Washington: Mother fights for her life- dies

[Rwilmer]

Story Published: Jul 21, 2009 at 5:08 PM PDT

Story Updated: Jul 22, 2009 at 7:37 AM PDT

"'No one should have to go through this'"

SEATTLE -- Swine flu has left a Puyallup mother and her infant daughter fighting for their lives.[/b]

Three weeks ago, Katie Flyte, then six-months pregnant, developed a fever and cough. Now, she's in a drug-induced coma and doesn't know she's given birth.

"I don't want to leave her (bedside)," said her husband Kenny Flyte. "If I leave, what's gonna happen?"

While taking care of their sick son, Katie Flyte complained to her clinic of back aches, a deep cough, and fever.

"They sent her home with flu like symptoms," Kenny Flyte said.

Three flu tests returned negative results, but Katie's condition deteriorated. The 27-year-old contracted pneumonia, then went into respiratory arrest.

"The doctor ObGyn came in and said '(We) need to give birth to baby girl to save one or both of their lives,' " Kenny Flyte recounted.

In a sedated coma, Katie underwent a Cesarean section and gave birth to a 2 pound, 14 ounce girl.

"(Katie) has no idea," Kenny said. "We didn't even have a name fully picked out yet.

"I gotta give my baby girl a name without a mom to help me make the decision."

Doctors at Good Samaratin Hospital diagnosed Katie with the swine flu. Her lungs, heart and kidneys are failing. But her baby's health is improving.

"Gonna be hard if (Katie) doesn't snap out of it soon," Kenny Flyte said.

Flyte transferred his wife to Harborview Medical Center, where she now suffers from Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome. Meanwhile, Kenny, a laid-off construction worker, juggles his time spending mornings with his 2-year-old in Puyallup, bonding with his baby in the intensive care unit in Tacoma and returning to Katie's side in Seattle.

"It's just horrible," he said. "No one should have to go through this. No one."

Kenny urges pregnant women to take more precautions to avoid contact with swine flu and don't ignore symptoms.

"Go see your doctor -- don't even play around. Make sure they do flu test properly."

Kenny says he will likely name his daughter Abbey -- that's the last name he remembers his wife liking.

If you would like to help the Flyte family with expenses, you can make a donation to our Problem Solvers Fund."

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/51354942.html

[Desolation_anonymous]

Re: Washington: Mother fights for her life

This scares me on a personal/superstitious manner.

[Chuck]

Re: Washington: Mother fights for her life

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/53051347.html

Puyallup woman dies after battle with swine flu

Story Published: Aug 12, 2009 at 10:55 AM PDT

Story Updated: Aug 12, 2009 at 10:59 AM PDT
By KOMO Staff
SEATTLE -- A Puyallup mother who spent weeks in a coma and didn't even know she gave birth to a baby girl has died.

Katie Flyte lost her battle with swine flu and died Monday at Harborview Medical Center, her family said. She was 27 years old.

"She's in a better place," said her husband, Kenny.

Six weeks ago, Katie, who was then six-months pregnant, developed a fever and deep cough.

She was sent home and three flu tests came back negative, but her condition deteriorated. She contracted pneumonia, then went into respiratory arrest.

Doctors said they needed to deliver Katie's baby to save both lives.

In a drug-induced coma, Katie underwent a Cesarean section and gave birth to a 2 pound, 14 ounce girl.

She was eventually diagnosed with swine flu and doctors transferred her to Harborview, where she remained in a coma until she died.

"We didn't even have a name fully picked out yet," her husband said of their new baby, who has since been named Abigail Marie.

Kenny said doctors did everything they could to try to keep his wife alive.

Now Kenny, who was laid off from his construction job, is taking care of their 2-year-old son, visiting Abigail in the intensive care unit at Harborview, and planning his wife's memorial service.

Unpaid bills and mortgage payments have piled up, so KOMO viewers donated $4,000 to help with expenses.

Katie's family has been stunned by the outpouring of support, and Kenny said he probably has more people looking out for him than he'll ever know.

[wotan]

Re: Washington: Mother fights for her life

Oh man, one of the sadder stories we have read.

[Shiloh]

Re: Washington: Mother fights for her life- dies

Source: http://www.theolympian.com/breakingn...ry/938647.html

Puyallup woman dies of swine flu, but first she gives birth

By Brian Everstine; The News Tribune | ? Published August 13, 2009


A Puyallup woman who contracted swine flu while six months pregnant has died at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

Katie Flyte, 27. was initially diagnosed with pneumonia and doctors at Good Samaritan Hospital in Puyallup later discovered she had swine flu. Doctors successfully delivered the woman?s child at Good Samaritan before Flyte was taken to Harborview on July 22.

She died Monday, with the cause listed as acute respiratory distress, according to the King County Medical Examiner.

?She?s in a better place,? her husband Kenny told KOMO-TV.

He told the station that the baby has been named Abigail Marie.

