stevetheupsguy
sʇǝʌǝʇɥǝndsƃnʎ
Monday, July 13, 2009
WELLINGTON — Bryan Opdyke's baby girl isn't supposed to enter the world for another 14 weeks.
But swine flu has forced him to pick a name, Parker Christine Opdyke.
As his wife lays in a medically induced coma in Wellington Regional Medical Center's intensive care unit, he can feel 26-week Parker Christine rolling inside Aubrey's womb, and it gives him hope.
"This baby flips and flops all the time. Her heart rate is great. Shes got her mom's stubbornness," he said today.
Bryan chose the name Parker because his wife liked the sound of it, before she fell ill. They chose Christine in honor of his mother, Christine Opdyke. Doctors are keeping Aubrey in a coma, on a ventilator, to give the baby maximum oxygen as mother struggles to overcome the illness. They will be forced to deliver the baby if Aubrey's blood oxygen levels crash again, or if the baby is struggling, he said.
"We're trying to get her to at least 28 weeks - the doctors said the chances of successful delivery go up dramatically if we can get her to 28," Bryan Opdyke.
The number of confirmed swine flu cases in South Florida is surging. It's a relatively mild illness for most people, but pregnant women, children, diabetics and people with heart and lung conditions are more likely to develop complications.
Health officials confirmed last week another pregnant woman was the first Palm Beach County swine flu victim. She died at age 25 on June 27. Doctors were able to save her baby.
Pregnant women represent about 1 percent of the U.S. population, but so far they've represented about 8 percent of those suffering from severe swine flu complications, officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta said today.
Precisely why pregnant women are harder hit by the flu is a subject of much research.
CDC Medical Officer Dr. Sonja Rasmussen, a pediatrician, said women's immune systems change once they become pregnant; some aspects are curbed, others enhanced. Their heart and lungs change, too. It all leaves them more vulnerable to specific germs, including toxoplasmosis and influenza.
"The mother's immune system needs to be able to learn to tolerate the foreign proteins from the father, so the pregnancy can continue," Rasmussen said. "That's why pregnant women are recommended every year to get the seasonal flu vaccine."
Bryan Opdyke said he feels optimistic about baby Parker's chance for survival, but his fear for his wife keeps him at the hospital at all hours.
"She's making small steps at this point but they are in the right direction," he said. "Right now they are giving her 50 to 60 percent survival. She's better than she was."
Aubrey Opdyke is a waitress at Newport Cafe in West Palm Beach. On June 30 she developed a sore throat, and her doctor told her to take Tylenol, which can be important in protecting a fetus from high fever. But she felt worse. An antibiotic didn't help, and on July 5 Bryan Opdyke rushed Aubrey to Wellington Regional, where she has remained. She's being treated with Tamiflu, he said. He's grateful to the health care workers who are caring for Aubrey, especially Aubrey's ob-gyn.
"Her obstetrician is awesome and has been great through this whole process," he said.
Palm Beach County has been late to join the global H1N1 pandemic, but it is here now with a vengeance. Four counties - Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade and Orange - account for more than 60 percent of the state's cases. Palm Beach County alone has recorded 146 cases, most coming in the past few weeks. Florida logged another death on Monday, a 41-year-old Orange County woman. Statewide, 1,784 have been confirmed sick, with 10 deaths.
The Opdykes' battle to overcome swine flu has captured national media attention. Before dawn on Monday, there were TV trucks outside the hospital, Bryan Opdyke said.
People have been calling the hospital, misrepresenting themselves, trying to find out about Aubrey's condition. As a result, he said he has agreed to have Wellington Regional's press office handle inquiries.
Meanwhile, tucked away next to a Chinese takeout restaurant, an insurance office and a construction staffing company in a strip mall on Forest Hill Boulevard, the Newport Cafe has become a media magnet, too.
"This has nothing to do with us," said one waitress, warily watching a reporter standing in front of a video camera pointed at the restaurant. "It's not like we have the swine flu or something. Can't the owner make them go away?"
According to employees at Newport Cafe, no one else at the eatery besides Opdyke had felt sick in the last several weeks. They said they were not worried about their own health, but were concerned about that of their ill co-worker.
"We're all worried," said one woman, who said the restaurant found out on Friday from Opdyke's husband, Bryan. "We all have kids."
Aubrey's tips had been sorely needed. Her car's transmission had just failed. And Bryan's his engine light went on. He's been forced to take unpaid family medical leave. He's a driver for UPS. But money's the least of his worries.
