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KENNEWICK Sherri Zuhlke hasn't had an appetite since she woke up from an induced coma nearly two weeks ago, but she can't wait to eat some smoked turkey today.
She may have only a few bites, but that'll be a big step for the 33-year-old Kennewick woman.
A week ago she could barely talk, mumbling a few words here and there. A few weeks before that, she was hooked up to a breathing machine and her family didn't know when she'd come out of the coma and start breathing on her own.
"Every day there's a huge difference" in how she improves, her brother, Jason Zuhlke, said while standing in Sherri's room at Kennewick General Hospital this week.
"She's doing amazing," added her father, Doyle Zuhlke, as he watched Sherri talking and motioning with her right hand. Just a day earlier she couldn't even pick up her right hand.
Sherri Zuhlke was admitted to the hospital 36 days ago with severe pneumonia that was likely a complication of swine flu, her family said.
She then developed acute respiratory distress syndrome, which causes the lungs to stop absorbing oxygen. That's when doctors induced the coma and hooked her up to the breathing machine.
After that, she developed pancreatitis and her kidneys shut down, forcing her to go on dialysis.
"She was so swollen," said Kristina Zuhlke, Sherri's sister-in-law. "You could see the improvement after the first day (of dialysis)."
About 5 liters of liquid was pulled out of her body during each of the first few dialysis sessions and she had to have three blood transfusions, her family said.
Sherri Zuhlke said she was sick for more than two months before she went to the hospital. But she was told she had a sinus infection, then just a cold, followed by bronchitis and possibly the flu.
She saw a doctor just four days before she went to the hospital, but she abruptly took a turn for the worse and couldn't get off the couch.
When she arrived at KGH on Oct. 22, she was immediately admitted and the next day she was moved into the intensive care unit. Three days after that, she was in a coma.
"It was kind of scary not knowing what the next step was," her father said.
Her family conferred with doctors and lung specialists, but essentially just had to wait for her to get better. She was even too sick to be sent to another hospital, they said.
"It was out of our control," said Kristina Zuhlke.
They relied on each other and support and prayers from family and friends.
"It was definitely a hard scenario to come here every day and know she's still sleeping," said Sherri's boyfriend, Bill Pfaffle. "But I never had any doubt she'd come out of it."
She finally started improving and the breathing tube was removed Nov. 13. When Sherri started waking up, all she wanted to do was go home, but she quickly realized she couldn't get up or even talk.
"No one had told me how long I had been here or what I had gone through," she said. "I had the worst dreams. I still have a sore throat ... and still don't feel like I talk right."
She's doing physical therapy and speech therapy at the hospital and waiting for room to open up in a rehabilitation center.
She has to redevelop her hand-eye coordination, and rebuild her muscles so she can stand up and walk. She was able to sit up by herself for the first time earlier this week -- something she excitedly shared with her sister-in-law when she walked into the room.
"I call myself Humpty Dumpty," Sherri says with a laugh. "But I'm determined to get out of here. I'll be running by the time I leave that place."
Once that happens, Zuhlke will have another challenge to tackle -- finding a way to pay for all the medical bills. She is recently unemployed after having elbow surgery and has no health benefits.
An account in Sherri Zuhlke's name has been set up at U.S. Bank to help. Donations can be made at any branch.
The Zuhlkes don't have big Thanksgiving Day plans, but they'll have dinner, and bring a plate of food to Sherri. They already are making plans for a second Thanksgiving dinner when she's back home and fully recovered.
They do, however, have a lot to be thankful for today. They said they can't say enough about the doctors and nurses at the hospital and all the prayers and support from friends and the community.
"I'm very thankful to be alive. I didn't know it was this bad for a very long time," Sherri Zuhlke said as tears welled in her eyes. "I am on the mend and I'm going to go home soon."
-- Paula Horton: 582-1556; phorton@tricityherald.com
