4/15/25 Ripon Resident Making Remarkable Recovery from Life Threatening Health Challenges
15 April 2025 News
For Autumn Helms, a 31-year-old Ripon resident, the new year has gotten off to a rocky start. The good news, however, is that she is celebrating life following a rapid and frightening decline in health following the diagnosis of COVID-19, influenza A, which intensified her longstanding asthma challenges.
Autumn’s recent health scare started in late December 2024 when she was diagnosed at the SSM Health Ripon Community Hospital Emergency Room/Urgent Care with COVID-19. She had been experiencing coughing, headache, fever, and chills on and off, as well as some labored breathing because of her coughing spells.
“From that day on, it wasn’t too terribly bad,” Autumn recalls, “but once I also tested positive for influenza A on top of it, my breathing was getting a little bit harder and more labored.”
She returned to the hospital on January 5 for further care and was discharged after receiving a steroid and Tamiflu. “I wasn’t even able to pick those up because by the time they were ready, I was back in the ER on the 6th where I was admitted.”
The ER team was diligent and swift in their response to Autumn upon her arrival. “They were so very helpful and very kind to make sure that all my needs are being addressed,” she shares. “In fact, they have always been good to me when I have been here in the past year with upper respiratory infections, or the flu, or any other needs that I have had. They have been wonderful. They know me by name and get me started as quickly as possible. They listen to me and answer any questions that I have.”
After a brief period in the ER, Autumn was moved to the Medical/Surgical unit for continued care and monitoring.
The team subsequently became concerned that Autumn was already starting to show signs of pneumonia. At that time, her oxygen treatment was changed. “The treatment was warm and moist, and I remember that. I was getting use to the unique feel in my nose when one of the doctors came into the room and said he wanted to move me to the ICU. Before I could fully respond, I fell asleep.”
By the next morning, Autumn’s condition had declined. “Unfortunately, she did not respond well to treatment,” according to Haydar Saleh, MD, SSM Health Ripon Community Hospital/SSM Health Waupun Memorial Hospital medical director for Hospital Medicine and Inpatient Services. “She was in severe respiratory distress, not able to talk in full sentences, and eventually placed on a BiPap.” BiPap is a non-invasive ventilation therapy that delivers pressurized air into the lungs.
In the ICU, staff closely monitored Autumn. After a couple of hours, the situation got worse, and she had to be intubated. “Our nursing staff, hospital coordinator, and respiratory therapy were with Autumn almost all the time before she was transferred by helicopter to SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital in Madison,” according to Dr. Saleh. “Many thanks to our lab and Imaging and anesthesia departments as there were very prompt in helping us that day. Her care was an example of excellent teamwork at Ripon Community Hospital.”
During her stay, Autumn’s care was the focus of the following caregivers: Tammy Martinek, Respiratory Therapy; Bowen Voigt, RN, Administrative Supervisor; Crystal Stewart, Intensive Care Unit (ICU) RN; Aelwyn Tumas, ICU RN; and Joe Narance, RN, Emergency Room.
Autumn spent the next two weeks on a ventilator, and after 23 days at SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital was able to go home with an almost complete recovery.
For Autumn, she remembers being in her patient room, eating her dinner, and falling asleep before being moved to ICU. “Then I woke up two weeks later on the 18th.”
During the entire visit, Autumn’s family was kept updated, ensuring that all their questions were being addressed.
When Autumn arrived in Madison, she was placed in a medical induced coma and medically paralyzed. As time progressed, she utilized a feeding tube for nourishment before she was eventually able to eat solid food about three weeks later.
“When I first woke up, it was actually the night of the 17th into the 18th, but it was nighttime,” Autumn recalls. “My grandma, who was with me at the time, was sleeping. I could hear snoring, and I looked over and I’m like, why is my grandma here? Then I fell back asleep, and I woke up again. I’m like, oh, yeah, you’re in the hospital.”
While in the ICU, Therapy Services team members helped Autumn sit up on the edge of the bed for the first time. Later that same day, Autumn was able to move to a regular patient floor. From there, staff helped Autumn return to regular eating, start walking on her own with a walker, and adjusting before returning home to Ripon.
Peter Mitchell, CNA, 8SW, was part of Autumn’s care team at St. Mary’s Hospital and remembers Autumn very well.
“She always was eager to see a friendly face in her door, and was so passionate about her kiddos at home, who visited her frequently, and one of whom spent the night on a few days stretch where I was her CNA,” Mitchell shares. “When I first met her, she had very limited mobility, bed bound at first, which rapidly changed to using a Sara Steady to ambulate, and then shortly thereafter a walker for assistance. Getting to assist as she regained her strength was a treat, and not always the case for our patient population, who often come in with limited mobility at baseline.
“When she was able to go home, it was an amazing experience, getting to see her leave with a family who was just grateful for their mom/partner to be OK,” Mitchell adds. “My experience with Autumn reminds me two-fold that life is precious, and that the best way forward, is one step at a time, focusing on the controllable things in our lives, as opposed to the often chaotic, uncontrollable circumstances we often find ourselves in.”
“I cried when they told me I could return home because I was just so happy to go home,” Autumn remembers. “It’s so surreal. It meant so much to me to see my kids, family and friends, and my animals. I know at one point while I was in the hospital, I kept thinking that I was just going to be there forever, that I wasn’t ever going to be able to get home.”
Autumn continues her journey to recovery with help from the SSM Health Ripon Community Hospital Pulmonary Rehab team. She visits twice weekly and will continue to do so until the end of April. Pulmonary rehabilitation is a structured exercise program that includes exercise training; breathing exercises; anxiety, stress, and depression management; nutritional counseling; education; and more.
Ripon Pulmonary Rehab team members who are working with Autumn include Joseph Clayton, clinical exercise physiologist/cardiac rehab coordinator; Lexi Voss, clinical exercise physiologist; and Elise Penick, exercise physiologist.
For Autumn, having exceptional health care just a few miles away has been very important appreciated. “It’s nice and I know that they’re going to be able to help me and if I’m coming in with a breathing issue because of my overall health history and the fact that I was born with asthma and things like that when and like when I was born. So, when I come in and share that I’m feeling short of breath and for them to get me right back into a room and to have me hooked up to everything and making sure that I’m OK, that to me is wonderful.”
In the photo: Joseph Clayton, clinical exercise physiologist/cardiac rehab coordinator, teaches Autumn Helms proper breathing techniques to help decrease shortness of breath.
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