[Shiloh]

Re: Washington: Mother fights for her life- dies

Source: http://www.kirotv.com/health/20383809/detail.html

Husband Turns Heartbreak Into Swine Flu Warning

Posted: 7:37 am PDT August 13, 2009Updated: 7:55 am PDT August 13, 2009
PUYALLUP, Wash. -- The grieving husband of a pregnant woman stricken with swine flu urged others with flu-like symptoms to get tested for the disease after his wife lost her battle this week with the H1N1 virus.

Kenny Flyte said he wants to warn others to prevent it from happening to them.

"No one should have to go with what I and our family as a whole has to go through, nobody," Flyte told KIRO 7 Eyewitness News reporter Deborah Horne.

Flyte's 27-year-old wife, Katie, was sick for seven weeks before she died Tuesday at Harborview Medical Center. The baby she was pregnant with had already been delivered -- alive -- as she lay in a drug-induced coma.

"Basically, her heart, her liver, her gallbladder, her kidneys, every organ in her body had had enough," Flyte said.

Katie Flyte was nearly seven months pregnant when she got sick. But an initial test doctors gave her came back negative, so she went home.

After she got increasingly sicker, doctors used a more sophisticated test -- a saline test -- that revealed she had swine flu. She spent the next 44 days at Harborview trying to fight it.

Her husband is warning others who may be sick, too, "to go get a test, and especially if they're pregnant; they need to make sure that they get the saline test."

Flyte said his baby girl is holding her own. She weighs 5 pounds now, more than twice her birth weight.

Anyone who wants to help the family can go to carepages.com.

[Shiloh]

Re: Washington: Mother fights for her life- dies

Source: http://www.komonews.com/news/63811687.html


'I probably grieve a little every day'


Kenny Flyte holds his newborn daughter Abbey.

Story Updated: Oct 8, 2009 at 6:38 PM PDT
By KOMO Staff
VIDEO

PUYALLUP, Wash. -- Thursday was a bittersweet homecoming for a baby whose mother died not knowing she even gave birth.

Abbey Flyte's mother Katie died of complications from swine flu. Her father, Kenny Flyte, brought the swaddled little preemie home Thursday, away from hospital incubators and tubes.

"I just wish (Katie) was here to enjoy her, 'cause she's awesome," he said.

Katie Flyte was pregnant when she was hospitalized this summer with swine flu. She went into a coma, delivered Abbey by C-section, and never woke up.

"I probably grieve a little every day," Kenny Flyte said. "I took so much for granted or didn't give her enough credit for Jacob (their older son) when he was being raised. Life is different without mom. All the feedings, dishes, laundry, and 2-year-old Jacob even called me 'Momma' a few times."

Kenny says Jacob's starting to get the hang of things around here and the way Dad handles things instead of the way momma ran it.

Meanwhile, he says he's stopped isolating himself and hopes he can find a job when Abbey's six months old.

"After everything I've been through, not a whole lot can shock me or bring me down more than I've been down," Kenny said.

But you stepped up to help Kenny get through his challenges. Our viewers raised $2,100 to the Problem Solvers fund to help Kenny with child care expenses. But for Kenny, it could be as tough leaving Abbey, who has momma's face, as it is looking into Jacob's eyes to say goodbye.

"And it's momma's eyes looking right at me, big ol' brown tearjerkers," he said.

In all, our Problem Solvers have donated more than $6,000 to help the Flyte family.

[Pathfinder]

Re: Washington: Mother fights for her life- dies

Flu Victim's Baby Girl Goes Home

AOL News
posted: 2 HOURS 46 MINUTES (Oct. 9) -

She won't ever know her mother. But baby Abbey is finally home with her dad and big brother.

Abbey was born by cesarean section to Katie Flyte -- who never even knew she had a daughter. Flyte, 27, of Pullyap, Wash., was six weeks pregnant when she contracted swine flu. She spent weeks in a coma before doctors finally decided in July that they had to deliver the baby, or risk losing both mother and child.

Flyte lost her battle with the flu and died in August.

While in a coma, Katie Flyte gave birth via C-section to a daughter. She died shortly thereafter of complications of the H1N1 virus.

Her daughter, Abigail Marie, weighed just 2 pounds, 14 ounces when she was born. After spending weeks at the neonatal intensive care unit at Harborview Medical Center, baby Abbey came home on Thursday, marking a bittersweet moment for the devastated family, KOMO-TV reported.

Her dad, Kenny Flyte, is now caring for both Abbey and her 2-year-old brother, Jacob. A laid-off construction worker, Flyte says he plans to stay at home until Abbey is 6 months old, then start looking for work. "Life is different without mom," the widowed father said. "All the feedings, dishes, laundry, and 2-year-old Jacob even called me 'Momma' a few times."

KOMO viewers have contributed $6,000 to help the family.

"My heart is just overwhelmed with the support that I've gotten through e-mails, letters, to just stuff being dropped off on the front porch," Flyte told the station in September. "It is simply amazing that people still care about strangers."

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, pregnant women have had higher rates of hospitalization because of swine flu than the general public, and are strongly encouraged to receive the H1N1 vaccine.

As of Oct. 2, 28 pregnant women had died of the H1N1 virus, federal health officials said.

http://news.aol.com/article/flu-victim-katie-flytes-baby-goes-home/711949