. Nate’s wife, mother, and the rest of his family know that he is a true fighter, and that his spirit will ensure that he fully recovers and gains back his strength.

People across the nation were praying and following Nate’s story. The family believes those prayers from hundreds of people got him through. They credit God above all and the prayers, along with Nate’s spirit for his astonishing progress.

The family asks for prayers for Nate’s continued healing, but also want for people to take this virus seriously.

Nate’s sister Kristin has said Nate’s story had a purpose. So many people have told the family they think twice after hearing Nate’s story and now wear a mask and avoid large crowds.

Covid-19 does not discriminate. Therefore, Kristin wants people to do what they can to prevent another family from having to experience what the Rohlfs’ family has been through.

As the long line of vehicles on Saturday showed, many people are happy to see Nate doing so much better. Many people are also treating covid with more respect, and the precautions of social distancing and masks more seriously.

Link to video of the parade of vehicles:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1v-3_KDa0GD8HC_V4Bpk0iucY0-gu1w0-/view

[Angela Reiners]