Support Carli's Recovery from Sepsis

**Thank you for taking the time to read this! The short version: After 35 days in the ICU + hospital after experiencing sepsis, we are asking for your support for our friend, colleague, and neighbor, Carli Rohner (see how you can help below!).

All proceeds collected will be given to Carli, and we share details of her experience with her permission. **

What Happened?

On March 15th, Carli went to the emergency room after experiencing intense pain in her back and prolonged nausea. There, she was diagnosed with strep and necrotizing pneumonia, which had caused a sizable hole to develop in her right lung.

Unfortunately, the strain of strep (Strep-A) that caused the pneumonia was incredibly aggressive, and also put Carli into septic shock, attacking every system in her body.

Carli was quickly transferred from Dallas to the ICU in Salem, where she spent most of the next week on a ventilator and dialysis machine.

The Physical Impact

While the incredible medical team at Salem Health ICU were able to save Carli’s life, she was left with numerous, critical health challenges. We have chosen to share a few here to help outline the breadth of challenges she has experienced, and continues to experience.

An incredibly active person (she had just been hiking in New Mexico in the days prior to this event!), Carli unfortunately lost use of her feet as a common, secondary injury during a procedure in the ICU. This has required intensive inpatient rehabilitation, outpatient therapy, and learning to walk again. She now utilizes a walker, and works closely with several providers (including PT), maintaining optimism that she will regain as much of her mobility as possible.

The damage to Carli’s lung from the pneumonia (including the hole) required additional surgery to mitigate infection and preserve function, which will be healing over the next six months.

Sepsis moves quickly, and can impact someone’s entire body in a short amount of time, with side effects that last well beyond hospitalization. Carli now navigates Post Sepsis Syndrome, working daily to address the many symptoms caused by sepsis.

How You Can Help

When all was said and done, Carli ended up spending 35 days in the hospital. 35 days that held uncertainty, surgeries, procedures, tests, a lot of physical therapy, and a level of grit and determination on Carli’s part that I wish I could fully convey to you. 

As you can imagine, this length of hospital stay, and the months of ongoing rehabilitation necessary to heal from this kind of event, gets expensive, and very quickly.

Now, we are asking for your support so that Carli can continue to focus on recovering. All money raised will go to Carli to pay hospital bills accrued during her 35-day stay, as well as all follow-up appointments, procedures, and equipment needed to ensure she fully heals. 

Three ways you can help:

We recognize that a financial contribution may not be feasible for some, and we fully respect and understand that. Carli, her family and friends appreciate your sharing this campaign, sending well-wishes and good thoughts equally during this time!