Appearance on Oprah recalled by Tahoe woman

STATELINE " A South Lake Tahoe woman said her appearance on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" last week did what it was supposed to do: Raise awareness about the toxic strains of a flesh-eating bacteria that took her arm and half of her upper body, but not her will to live.

The Dr. Mehmet Oz segment of Tanya Gludau's miraculous recovery aired April 28 on the "Oprah Show" nearly two years after a cut on Gludau's finger led to her losing her right arm and part of her torso to the flesh-eating bacterial infection called necrotizing fasciitis. Oz is a regular Oprah Show contributor and vice-chair and professor of surgery at Columbia University.

Gludau's story was first told in an award-winning March 31, 2008 piece in the Tahoe Daily Tribune and www.tahoedailytribune.com.

Producers of the Oprah show found the story online and contacted Gludau, asking if she were willing to tell to tens of millions of television viewers about how the virus and amputation has affected her life.

Gludau was first contacted by Oprah producers in early April by e-mail. At first, the Lake Tahoe woman thought the request was a joke.

"I got the e-mail and thought it was a scam and deleted it," Gludau said. "A couple days later I get a phone message from a producer and I thought, 'OK, lets wait and see.' And then I called the number (the producer) left, and the switchboard operator said 'The Oprah Show' and I was like, 'yes, this is the real deal."

The producer told the Gludau she had read about her from the Tahoe Daily Tribune story while doing research on the flesh-eating bacteria. The producer also told Gludau there was a possibility that they couldn't do the show this season. But that turned out not to be the case because the producer called and left Gludau message a few days later and told her "it was a go."

A film crew with "The Oprah Show" began taping Gludau at her home on April 17 beginning at around 5:30 a.m. The idea was to show how Gludau continues to lead a normal life despite the amputation.

"They wanted to show me skiing and snowshoeing and working as a barista at Starbucks," she said.

Gludau admits she was a bit self-conscious about the Tahoe taping, not knowing how they were going to film her. As it turns out, the producers depicted an accurate account of her life, including asking how she goes about putting on clothes, socks, makeup and how she maneuvers around her home.

"It was really funny because before the film crew arrived I was cleaning up and put a bunch of things in the closet," Gludau said. "When they said they wanted to film in my bedroom, that made me nervous, and then they asked, 'can you open your closet?' and I was, like, 'well, I put everything I cleaned in the closet. It's a mess.'"

But she and it turned out the closet wasn't as bad as she thought. In another scene, Gludau shows how she goes about cooking, and doing things that people take for granted, like using a can-opener. It was no surprise that she was able to use one, since, she said, she prefers the hand-held variety to the electric ones.

The film crew followed her to Starbucks in South Lake Tahoe where she works as a barista two days a week, and she illustrated for them what she does.

"I can do anything that everybody else can do except tie the garbage bags," she told the film crew. "I'm still trying to figure that one out."

Finally the film crew followed Gludau and Peerens to Hope Valley for snowshoeing, an activity the couple do routinely throughout winter.

A few days following the Tahoe filming, Gludau and Peerens flew first class from Reno to Chicago on April 22 for the April 23 Oprah Show taping. The couple took a limo from Chicago's O'Hare Airport to the Omni Hotel where Winfrey regularly puts her guests.

The day of the Oprah taping, the couple arrived at Harpo Studios, walked into the main lobby and were escorted through the building. They went through a lot of security and then to the makeup room.

"There were people all over; a lot of them dressed real casually in black shirts and blue jeans and slack, all introducing themselves and welcoming me. They were really nice," Gludau said.

Gludau had bought a blouse the day before and was to wear it on the show. However, one of the producers said the blouse was "too busy" and the wardrobe department found her another one.

Makeup was put on Gludau, and on Peerens, too, "to keep his head from shining," Gludau said of her boyfriend's shaved head.

Prior to the show, Gludau was encouraged by producers to talk as much as she wanted about what happened and her recovery. A lot of times, guests will come on the show and are nervous and are afraid to talk, the producers told her. They wanted

Gludau to chime in at any time during the discussion with Dr. Oz and Oprah.

And so she did. Afterward, during a brief meeting with Oprah following the taping,

Oprah thanked her for her appearance and having the freedom to talk about it.

"It was Oprah and I and Dr. Oz. She gave me a hug. I told her I really liked her suede jacket, and she thanked me and she thanked me opening up.

"She said that a lot of people will go on and shut down once they're on camera, but that she liked what I had to say and said I made it easy because I was articulate," Gludau said.

"That's what I had hoped to do all along in telling my story," she said.