Huntsville resident credits her son’s actions with saving her life
Throughout her nearly 86 years of life, Mary Ellen Chaney of Huntsvile has not been one to let health ailments stand in her way of enjoying good times with her loved ones.
Her son, Rusty Nafzger, said following her hip replacement surgery a few years ago, she drove to Tucson, Ariz., with a friend shortly after her medical treatment was completed.
“She is a go-getter, and nothing is going to keep her down,” he said of his mother, who only recently fully retired after being employed at age 80 as a driver for a forensic engineer.
“She has been a hard worker all her life and a great example for her me and my brothers, Scott and Ralph, and her grandchildren. Her persistent attitude truly amazes us all.”
Mrs. Chaney’s determined spirit, committed family and her faith recently buoyed her through a health crisis that nearly claimed her life during April, when she was diagnosed with COVID-19.
Though she doesn’t remember much of it, she spent 25 days at the OSU Wexner Medical Center in Columbus, seven of those days in the Intensive Care Unit on a ventilator.
The retired Bellefontaine City Schools central office employee said she did not have the usual symptoms of coronavirus, such as a fever or coughing, so she credits her son with noticing that she was not acting herself.
“Rusty absolutely saved my life,” she said this week. “He took me to the doctor when I insisted nothing was wrong with me.”
One day in early April, Mr. Nafzger stopped in to check on his mother and found her in bed.
“That is not like her to be in bed during the afternoon,” he said.
He also found out that she was having dark stools and diarrhea, so he called her physician. Mrs. Chaney was already scheduled for a monthly blood draw the next day, so he asked if she also could be examined by the doctor at that time.
April 6 during her appointment, medical staff at her physician’s office determined that her oxygen levels were low and advised her son to take her immediately to the Mary Rutan Hospital Emergency Department.
While at MRH, Mrs. Chaney was swabbed for COVID-19, and that initial test came back negative, her family said. Mr. Nafzger left the hospital that evening after he was told his mother would be spending the night.
However, he received a call early the next morning that she had been taken by ambulance to the Columbus hospital after her vital signs had plummeted during the night.
A second swab at OSU would also come back negative. However, her medical staff became concerned when they noticed how damaged one of her lungs were, so they performed further lab testing, which came back positive for COVID-19.
Mr. Nafzger said the seven days that his mother spent in the ICU on a ventilator were a “rollercoaster of emotions.
“At times we had hope, and then other times we didn’t,” he said. “One nurse would tell us that they thought we were close to getting her off the ventilator, and then during the next shift, it would be completely the opposite story.”
By the end of that week approaching Easter Sunday, April 12, her family was informed that Mrs. Chaney’s heart was starting to fail as a result of being in such a compromised state, and her loved ones were facing decisions about whether to place her on life support.
Her middle son Mr. Nafzger said during that arduous time, he made a special trip Easter morning to pray at the recently erected trio of crosses that were installed by resident Rocky Kelly at the corner of county roads 10 and 55. Kelly’s story was shared in an Examiner feature story April 11.
He said while kneeling by the foot of the crosses, he prayed specifically that day for his mother’s oxygen levels to improve from a 6 to an 8, which is where her doctors said it would need to reach so that she could be removed from the ventilator.
While speaking with his younger brother, Ralph, over the phone that day, Mr. Nafzger learned that his younger brother had been praying the same prayer in Tucson, Ariz. That evening, the brothers’ Easter prayers were answered when they found out that their mother’s oxygen levels had made this vast improvement, and she was soon able to be weaned from the ventilator.
Following the 25 days at the Columbus hospital, Mrs. Chaney, who marks her 86th birthday July 9, was able to return home to her two beloved pets. The former Washington Township clerk said May 1, she tested negative for COVID-19.
Since being on the mend from the virus, the 1952 Westerville High School graduate said she had one scare about two weeks after arriving home. Mr. Nafzger noticed that his mother was having trouble breathing and took her to Mary Rutan Hospital, where she was diagnosed with pneumonia.
After just a short hospital stay this time, she returned home once again, this time with oxygen that she uses at night. During the daytime, an energetic Mrs. Chaney is keeping busy at her typewriter, typing a cookbook for her children and grandchildren with many favorite family recipes.
She also had sent a Letter to the Examiner’s Forum during May, requesting assistance with locating her personal belongings that went missing during her hospital stay.
The Huntsville resident said she has been in touch with Mary Rutan Hospital, OSU Wexner Medical Center and an ambulance company to find her clothing, a pair of diamond earrings, and her pocketbook, which contained many of her medical cards, debit cards and etc.
“It is truly a mystery,” she said. “Since I had to be rushed to OSU in the middle of the night, it all happened so fast and my family wasn’t there to get my belongings.