Lexington teacher thought she just had a cold. For 18 weeks, a machine has kept her alive

One of the mantras Lexington’s Wellington Elementary teacher Emily Presley has always lived by is, “I can do hard things.”

That has been put to the test since May, when a cold turned into a bacterial staph infection that ravaged Presley’s lungs and has kept her in intensive care ever since, fighting to survive.

For the last 18 weeks, Presley, a 46-year-old wife and mother of two, has been kept alive by being attached to an ECMO machine at the University of Kentucky Chandler hospital.

In extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), blood is pumped outside of the body to a heart-lung machine that removes carbon dioxide and sends oxygen-filled blood back to tissues in the body, according to Mayo Clinic’s website.

Conscious and engaged in her recovery since about the third week of being hospitalized, Presley is working to regain her physical strength, to walk again, swallow again, and talk again.

As soon as a bed is available, Presley is headed to Northwestern Medicine Canning Thoracic Institute in Chicago, considered a center of excellence for pulmonary care, for specialized treatment. Since late September, a fundraising effort has been underway for that move. By Monday, it had raised more than $26,000 of a $100,000 goal.

One of the concepts the Presley family has rallied around for many years is called “living the better story,” said her husband Jeff Presley.

The idea behind it is living life fully: If you think of your life as a book that someone would write, would anybody want to read it?

It led Presley to give her best to her students and staff at Wellington Elementary where she teaches STEM — science, technology, engineering and mathematics — and to be fully present with family and friends in her free time, said her husband Jeff Presley.

“What Emily would say in all of this is (that) the fight and the daily grind to survive ...it’s worth it. Because, you know, living on is the better story. And so that’s what gives her purpose, that’s what keeps her going...in the midst of this literal hell on earth....to continue on for her kids, for her friends, for her family....that is the better story,” Jeff Presley said.

‘Model of health’

At the end of May, Emily Presley was finishing up the school year and looking forward to a summer break with her family.

“She was a model of health,“ Jeff Presley said. She ate well, exercised six to seven times a week and meditated.

What she thought was just a cold on a Wednesday progressed to bronchitis by Saturday and sent her to Baptist Health Lexington hospital the following Sunday night.

She tested negative for COVID and the flu. She was ultimately diagnosed with a virus called parainfluenza, which made her susceptible to the bacterial lung infection which damaged her lungs.

“By the time we got her to the ER Sunday evening, she was in sepsis. So that’s where we saw heart rate spiking, blood pressure crashing. And her oxygen was so low, they were putting her on a vent within ... 30 minutes of being in the ER,” Jeff Presley said.

Four days later, the ventilator was no longer doing enough. That’s when Presley was moved to University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital and attached to the ECMO machine. Without that, Jeff Presley said, the medical staff said she was not going to make it.

Presley is currently still on the machine. On a typical day at UK, she starts physical therapy at 11 a.m., with walking, standing and leg exercises. Then there’s occupational, speech and swallowing therapy followed by another round of physical therapy. She’s been outside in the hospital courtyard several times, always accompanied by specialists with the ECMO machine, her husband said.

Jeff Presley’s job in the technology field allows him to work from his wife’s hospital room each day. On many nights and weekends, the couple is joined by their children, Ella, 16, a junior at Lafayette High School and Jackson, a 13-year-old eighth grader at Tates Creek Middle School.

Some of Emily Presley’s friends have traveled from other states to be with her and that’s helped her have hope, he said. Close family, friends and co-workers sign up on a calendar for visits so she is rarely alone at the hospital.

Jeff Presley said Wellington Elementary has a “very close knit culture“ and Principal Julie Strange has gone out of her way to help. Students and staff send cards, notes and gifts. Teachers have come to visit her, sent text messages, donated money and given her their own sick days.

“Emily is an incredibly positive and joyful person who personally took on sharing the practice of gratitude and positivity with our staff, especially during the Covid-19 period of virtual learning,” said Strange. “She was intentional about building in ways for students and staff to increase connectivity during a time that was difficult to be together. She extended this practice to staff through ‘Gratitude Blasts’ and regular talks with me about building in opportunities for staff to connect with each other.”

Strange said Presley loves science and loves sharing opportunities for students to be able to explore and participate in scientific activities in a hands on way. She is incredibly collaborative and enjoys working alongside our teachers to plan engaging lessons and have experiences across the curriculum, Strange said.

Jeff Presley said his wife is the kind of upbeat teacher who puts a “joke of the day” on her door and keeps a stash of chocolate and gum in her room for fellow teachers who might be having a bad day, a tradition the couple has continued at the hospital for nurses and other staff.

Fundraising for hope

Once Emily Presley is flown to the Chicago hospital, the Presleys will have to rent a furnished apartment within walking distance of the facility for at least a year.

Jeff Presley and their children, who will temporarily stay with his mother in Lexington, will fly and drive back and forth.

Noting that medical costs will mount for months to come, friend Bridgette Campbell started a GoFundMe campaign in late September.

“Emily has made such an impact on so many with her beautiful, positive spirit and energy,” Campbell told the Herald-Leader Sunday.

“It’s been heart-wrenching watching her fight for her life and feeling like we could do nothing but pray and wait. After being at UK Hospital for over four months, the opportunity for Emily to be transferred to Northwestern brings much hope but also has daunting financial implications,” Campbell said. “ ... Creating the Go Fund Me is a tangible way people can help restore Emily’s health and get her back to her family where she belongs.”

Jeff Presley said while the hope is to avoid a lung transplant, it might ultimately be an option to get Emily Presley back home.

“We don’t want this to be the last chapter,” said Jeff Presley. “We’re looking forward to many more chapters.”