Kaitlyn’s Story (Flu)

Kaitlyn had been diligent about getting the flu shot every year. It was personal to her because her cousin, Amanda, died from the flu when she was just 4 years old. Ever since then the rest of the family has made it their mission to educate people about the dangers of flu and the need for people to get an annual flu shot.

In October of 2024, Kaitlyn and her college friends had plans to get vaccinated when Hurricane Milton hit Florida, and they had to postpone. Kaitlyn wasn’t feeling quite right. She thought she had a bad cold. She knew that feeling run down is part of college life, where you are burning the candle at both ends.

When she told her mother, Amy, that she had a bad headache as well, Amy urged her to go straight to urgent care. Kaitlyn did so and that literally saved her life. At urgent care, she was on the phone with her parents when she got the news that she had tested positive for 2 strains of flu, A and B. On the other end of the phone, Amy started crying. She knew that Kaitlyn was very, very sick. Kaitlyn was also told she had started to go into sepsis with her blood pressure soaring and her heart rate very low. Urgent care called an ambulance, and Kaitlyn was hospitalized and was started on IV fluids and antibiotics. She was terrified considering her family history.

Despite the hurricane, Amy managed to fly down immediately from Philadelphia. She was there when Kaitlyn was discharged the next day.

But her ordeal was not over. Kaitlyn could not keep her medications or any liquids down and began vomiting and became severely dehydrated. She ended up back in the hospital where they medicated her again intravenously. The doctors told Kaitlyn she could have died.

While she had recovered physically, what happened next confused Kaitlyn. She would randomly start crying for no apparent reason. She became extremely anxious, did not want to socialize, and felt depressed. This was not who she was, and she didn’t understand what was happening. She later found out she was suffering from a condition called post-viral depression, which is brought on by a traumatic experience.

Kaitlyn’s message to everyone is this: get your flu shot each year, as soon as they become available. Don’t mistake the flu as no big deal. And, if you’re not feeling well, even if you think it’s just a cough and a cold, if symptoms persist, take it seriously and get tested as soon as possible and start treatment if recommended.

Acquired from Families Fighting Flu