GRETNA, Neb. —

On April 9, 19-year-old Lauren Rhodes received her dose of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine.

She posed for a picture, grinning widely and proudly showing off the band-aid on her arm.

"I was like, 'One and done,'" she said.

The Gretna, Nebraska, teenager went home that night and felt all the common, mild post-vaccine side effects.

"Fatigue and exhaustion," said Rhodes. "And then it just kind of got worse and worse."

She said she felt sick for weeks and the whole time, she and her family thought it was from the vaccine.

"We just figured this is a reaction," said Liz Rhodes, Lauren's mother.

Then other symptoms arose. Her legs buckled and her face drooped. She started showing symptoms that didn't match up with other peoples' vaccine reactions.

"If you asked me to squeeze your hand, I couldn't even squeeze it. Pick up my phone, I couldn't do it," said Rhodes.

She visited Dr. Carmella Imig at the CHI Health Gretna Clinic. Imig told the family to go to the hospital, where an MRI highlighted a tumor pressing on Rhodes' spinal cord.

"They said, 'This can't wait. We have to get this out now,'" Rhodes said.

On May 7, Rhodes was admitted to the hospital for surgery.

"[The tumor] was in the part of the cervical spine where if something would not have been done, she could have lost all function of her arms and legs," Imig said.

Rhodes spent the next two months undergoing physical, occupational and speech therapy.

She just completed therapy and is ready to be a normal college student again.

"I'm cleared for everything now," said Rhodes. "I can drive, I can bend, sit up, scoot, walk upstairs."

"We feel like we got our daughter back," said Rod Rhodes, her father.

Imig is thankful Rhodes got her vaccine, showed some symptoms and stopped by her office to get it checked out.

"It was actually a blessing that she did," Imig said. "Because it led her to the care that she needed."

Imig said the symptoms of Rhodes' tumor coincidentally followed her COVID-19 vaccine side effects. She said the two are not related at all.

Rhodes doesn't regret getting her shot and she encourages others to get it as well.

"Do it. I did it for myself, my family, my school. Protection," she said. "Even if it did cause a side effect, it made me aware of [the tumor] and we got it taken care of."

Life for Peter Woullard and his wife, Patricia, was pretty normal a year ago.

"I was working in Mental Health at St. Joe's Hospital," said Peter. "I loved outdoors and loved to be around family and friends."

The New Orleans, Louisiana, native worked as a Behavioral Health Technician at St. Charles Parish Hospital.

When the pandemic hit, he became one of many who moved to the front line, putting himself at risk of being exposed to COVID-19.

"We never thought he'd actually test positive until he did on March 31, 2020," said Patricia.

Peter was working in the emergency room when he said he contracted the virus.

"I went to work that morning. I was feeling fine with a temperature of like, 96.7 or something like that," said Peter. "By 12 hours later, I had a temperature of 103."

Peter thought his symptoms would go away, but nine days later things got worse.

He was forced to go back to the hospital, but this time he wasn't clocking in.

He was fighting for his life.

"Within three hours that I got him there, they had to intubate. His kidney had already failed," said Patricia. "He had a bleed on his brain. He had dialysis. He coded six days later. So that's when the family was called in to come visit him because they didn't think he was gonna make it."

About two weeks after that Peter had a stroke, which made his recovery even more difficult.

"I have nerve damage from suffering from COVID and I'm not walking now and it's a year later," said Peter.

His wife said she was devastated.

"It was devastating to see my husband from a healthy man working to non-functional. And that was scary," said Patricia.

Peter spent five months in different medical facilities.

Finally, in September 2020, he came home to continue his recovery.

Fast forward to March 2021, the Woullard family finally stood tall for the first time in nearly a year as Peter took his first steps since contracting the virus.

"I'm like 6'3, almost 6'4. And just to just look over everything like I used to do, it was-- it was amazing," said Peter.

Peter has a long road ahead, but he and Patricia said their family is just grateful he is still here.

"I lose my breath easily now. And at one time, like I said, I enjoyed the outdoors and football and basketball and baseball and fishing on the lake front," said Peter. "And, you know, things like that, and just I'm grateful to be here by the grace of God."

Patricia says she is thankful God gave her a second chance with her husband.

"It's the blessing, it's the blessing," said Patricia.

Doctors are stressing the chance of getting blood clots from the Johnson & Johnson vaccine appears to be very rare.

The U.S. on Tuesday recommended a "pause" in using the single-dose Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine to investigate reports of rare but potentially dangerous blood clots, a development that could jeopardize the rollout of vaccines around the world.

"Right now, these adverse events appear to be extremely rare," FDA and CDC doctors said in a joint statement about the pause.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration announced that they were investigating unusual clots that occurred 6 to 13 days after vaccination. The FDA commissioner said she expected the pause to last a matter of days.

Dr. Anthony Fauci says Americans who've recently received a Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine shouldn't be anxious about the "pause."

The nation's top infectious disease expert says, "It's less than one in a million." Fauci adds people should "pay attention" to symptoms associated with the blood clots, particularly between one and three weeks after the shot.

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Mississippi Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs said the condition is extremely rare and those who have already received the J&J shot should not worry.

Doctors with the federal health departments said people who have received the J&J vaccine "who develop severe headache, abdominal pain, leg pain, or shortness of breath within three weeks after vaccination should contact their health care provider."

More than 6.8 million doses of the vaccine, which is also known as the Janssen vaccine, have been administered as of Monday in the U.S., according to the CDC.

The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are not affected. Dr. Geoffrey Barnes, cardiologist and vascular medicine specialist in Michigan, said there has not been a sign of blood clot risk with those vaccines.

"It's important to note that we do not yet know if there is a real risk of clotting associated with the J&J/Janssen vaccine," Barnes said on a University of Michigan Health System website. "So far, there are very few reported cases (six) despite millions of doses administered."

Barnes said it's wise to be putting the vaccine on pause and that the clots seem to be quite rare.

"The risk of blood clots in patients with COVID is far higher than the very small risk of a blood clot following a COVID-19 vaccine," Barnes said. "Overall, the benefits of COVID-19 vaccination greatly outweigh the very small risks."

Barnes said doctors are aware of the condition and have the tools to diagnose and treat patients if it occurs.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said the pause will help give physicians insight for treating people to know if a treatment should be avoided.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

BUFFALO, N.Y. — New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo introduced a "Vax and Scratch" program Thursday that gives residents of the state a chance to win up to $5 million for getting vaccinated against COVID-19.

According to Cuomo, beginning Monday, May 24 and until Friday, May 28, if you get vaccinated at one of 10 New York state COVID-19 vaccine sites, you will receive a $5 million Mega Multiplier scratch-off lottery ticket.

The ticket normally costs $20 and you have a one in nine chance of winning something.

NYS Governor's Office

The following COVID-19 vaccination sites will offer the program:

• University at Buffalo South Campus

• Rochester Dome Arena
• State Fair Expo Center: NYS Fairgrounds
• SUNY Polytechnic Institute
• New York National Guard Armory
• Bronx - Bay Eden Senior Center
• SUNY Stony Brook
• York College - Health and Physical Education Complex - Queens
• Medgar Evers College - Brooklyn
• Javits Center

NYS Governor's Office

The governor says this is just a pilot program for next week, but state officials will see how the program goes and make a decision from there on if it will be extended.

A similar program was recently launched in Ohio and it was seen to be successful. On Tuesday, the state said thousands of vaccinated Ohioans had signed up for its lottery offering free tuition or $1 million to 10 lucky people who have gotten a shot.

This story was originally published by Anthony Reyes at WKBW.