There's not much sadder than when you lose a young person to something like the flu, it's absolutely heartbreaking and my heart and prayers go out to those who lost Mekisha Agee.
I wonder, do you recall the last time you had a real flu? I'm not talking about some namby pamby cold or sniffles, I'm talking about the "kick you in the ass, knock you down, drag you through broken glass and razor blades, run your joints and muscles through a meat grinder, disembowel you with diarrhea and vomiting, gouge your eyes out with the light of day" F - L - U.
The last time I had the flu was here in Tennessee; I hadn't been here very long, had a lowered "regional bug" immune system, and worked among hundreds of folks experiencing homelessness in shelters, soup kitchens and camps. I came down with the virus from hell, could barely walk my butt into my doctor's office and cannot remember when I've been that sick before. To add insult to injury, shortly after I recovered from the flu, I awakened one morning to half a paralyzed face, courtesy of Bell's Palsy.
I spent the next several weeks drooling tobaccy juice down my chin while talking like Geri Jewell in the Deadwood series (who, btw, was one of my absolute favorite characters on this incredible series, so I was okay with it, but still, it sucked when I was trying to sound like I knew what I was talking about).
I'm sure I wrote about that entire event in previous posts somewhere on this site, but I'm too damned lazy to search for it, instead spending an hour writing to you all about it again, but my point in upchucking all this here- again - is to get you to recall the last time you had a really gnarly illness and couldn't leave your house because of it.
Did you snuggle into your favorite blanket, nurse your aches, pains, nausea, and misery with hot chicken soup and seven up? Were you able to ask your mom, wife, brother, sister, dad or child to get you the tv remote? a good book? turn up, or down, the heat? Did you think that if you had to even walk to the bathroom, you'd probably die, and couldn't under any circumstances including the second coming of Christ leave your home that day to do anything at all?
Now just take a sec and imagine yourself going through that godawful misery on a bus bench, in a park, or under a viaduct somewhere downtown. Imagine how it must feel to have to find a bathroom, to not have toilet paper under that bridge, to be exposed to whatever the weather decides to deliver to you that day?
Thousands of people on or one paycheck away from the streets deal with the flu exactly in this fashion. They can't afford medicines, they don't have places to hide, and the damned sure don't have a favorite blanket, a cup of chicken soup and someone who cares enough to help nurse them through a miserable bout of illness.
Mid-State doctors see increase in critically ill flu patients
Posted: Feb 28, 2011 9:22 PM CST
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Last week, 25-year-old mother Mekisha Agee died from complications of H1N1.
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NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Many who didn't get their flu shot already might be regretting that decision now, as the flu is going strong with no sign of decline.
"We've seen the flu start a little bit later than it usually does, and it's continuing a lot longer than it normally does," said Dr. John Williams, a Pediatric Infectious Disease Specialist at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital.
At Vanderbilt University Medical Center, doctors are treating more critically ill flu patients.
Ten people are in the intensive care units, and eight of them are on ventilator support.
Four of those patients have been confirmed to be infected with the H1N1 flu virus, and three others are suspected to have it.
"It's really not unusual. Last year because of the pandemic we had more sick people, but every year, we have really, really sick kids and adults from flu," said Dr. Williams.
In fact, just last week, 25-year-old mother Mekisha Agee died from complications of H1N1.
Her family said she chose not to get a flu shot because she feared it would hurt her unborn baby, a decision they believe cost her life.
"I'm just telling everybody I know the sickness is out there. We don't hear about it as much today, but it's out there," said Agee's step-father, Terry Martin.
Doctors were able to save her baby girl, who at last check Monday was in stable condition in the neonatal intensive care unit at Vanderbilt.
Agee also leaves behind a 3-year-old son, Cameron.
According to the CDC, pregnant women are six times more likely to die from flu than the general population, but doctors say the best defense for anyone older than six months is to get the vaccine.
"Not everyone is getting the flu shot that probably should, because people think last year was a pandemic and this year, it's just the flu. But I think what we are seeing should show people that we see this every year with the flu," said Dr. Williams.
Even though it's almost March, doctors say it's not too late to get a flu shot, because the flu will still linger for several more weeks.
Flu shots are still available at the Metro Health Department, CVS and Walgreens.
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"We've seen the flu start a little bit later than it usually does, and it's continuing a lot longer than it normally does," said Dr. John Williams, a Pediatric Infectious Disease Specialist at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital.
At Vanderbilt University Medical Center, doctors are treating more critically ill flu patients.
Ten people are in the intensive care units, and eight of them are on ventilator support.
Four of those patients have been confirmed to be infected with the H1N1 flu virus, and three others are suspected to have it.
"It's really not unusual. Last year because of the pandemic we had more sick people, but every year, we have really, really sick kids and adults from flu," said Dr. Williams.
In fact, just last week, 25-year-old mother Mekisha Agee died from complications of H1N1.
Her family said she chose not to get a flu shot because she feared it would hurt her unborn baby, a decision they believe cost her life.
"I'm just telling everybody I know the sickness is out there. We don't hear about it as much today, but it's out there," said Agee's step-father, Terry Martin.
Doctors were able to save her baby girl, who at last check Monday was in stable condition in the neonatal intensive care unit at Vanderbilt.
Agee also leaves behind a 3-year-old son, Cameron.
According to the CDC, pregnant women are six times more likely to die from flu than the general population, but doctors say the best defense for anyone older than six months is to get the vaccine.
"Not everyone is getting the flu shot that probably should, because people think last year was a pandemic and this year, it's just the flu. But I think what we are seeing should show people that we see this every year with the flu," said Dr. Williams.
Even though it's almost March, doctors say it's not too late to get a flu shot, because the flu will still linger for several more weeks.
Flu shots are still available at the Metro Health Department, CVS and Walgreens.
Previous Story:
- Feb. 23, 2011: Pregnant Mid-State woman dies from flu complications
