Longtime Valley resident laid up after fall

Friends are gathering to support Gardnerville resident Peggy Pedrojetti, who was hospitalized with an infection for two months and is now bedridden.

Peggy slipped and fell at a store early in December and landed on her knee.

Peggy said she didn't realize she'd damaged her hip replacement until about five days later when a staph infection knocked her for a loop.

"It took that long to make me sick," she said. "If I stayed home one more day, I would have been a goner."

The staph infection was the most deadly part of Peggy's adventure.

"The staph was scarier than anything else," she said. "It goes to your heart and hands, it damaged my heart and finger. I had to have an emergency surgery. Then I had a relapse and had to have another surgery."

The fight against the infection left her unable to fend for herself.

"I'm not used to being a weak person," she said. "I'm used to going to work. It was hard being in the hospital for two months. That's where I spent Christmas and New Years."

Peggy came to Carson Valley at age 13, when her father came to work at the Contel office in Minden.

"I started at Douglas County High School on my 14th birthday," she said.

The 1970 graduate married local Phil Pedrojetti and took her turn working for the phone company as an operator along with the rest of her family members.

She's been working for Allstate Insurance with Gary LeFleur and Stacy Trivitt for the last eight years.

It was that extended Carson Valley family that came to her rescue, setting up a Web site on Caring Bridge and organizing visits and phone calls.

"I have a lot of nice friends," she said. "They came to my aid immediately. My girlfriends called my sister in Minnesota and said we think you need to come out. My mom flew in on Sunday. She's 87. It's unbelievable how much help I have. It's humbling to me."

Friends Dennis and Jolie McDuffee have been helping out.

"They are like my extended family, they really, truly are," Peggy said. "Nobody understands how truly wonderful they are. There's no way I can thank them enough."

Peggy's supporters set up a bank account to help defray the costs that her insurance won't cover at Wells Fargo. The account number is 9553020299. To track Peggy's condition visit www.caringbridge.org/visit/peggypedrojetti.

Shear Heaven's Coleen Thran-Zapeda said anyone who donates to Peggy's cause during the week of March 16-20 will get a free eyebrow wax or far infrared sauna session.

Shear Heaven is located at 1328 Highway 395 in Gardnerville.

On Wednesday, the Nevada Legislature officially honored Nevadans killed in the global war on terror. In all, 47 residents of the Battle Born State have died in combat in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon.

Among them are Douglas residents Army Pfc. Brandon Williams of Gardnerville, Carson resident Chief Warrant Officer 2 Joshua Rodgers and Gardnerville resident Sgt. Anthony Schober.

Rumor has it that Genoa is the next honoree for Nevada Magazine's Tour of Nevada. Sue Knight told members of the Genoa Town Board on Tuesday that she heard the magazine will be featuring Nevada's oldest settlement in their May-June edition.