Jonathan's Story
Jonathan Pope, 22, moved to Augusta, Ga., to help care for his grandfather and began a job as a maintenance worker for the county. During that time, he noticed a nagging health concern of his own; he occasionally experienced shortness of breath. It wasn’t until he went into acute respiratory failure – he couldn’t breathe – that he went to the emergency room at Doctors Hospital in Augusta.
Jonathan’s condition deteriorated rapidly, requiring a ventilator to breathe. Physicians told him his lungs were scarred from breathing chlorine fumes and he now had pneumonia.
For seven weeks, Jonathan clung to life in the intensive care unit. He was connected to extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) to support his heart and lungs. ECMO pumps blood out of the body and sends it through a machine that adds oxygen and removes carbon dioxide.
When Jonathan didn’t improve, he was transferred to Wellstar MCG, a university-affiliated hospital offering a higher level of care.
At Wellstar, Jonathan’s condition stabilized and he underwent procedures to insert a tracheostomy – an incision in his airway that housed a tube connected to a ventilator – and a feeding tube in his stomach.
Three weeks later, Jonathan moved to a critical illness recovery hospital to continue healing. His family was referred to Select Specialty Hospital – Augusta (SSH – Augusta) for its expertise in addressing pulmonary challenges like the ones Jonathan faced.
When he arrived, Jonathan was unable to breathe, eat, walk, talk or understand everything that was going on around him. Short term, he wanted to breathe independently, get his tracheostomy removed, walk, talk and eat again. Long term, he wanted to return home.
His physician-led team that included nurses and therapists aligned around those goals.
Jonathan participated in respiratory, physical, occupational and speech therapy daily and when he wasn’t in therapy, nurses reinforced what he was learning there. To help him breathe independently again, respiratory therapists lowered his ventilator settings or turned it off completely and monitored what he could do on his own. These activities and others helped strengthen his damaged lungs.
Meanwhile, Jonathan was weak from being in bed for 2 ½ months so physical therapy focused on strengthening his muscles. He started by sitting in bed or in a chair and progressed to holding himself upright on the edge of his bed to engage his core muscles. A tilt table, which allows a patient to gradually place weight back on their legs, helped Jonathan bridge the gap between sitting and standing. Once he was able to stand and step sideways while holding onto the parallel bars, he began to take steps.
Six weeks later, Jonathan was completely off the ventilator. Three days after that, his tracheostomy was removed.
One of his most inspiring moments came when he was able to walk a few steps between the parallel bars.
Within one month, Jonathan was walking again.
“I knew then I was on the up and up,” he said.
Occupational therapists worked with Jonathan on activities of daily living such as grooming and techniques for safely moving from one location to another. Speech collaborated with respiratory therapy and placed a special valve on his tracheostomy that allowed Jonathan to talk for the first time in over a month. The valve also improved his ability to protect his airway when eating and drinking. After a special test to ensure he wasn’t aspirating, Jonathan was able to eat again, starting with liquids and soft foods and progressing to a normal diet.
Throughout his journey at Select Specialty Hospital, his family – particularly his father and grandfather – were by his side, supporting and encouraging him. That’s important for keeping hope, he said.
Seven weeks after admission, Jonathan was discharged to Doctor’s Rehabilitation Hospital to continue his recovery.
He commended the nurses at Select Specialty Hospital, saying they were seasoned and attentive to all of his needs, and is grateful for the care and compassion he received from all of the staff.