The Andersen Family
Lene Andersen is an author, health and disability advocate, and photographer living in Toronto. She has lived with rheumatoid arthritis since she was four years old and uses her experience to help others with chronic illnesses. Her work can be found on her website.
In early March of 2016, she got the flu. She didn’t know anyone who had influenza and guesses that it may have been passed by someone in a grocery store or another public place. For the first five days, it was pretty miserable, but it seemed to be running its course. However, eventually, the flu spread to her lungs, and because of her asthma, she was at a higher risk of flu complications. She developed pneumonia and was admitted to the hospital because it became difficult to breathe.
Initially, Lene was admitted to the general floor of the hospital to treat her flu and pneumonia, but she quickly deteriorated. She developed acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and was admitted to the ICU to be put on a ventilator. There she was in a medically induced coma for 2 weeks.
After those two weeks, she seemed to be improving and was brought out of the coma and extubated (had the ventilator tube removed). But she crashed soon after being removed from the ventilator and came as close as possible to dying. In fact, she “flatlined” for about 10 seconds without a pulse. To save her life, the medical staff performed an emergency tracheostomy. For the next 10 days, she was awake but attached through the tracheostomy first weaning off the ventilator and later receiving oxygen. This left her unable to speak and she discovered most people are really bad at lip-reading. She was eventually moved to a regular ward, had the trach removed, and after 34 days in the hospital, Lene was finally sent home to recover. She’s doing well now, a small scar at the base of her throat and medical PTSD the only reminders of what happened.
Lene is a staunch advocate for annual flu vaccination and all vaccines. She was at greater risk of contracting the flu because of her chronic conditions and being immunosuppressed due to a medication she takes for her rheumatoid arthritis.
When not enough people get vaccinated, all individuals are less protected from flu because it has a greater chance of spreading. Lene shares her flu story not only to remind people of the importance of annual flu vaccination but also to share information about how our actions (and non-actions) can impact someone you don’t know. As someone who uses a wheelchair and has lived with a chronic illness her entire life, she wants people to know that getting vaccinated protects those who are extra vulnerable.
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