CAMAS, Wash. -- A severe case of the H1N1 swine flu virus nearly killed a Camas father of five.
Tom Trautman came down with flu-like symptoms last November. The 45-year-old was initially diagnosed with pneumonia and treated with antibiotics.
But his condition continued to decline. Becky Trautman, Tom's wife, recalled him saying something was wrong; he just "was not getting better" and told her, "I can't breathe."
Days before Christmas Tom wound up in a medically-induced coma, in intensive care and by all accounts, near death.
"I was scared to death," Becky said. "I felt like he was dying - I did."
Tom's lungs began to fail and his physician, Dr. Andy Michaels, informed Becky and other family members that the odds of him surviving were about 10 percent.
"I didn't think it was likely he was going to survive," the Legacy Emmanuel Hospital trauma surgeon told KGW.
Becky and her five children feared the worst but continued at Tom's bedside, praying for him to pull through, keeping him company and even playing music into his ears.
"I just told him I loved him, and to fight. I'd open his eyes so I could see him," telling her husband, "'I can't wait for you to wake up,'" Becky recalled.
With few other treatments remaining, Dr. Michaels decided to treat Tom with a risky, labor-intensive method known as extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, or ECMO.
By oxygenating Tom's blood for him while his lungs were unable to meet the task, Dr. Michaels saved his life.
"ECMO is simply the process of resting the lungs from the task of putting oxygen in the blood ... the lungs are very sick from infection," Michaels explained.
During the procedure, a patient's blood is removed and oxygen is pumped into it; then, the oxygenated blood is returned to the lungs, the surgeon explained.
ECMO gives the lungs a break from their bodily function - respiration - and in so doing "allows them to heal," he said.
Tom was on ECMO for 13 days. Slowly his condition began to improve and he emerged from the coma.
After fearing she had lost her husband forever, Becky got the moment she'd been waiting for.
"I'll never forget it," she said. "He had his eyes closed and I walked into the room and I said, 'Tom, I love you' and he opened his eyes and I started bawling."
Tom still has a long road to recovery. He is still hospitalized and doctors expected him to remain there for at least another month. During his recovery he must relearn the simplest, most monotonous tasks, like toothbrushing. It could be a year before Tom regained the motor sensory skills and function he took for granted just two months ago.
"He's definitely a miracle. It's awesome - there's no other word for it. Awesome."
Medical bills have quickly mounted from the expensive, experimental procedure and during Tom's hospitalization.
The Trautmans have established a fund to assist with those expenses along with food and living costs for Becky and the five children - and also including Tom - now that he's working toward recovery.
Donations were welcomed at any branch of Wells Fargo Bank and could be made by asking for the Trautman Family Support Fund. The fund's donation account number is 7580230311.
