My Best Friend Just Died. H1N1 Swine Flu?

I just got the call. I am reeling, and haven't processed the info yet.

T returned from a 5-month vacation in Mexico at the beginning of March. She told me she had a horrible flu in a February email - doctor's care, meds - but she said she was all better when she got home.

T was very happy, in control of her life, and outwardly healthy - but she had a massive stroke while in yoga class yesterday morning.

Her death will not be attributed to H1N1. However, I believe her death resulted from residual impacts of the original infection. That's a 4-month lag time.

Rest in Peace, T.

Lots of love,
me


PS. ...I got a flu after first spending time with her, and can't quite shake it (but am not worried, confident I know how to protect myself in the long term).

Soficrow, I'm so sorry to hear about the sudden death of your friend. My condolences.

A massive stroke? At a yoga class? The circumstances are bizarre. I'm glad that you are not overly worried about your flu. I think maybe you should destress and find things to laugh about. The more we laugh the healthier we are. Maybe endorphins are the perfect medicine.

I'm really sorry about your friend.

[edit on 5-6-2009 by Hazelnut] typo

[edit on 5-6-2009 by Hazelnut]

I am so sorry....

Losing a best friend is every bit as hard, if not harder, than a relative. We went through this in 2006 when my husband lost his best friend, who had been his best friend since 4th grade. The cause of death was suspicious and never completely resolved; in his mind he wasn't able to "close" and heal properly.

If you need anyone to talk to please let me know...I'll be there and will help if I can.

Sincerely,
FMF

I am so sorry....

Losing a best friend is every bit as hard, if not harder, than a relative. We went through this in 2006 when my husband lost his best friend, who had been his best friend since 4th grade. The cause of death was suspicious and never completely resolved; in his mind he wasn't able to "close" and heal properly.

If you need anyone to talk to please let me know...I'll be there and will help if I can.

Sincerely,
FMF

Awe Man! Real sorry to hear that soficrow. Sympathies and condolences to friends and family.

Losing a best friend has got to be even worse than losing a family member for some people. I won't bother elaborating on that in your time of grief, but I think some of you may know exactly what I mean.

reply to post by soficrow


Sorry for you lost Sofi, but this very strange, my sister called me on wenesday to tell me that her husband of only three months was found death of a massive hart attack in his car on Tuesday afternoon he was death since 10:00 in the morning when he came back home after leaving my sister at work.

He was just getting over a bad, bad flu in Puertorrico, he was only 40 years old.

If it wasn't because you just posted this I would never make a link.

This is very weird.





[edit on 5-6-2009 by marg6043]

So what are the long-term life-threatening damage that a flu can cause?

I guess it would have to be some sort of organ damage cause by a prolonged fever?

reply to post by thisguyrighthere


That is interesting, I wonder too, my sister's husband didn't even went to the doctor when he got sick, my sister is a radiologist so she tended to him and his symptoms, he did have a very bad cough that seemed not to go away, that is what she said.

But still can a bad cough damage the lungs so bad that it will damage the hart.

She said that when she saw her husband death body still in the car he had vomited blood and he had bloody tissues in the seat next to him.

This getting weird and weird.



[edit on 5-6-2009 by marg6043]

reply to post by thisguyrighthere


That's what I want to know...because I am freaking out on ATS right now!

I've never felt 100% myself since getting a flu in March. Was it swine flu? Who knows...I wasn't tested even when I ultimately went in for the resulting upper respiratory infection in May.

If there is a protocol for getting better and staying alive, I want to know.

dear, dear sofi,

Friends are the family we choose for ourselves--a best friend "doubles your joy and divides your grief."

You are in my thoughts and prayers.

Please know that your friends here at ATS will continue digging until we get as close to the bottom of these strange circumstances as we can.

Sincerely,
sonjah

reply to post by sonjah1


That is a beautiful post there Sonjah1, I think Sofi is going to appreciate those comment very much.

So very sorry for your loss. Friends are like angels to me.

May she continue to live in your heart.

Sending a hug and peaceful thoughts your way.

Thank you all so very, very much. Your care and concern warm my heart, and make a huge difference to me.

kosmicjack asked how we can protect ourselves, so I will try to respond...


Briefly, flu is linked to chronic disease. Flu also is known to cause heart attacks. Before and during a heart attack, the heart beat goes wonky. Irregular heartbeat -heart arrythmia or fibrillation- can cause strokes (before it is bad enough to cause a heart attack).

Flu Triggers Heart Attacks

Heart disease - atrial fibrillation

Atrial fibrillation is a condition involving an irregular heart rhythm, known as an arrhythmia. It is the most common type of arrhythmia, affecting approximately 250,000 Canadians. While it is rare in people under 40, its prevalence increases with age. About 3% of the population over the age of 45 and 6% over age 65 have atrial fibrillation. After the age of 55, the incidence of AF doubles with each decade of life.

