Leslie Creekmore, 29, of Fort Smith was unable to make her Jan. 13 flu shot appointment because she was hospitalized and on a ventilator after falling ill with the H1N1 strain, her husband, Chris Creekmore, said Tuesday.
Creekmore talked Tuesday about his wife’s love of children and her sweet disposition, while Leslie was in a drug-induced coma undergoing a procedure in a St. Louis hospital that Chris Creekmore hoped would give her lungs the ability to heal and work on their own.
“She is a children’s librarian,” Creekmore said. “She loves kids’ books. She has always been a quiet, shy sort. She will be mortified when she wakes up and realizes thousands of people havebeen paying attention to her.”
Encouraging other people to get flu vaccinations has become a mission, Creekmore said. He saidthat is why he has decided to share her story.
“I think she will be happier if she wakes up and realizes that something good has came out of this,” Creekmore said. “As long as we can get people vaccinated, that is something good to come out of something that is an unimaginable and terrible situation.”
Officials with the Arkansas Department of Health “highly recommended” that all individuals ages 25-50receive flu vaccinations. The recommendation was made after officials saw an abnormal increase in severe H1N1 virus illness among that age group.
There had been 23 deaths from the flu in Arkansas as of Tuesday, according to a weekly report released by the state Health Department. Fifteen of those who died were ages 25-64.
There were also 777 flu-related hospital admissions in the state for the week of Jan. 12-18, according to the report.
Leslie waited to receive her flu shot because she was pregnant, Creekmore said. He said they had information that indicated it would be wise to wait until the second trimester of her pregnancy before she was vaccinated.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta updated its vaccination recommendation in 2004 to include all pregnant women, said Sandra Chaves, CDC medical director of the Influenza Hospitalization Surveillance Network. She said that before 2004, it was recommended that woman receive flu shots after the first trimester.
Gary Wheeler, the Health Department’s branch chief of infectious diseases, said state health officials also recommend that women be vaccinated at any point during their pregnancies.
“If you are pregnant and in or approaching the flu season, you should absolutely be vaccinated,” Wheeler said. “This is not a controversial point. If a pregnant woman develops influenza, she has a higher complication risk. It is probably the highest vaccination priority we have.”
Leslie first showed signs of the flu on Jan. 6, Creekmore said.
“She started feeling a little sickly, and the next few days she was slightly more sick,” he said. He said she wasn’t running a high fever, but by Jan. 10, she was short of breath.
A trip to Mercy Hospital in Fort Smith on Jan. 11 resulted in her being admitted, and by midnight she was moved to the intensive-care unit, he said.
“They kept having to step up the measures,” Creekmore said. He said that on Jan. 12, she was placed in a drug-induced coma so a ventilator could be used. The next day, she was airlifted to Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis.
On Thursday, Leslie miscarried, Creekmore said. He said she was 21 weeks pregnant at the time.
“She was unconscious,” he said. “She wasn’t aware and still isn’t.”
Vladimir Despotovic, a Washington University pulmonary and critical-care specialist at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, said Leslie was admitted with severe influenza caused by the H1N1 flu virus, which also induced pneumonia.
Despotovic said after Leslie’s lung collapsed, a more aggressive treatment was needed. That included extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, a process that allows a machine to oxygenate her blood and removes carbon dioxide so the lungs do not have to.
Creekmore said the treatment is one of Leslie’s last options.
“It is very dangerous and very scary, but it is what is left,” Creekmore said. “At this stage, she is very sick, and she is in a lot of danger.”
Support for the couple has been incredible, Creekmore said.
Updates about Leslie’s condition are available online at gofundme.com/leslie creekmore.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 7 on 01/22/2014