Woman Gets 4 Limbs Amputated After Developing Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever From Tick Bite
Following a short trip to Northeast Oklahoma, Jo Rogers, 40, and her family returned home to have their worlds turned upside down. After trips to three different hospitals, doctors were finally able to identify what had caused her heath to deteriorate in a matter of days: the worst case of Rocky Mountain spotted fever they had ever encountered. Doctors were forced to amputate all four of Rogers’s limbs in order to save her life, and they fear she’s not out of the woods just yet.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Rocky Mountain spotted fever is a tickborne illness caused by a rare and aggressive bacterium known as Rickettsia rickettsii. This potentially fatal human illness found primarily in North and South America can be transmitted to humans via the bite of several infected tick species, including American dog tick, Rocky Mountain wood tick, and brown dog tick.
Rocky Mountain spotted fever is usually treatable within five days of infection. Unfortunately, Rogers missed that window, which led to the severity of her case. Shortly after going into septic shock at the first of three different hospitals, doctors decided to place her in a medically induced coma. Tests for viral and bacterial infections, such as West Nile and meningitis, all came back negative and doctors started to scramble for an answer.
Her medical team made the decision to amputate all four of her limbs to ensure that the infection did not spread to any of her vital organs. Both of her arms were amputated mid-forearm, her left leg was removed below the knee, and her right left was removed mid-thigh. If that wasn’t enough, her doctors fear that more surgeries will be needed to prevent the infection from spreading further.
On Aug. 3, Rogers and her husband Keith were supposed to celebrate their 14th wedding anniversary. Instead, Keith spent the day in Jo’s hospital room, where she remains on a ventilator and heavily sedated while doctors fend off the possibility of pneumonia. Her insurance will only be able to cover her stay for a couple of more months. After that, she and her family will have a mountain of medical bills to deal with, including rehab, prosthetics, and renovations to her home and car to fit her needs.
Rogers’s cousin, Lisa James Morgan, launched a GoFundMe account to help quell some of the financial burden.