A holiday trip turned into a nightmare for an Oklahoma family.
Jo Rogers, a mother of two is now in the hospital after a tick bite left her a quadruple amputee.
Jo Rogers’ family says she visited Grand Lake in northeast Oklahoma in July. While there, she was bitten by a tick.
Four days later, Roger thought she had the flu. A day after that, she realized it was something much worse.
Rogers’ cousin, Lisa Morgan said, “She was shaking her hands because they hurt, her feet hurt, They tested her for West Nile Virus and for meningitis.”
Rogers’ body then went into shock.
Those results came back negative. But by day six, doctors said Jo’s organs were shutting down, and by day 7…
“By Saturday morning her hands and feet were turning dark blue and black,” Morgan said.
And it was then someone thought to check for what may have happened just one week earlier.
“She got bit by a tick,” Morgan said.
That one bite was enough for Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever to ravage Jo’s body, forcing doctors to amputate her right leg and go from there.
“Below the knee of her left leg and below both elbows of her arms to save her life, to keep the infection from getting to her vital organs,” Morgan said.
Now, a quad amputee, Jo’s family is rallying around her. They are raising money to help her in a new life. They say she’s lucky to have.
“You’re still with us, you’re going to get to watch your boys grow up and you’ve got a lot people pulling for you, she really does,” Morgan said.
One tiny bite was all it took for Rocky Mountain spotted fever to flood into the woman’s bloodstream and wreak havoc on her body. RMSF is a potentially fatal tick-borne disease caused by the bacterium Rickettsia rickettsii, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The symptoms — fever, headache, nausea, vomiting, and rash — can mimic a lot of viruses.
The intensity of Jo Rogers’ case may be rare, but these infections, unfortunately, are not. Few people die from Rocky Mountain spotted fever anymore, since it can be effectively treated with antibiotics, but treatment should start in the first five days of infection. Jo sadly missed that time frame, dismissing her symptoms as an intense case of the flu.
Keith Rogers visited his wife every day at the hospital as she battled other complications from RMSF, including blood clots in her lungs that necessitated a tracheotomy.
He said, “Every day is a new challenge, I go in there, sit and talk to her and show her pictures of how our two boys are doing. I show her videos of her two dogs back at home. I try to keep it normal, but it gets very hard because she’ll want me not to leave, and it’s so hard because I can’t take her with me.”
Lucky for Jo Rogers, her family is sticking by her side and making sure she has everything she needs to get through this difficult time.
Although it was an extremely rough recovery process, Jo Rogers has since made her way back home. Jo is determined to be independent and is grateful for her life. She was moved to tears by all of the cards, comments, prayers, well-wishes, and generosity from everyone. She believes the love and
Even though she is dependent on a wheelchair to get around, her family and friends are just glad that she made it out alive. I’m sure her boys are more than happy to still have their mother, even if she can’t do all the things she once could. No one could possibly imagine what this woman is going through right now, but it’s nice to see that she has a very good support system in place for her as she adjusts to life outside of the hospital.
Sources: Taphaps, Yahoo, Edition.cnn