Jodie Kauffman shares her story of illness and recovery

Jodie Kauffman is the type of person who never really gets sick, but on January 7, 2018, all of that changed. She thought she was coming down with a bad cold, so she made an appointment to see the doctor. She was told it was the flu - given antibiotics and sent home.

“But the next day I said, ‘I still feel really bad,’” Jodie recalled of the beginning of the fight for her life.

She went to see a different doctor in a different facility who told her, “You’re not going to get better overnight,” and told her to keep taking the antibiotics and also gave her an inhaler to help with her difficult breathing.

“Jodie never complains about being sick, doesn’t ever get sick, let alone miss work,” said her husband, John.

But Jodie was sick - sick enough that she stayed home from work all week. But the coughing got worse, she was weak and had shortness of breath, and she had pains in her chest.

“She was really bad,” John said of the all-too vivid memory he still has of that time.

On January 17, they loaded her up and took her to see Dr. Dustin Smith who did an X-Ray. He came back in and told Jodie, “You need to go to Fort Dodge (to the hospital) now.” Jodie had pneumonia.

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