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Complications from strep throat nearly kill Twin Cities man
Playing a game of Twister with his kids is not the first thing you'd expect from a man who has lost his legs. But it's nothing for Rick Kemna of East Bethel considering the huge obstacle he has overcome. Last February serious complications from strep throat almost took his life. Kemna says, "It may be a rare thing that it goes toxic and when it does it can cost you." While many people just skip going to the doctor in this economy, he says that may not be a good idea. The once strong and active stay-at-home dad of seven-year-old triplets ignored a sore throat to finish remodeling his daughter's room. He had a fever, fatigue and then, he says, "I couldn't feel my feet and I couldn't feel my hands." His wife, Jill Kemna, says, "His extremities were blue." She rushed him to the emergency room at Unity Hospital where Jill says the staff did amazing work to keep him alive. Kemna survived heart, kidney and liver failure. Jill says, "I kept saying you cannot leave me. You cannot leave me because we have the children we've always wanted and triplets can't be done with one." Dr. George Peltier, director of the Burn Center at Hennepin County Medical Center, says, "For some reason some of these patients don't fight the infection well. They get a bacteremia and they get a toxic shock reaction to that organism." Once stable, Kemna was transferred to HCMC's Burn Center and treated by Peltier because the infection had cut off circulation to his legs. Peltier says, "I had to remove all of the dead tissue, wherever it was, get the wounds cleaned up so they would accept a skin graft and, in this case, it required removing his legs because his legs were just mummified." Rick says when he woke up from a drug-induced coma six weeks later and discovered he had no legs, "I wasn't bitter. I was glad they saved me." After two months in the hospital, Kemna was healthy enough to finally see his kids. His daughter Raena says, "He wanted me up by him a lot. He was crying a lot." His son Ryan says, "It was the greatest day of my life." Now his family it celebrating what they call the new normal. Jill says, "We have him and life can't ever get that bad again." While it's important to emphasize that complications like Kemna's are very rare, Rick now tells others if you get a sore throat this winter, please get a strep test. He says, "Don't think you can tough it out. It's worth a co-pay just to go and find out." Rick stood for the first time last week when a mold was taken for his new prosthetic legs. To help pay for them, friends are holding a benefit this Saturday, October 25th, 2008, at Hidden Haven Country Club in East Bethel. For details, click here. He also has a Caring Bridge webpage..
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