Generally the risk of developing AF increases with age and with other risk factors such as diabetes and high blood pressure, and underlying heart disease. One of the main complications of atrial fibrillation is that it may result in a stroke. Individuals with atrial fibrillation have 3 to 5 times greater risk for stroke than those without AF.

PROTECTING YOURSELF

1. De-stress

Stress is psychological and physical. The goal here is to keep mental and physical stress from affecting your heart (and then your brain).

All that "Personal Responsibility in Health" advice is good - except for the part about blaming the victims.

2. Rest when you need to - not later.

3. Sleep when you need to - not later.

4. If your body says STOP! - you stop. Whatever you're doing. Immediately.

5. Eat right, play lots, laugh every day and enjoy life.

And don't forget to dance.

The endorphins and serotonin released in the process protect your heart and brain.


And remember this? It works...

Everything I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten

Most of what I really need to know about how to live and what to do, and how to be, I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate school mountain, but there in the sandbox at nursery school.

These are the things I learned:

Share everything.

Play fair.

Don't hit people.

Put things back where you found them.

Clean up your own mess.

Don't take things that aren't yours.

Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.

Wash your hands before you eat.

Flush.

Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.

Live a balanced life.

Learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.

Take a nap every afternoon.

When you go out into the world, watch for traffic, hold hands and stick together.

Be aware of wonder.

Remember the little seed in the plastic cup? The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that. Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the plastic cup -- they all die. So do we.

And then remember the book about Dick and Jane and the first word you learned, the biggest word of all: look.

Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation. Ecology and politics and sane living.

Think what a better world it would be if we all -- the whole world -- had cookies and milk about 3 o'clock every afternoon and then lay down with our blankets for a nap. Or if we had a basic policy in our nation and other nations to always put things back where we found them and cleaned up our own messes. And it is still true, no matter how old you are, when you go out into the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together.

~ Robert Fulghum ~

It really is this simple. Honest. Of course, it's not easy to get this simple in today's stressful world...


-sofi

Beautifully, well said.....in your time of need, you gave a gift back to us!

Thank you,
FMF

Originally posted by marg6043
reply to post by thisguyrighthere

 

That is interesting, I wonder too, my sister's husband didn't even went to the doctor when he got sick, my sister is a radiologist so she tended to him and his symptoms, he did have a very bad cough that seemed not to go away, that is what she said.

But still can a bad cough damage the lungs so bad that it will damage the hart.

She said that when she saw her husband death body still in the car he had vomited blood and he had bloody tissues in the seat next to him.

This getting weird and weird.



[edit on 5-6-2009 by marg6043]

The bad cough has been going around in Texas. This is not medical advice. The herb sage dries up the mucous membranes in the throat relieving coughs and sore throats. Sage in hot water makes a bitter tea which stops coughs altogether.

Most of the people dying of swine flu are contracting pnuemonia. Pnuemonia is a bacterial infection which results from fluid/mucous build up in the lungs.I think Bacteria can cause heart attacks if they travel through the blood vessels to the heart.

I am sorry to hear about your friend. I am a little concerned because I have had a bad cough since a few days before memorial day and it has gotten better but not gone completly. I had no fever just cough. Haven't been to the doc either, don't like going and figure my body will heal on its own. But may consider going now.

reply to post by eradown


Thanks for the advise I will be looking into it, we all got sick about two months ago, we all got the nasty cough and sinus infections with my husband and daughter one round of antibiotics my son none, and me with two rounds as the sinus infection came back.

My husband still have the cough and me just a lingering one is like the cough doesn't want to go away.

Sofi-

There are no words. I'm immensely sorry for your loss- and he's and her family's.

Thank you for being brave enough to post this despite your grief.

We can dissect at a later post- for now, please know you and she and her family are in my prayers.

Edit: PLEASE Take SLIPPERY ELM and CoQ10- and if you can get your hands on it- Rhodiola- all will suppress and kill flu and other infections-bacterial, viral, parasitic. Please stay well and rest. xoxoxoxox

C

[edit on 6-6-2009 by CultureD]

reply to post by kosmicjack


Kosmic-

Take Slippery Elm, CoQ10 and Rhodiola- all will prevent flu. And eat well, organic foods, little meat, fresh produce, positivity- and let's share all of our love for Sofi here to create an energy to defend against it.

Blessings

C

Originally posted by thisguyrighthere
So what are the long-term life-threatening damage that a flu can cause?

I guess it would have to be some sort of organ damage cause by a prolonged fever?

Actually it is the bug not the fever. Fever is the bodies way of trying to kill the bug. The worse the bug, the worse the fever. As far as I have been able to research, not one person died of a fever alone, it was always the bug.

I am not making light of your losses, anyone. I lost my son in November due to pneumonia which caused diabetic complications, or so the medical examiner officialy put down. I must consider the possibilities of nature deciding to control population as much as other artificial means. Society breeds contamination and that is all there is to it. My son caught a cold virus from the neighbor and it progressed from there. It is risky living with groups of people because the accelerated process of infecting others. Are the benefits worth the risks? Only you can decide.