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A late-season influenza A outbreak – a flu strain that accounts for about 99 percent of all influenza cases this year – has left thousands of people sick across the country.
In Portland, two girls lost their mothers after killing a 37-year-old woman and her unborn child.
Stephanie Shradar was vaccinated against the flu in October, as she often did at the beginning of each influenza season, said her husband, Lee Shradar. He and their daughters followed soon after.
While Stephanie was older for a pregnant woman, she had had two uncomplicated pregnancies with her daughters and had been busy with herself. His third child, a girl, was due to give birth in the fall.
So, Lee did not think about that much when Stephanie started feeling sick on Monday. Their eldest daughter, Vera, 7, also felt a little sick.
Stephanie went to work in her architecture firm on Monday. The next day she stayed at home because she felt worse. Lee went home to see her and ran to Rite Aid to get a new thermometer to make sure they could accurately measure the fever Stephanie had started running.
She was only 101.5 degrees, so she took Tylenol, goal of Gatorade and rested the rest of the day.
Stephanie also called the Providence Women's Clinic where she was regularly treated. Providers prescribed a flu medication that she took on Wednesday afternoon.
This made her a little nauseous, but Lee said that Stephanie was an extreme follower of the rules for this sort of thing, so she followed the drug's etiquette.
Thursday, at lunch time, Lee was optimistic about Stephanie's improvement. She had gone down to the couch to watch old episodes of "The Office" on Netflix. He gave her the soup and went back to work and took the girls to an extracurricular event, and then returned home at 8 pm. to find his energy level had dropped and his face and eyes had begun to swell.
They visited the women's clinic and Lee's mother, a former nurse in the emergency room, and decided to go to the emergency room.
Stephanie never came home.
Even healthy people face a risk
Stephanie was seen in the emergency room less than an hour. An x-ray showed that his chest was fine. She was connected to the IVs for fluids and medications.
Lee returned home to sleep around 2 am and was not too surprised to discover the next morning that Stephanie had been admitted to the hospital for the night.
"She is sick and she is pregnant, it will take a little time to bounce back," Lee said at the time.
Pregnancy weakens the immune system so that the mother's body does not fight the baby growing up in it. So, even though she was immunized against the flu this year, she faced an increased risk.
This year's influenza vaccine also offers little protection against influenza A, which has contributed to its spread and severity since mid-February.
In recent weeks, almost all US states and territories have reported widespread influenza. Until now, Oregon has reached the level of the 2016-2017 influenza season and could overtake it to get close to the bad year of last year.
Nearly 99% of all Oregon residents who contracted the flu this year contracted influenza A. A report released Friday by the Oregon Health Authority stated that one child had died from after the flu the first week of March. The report of the week of the death of Stephanie and her baby has not yet been published. The Oregon Health Authority authorities have declined to say how many children have died this week. The state does not track deaths from influenza in adults.
Nearly 140 people were hospitalized this week and 150 were hospitalized the previous week.
While most people hospitalized for the flu are usually 65 or older, it's important for even the normally healthy people like Stephanie to see a doctor early if their immune system is weakened.
Pregnant women should consult a doctor as soon as possible if they have any of the flu symptoms because a small fever can lead to birth defects in the baby, according to the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
Girl born on their birthday
Lee stopped working the next day and spent most of the day with Stephanie, with breaks to take the girls to school and pick them up. On Friday, she was in constant pain and wanted Lee to place wet towels on her head, legs and torso, feed her ice chips and adjust the bed.
He had to feed her a spoonful of soft dishes, and she wanted him to do the same for dinner.
But by the time he had made arrangements for childcare, bought the grocery store and brought back to the hospital, his condition had worsened considerably.
She was swollen and needed help going to the bathroom.
That night, she was admitted to the intensive care unit, where nurses struggled to read their blood pressure because her heart was so weak.
"It was when the bottom began to fall," Lee said.
At that time, his parents had flown out of their Arizona vacation to Portland.
Stephanie stabilized for a while, but at 10 am, doctors came out of her room to inform Lee and her parents that they had lost their baby's heartbeat.
Lee and Stephanie had been waiting in recent weeks to tell their daughters, Vera and Eisley, that they would have a new sister soon in the world. They were cautious because they knew that complications could occur.
They were a bit unsure about the new baby. Stephanie longed for a third child, but Lee worried about lack of time, sleep, and motherhood for the first time in five years.
But they were happy, if they did not fear a little what all that meant.
Lee was devastated by the first death. But he discovered that at least this loss allowed everyone to focus on Stephanie and what she needed.
"We really had hope," Lee said.
But it did not last long. The doctors had walked down the hall looking for water and juice for Lee and Stephanie's parents when an alarm code was announced for Room 36 – Stephanie's room.
They saw the staff rush inside and hear the machines ring. The chaplain of the hospital has arrived.
They were sitting in shock watching the doors open and close, open and close.
Then a doctor left Stephanie's room to inform Lee that they had lost the heartbeat of his wife for two minutes. They practiced CPR and were able to recover it.
"We just got caught," Lee says. "She was strong, she was healthy. She did everything she was supposed to do. We have just arrived for the flu. "
The pneumonia had gone past Stephanie's lungs in the last four hours. The next day or two, she was intubated, dialyzed, and administered with a dozen medications to maintain her blood pressure and reduce her pain.
Lee's mother and brother were in town on Saturday morning.
They all took turns to hold Stephanie in her hands and whisper to them how much they loved him.
"We were a team and would always be a team," Lee told him. "I needed her to fight. And she did it. She's beaten. "
Sunday, his body naturally gave birth to the baby – a good sign, the doctors said. Lee chose the name of Alice May because Stephanie had suggested it and that they both liked her. May was chosen by their daughters.
It was March 10, eighteen years after the first meeting of Lee and Stephanie, 19 years old at the University of Kansas.
But Stephanie was unable to pass the placenta, which meant that a plan was in place to perform surgery early in the morning.
Lee spent most of the night without sleep in a room above Stephanie. Restless and worried, he slipped downstairs to spend time with her and the night nurse while everyone else was asleep.
His mother came to pick him up in the morning and as they left the room to meet Stephanie's parents downstairs, a nurse rushed to say that another alarm had been triggered in Stephanie's room.
The doctors repeatedly tried to make his heart beat and the family finally agreed to undergo a last-minute surgery.
Monday at 8:25, a doctor announced the death of Stephanie.
"She would like to be a lawyer"
A week later, Lee still found unfathomable that this vital woman with whom he had spent his entire adult life had disappeared because of the flu.
Stephanie was young, healthy and positive, Lee said. She was engaged in a successful architectural career and felt that she was thriving in her current workplace. After wanting a dog for years, they had just adopted a puppy last year.
Lee knows what it's like to lose a parent. His father died at the age of 8, almost the same age as Vera. And now, Lee had to give her and her sister the same horrible news.
He said that he was surrounded by friends and family, support and love. A family friend has launched a GoFundMe project to raise funds for Vera and Eisley's future education. Lee said he did not want them to miss college or more than the loss of their mother.
"I want to be able to provide what my parents have provided for our daughters," Lee said.
And he hopes that at least Stephanie's death could help raise awareness.
"I think she would like to be an advocate for people who get help when they need it and not wait too long."
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