"At this point, I'm just thinking about her," Opdyke said.
http://postpix.palmbeachpost.com/my...98&event=795669&CategoryID=48010&pSlideshow=1
WELLINGTON — Bryan Opdyke's baby girl isn't supposed to enter the world for another 14 weeks.
But swine flu has forced him to pick a name, Parker Christine Opdyke.
As his wife lays in a medically induced coma in Wellington Regional Medical Center's intensive care unit, he can feel 26-week Parker Christine rolling inside Aubrey's womb, and it gives him hope.
"This baby flips and flops all the time. Her heart rate is great. Shes got her mom's stubbornness," he said today.
Bryan chose the name Parker because his wife liked the sound of it, before she fell ill. They chose Christine in honor of his mother, Christine Opdyke. Doctors are keeping Aubrey in a coma, on a ventilator, to give the baby maximum oxygen as mother struggles to overcome the illness. They will be forced to deliver the baby if Aubrey's blood oxygen levels crash again, or if the baby is struggling, he said.
"We're trying to get her to at least 28 weeks - the doctors said the chances of successful delivery go up dramatically if we can get her to 28," Bryan Opdyke.
The number of confirmed swine flu cases in South Florida is surging. It's a relatively mild illness for most people, but pregnant women, children, diabetics and people with heart and lung conditions are more likely to develop complications.
Health officials confirmed last week another pregnant woman was the first Palm Beach County swine flu victim. She died at age 25 on June 27. Doctors were able to save her baby.
Pregnant women represent about 1 percent of the U.S. population, but so far they've represented about 8 percent of those suffering from severe swine flu complications, officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta said today.
Precisely why pregnant women are harder hit by the flu is a subject of much research.
CDC Medical Officer Dr. Sonja Rasmussen, a pediatrician, said women's immune systems change once they become pregnant; some aspects are curbed, others enhanced. Their heart and lungs change, too. It all leaves them more vulnerable to specific germs, including toxoplasmosis and influenza.
"The mother's immune system needs to be able to learn to tolerate the foreign proteins from the father, so the pregnancy can continue," Rasmussen said. "That's why pregnant women are recommended every year to get the seasonal flu vaccine."
Bryan Opdyke said he feels optimistic about baby Parker's chance for survival, but his fear for his wife keeps him at the hospital at all hours.
"She's making small steps at this point but they are in the right direction," he said. "Right now they are giving her 50 to 60 percent survival. She's better than she was."
Aubrey Opdyke is a waitress at Newport Cafe in West Palm Beach. On June 30 she developed a sore throat, and her doctor told her to take Tylenol, which can be important in protecting a fetus from high fever. But she felt worse. An antibiotic didn't help, and on July 5 Bryan Opdyke rushed Aubrey to Wellington Regional, where she has remained. She's being treated with Tamiflu, he said. He's grateful to the health care workers who are caring for Aubrey, especially Aubrey's ob-gyn.
"Her obstetrician is awesome and has been great through this whole process," he said.
Palm Beach County has been late to join the global H1N1 pandemic, but it is here now with a vengeance. Four counties - Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade and Orange - account for more than 60 percent of the state's cases. Palm Beach County alone has recorded 146 cases, most coming in the past few weeks. Florida logged another death on Monday, a 41-year-old Orange County woman. Statewide, 1,784 have been confirmed sick, with 10 deaths.
The Opdykes' battle to overcome swine flu has captured national media attention. Before dawn on Monday, there were TV trucks outside the hospital, Bryan Opdyke said.
People have been calling the hospital, misrepresenting themselves, trying to find out about Aubrey's condition. As a result, he said he has agreed to have Wellington Regional's press office handle inquiries.
Meanwhile, tucked away next to a Chinese takeout restaurant, an insurance office and a construction staffing company in a strip mall on Forest Hill Boulevard, the Newport Cafe has become a media magnet, too.
"This has nothing to do with us," said one waitress, warily watching a reporter standing in front of a video camera pointed at the restaurant. "It's not like we have the swine flu or something. Can't the owner make them go away?"
According to employees at Newport Cafe, no one else at the eatery besides Opdyke had felt sick in the last several weeks. They said they were not worried about their own health, but were concerned about that of their ill co-worker.
"We're all worried," said one woman, who said the restaurant found out on Friday from Opdyke's husband, Bryan. "We all have kids."
Aubrey's tips had been sorely needed. Her car's transmission had just failed. And Bryan's his engine light went on. He's been forced to take unpaid family medical leave. He's a driver for UPS. But money's the least of his worries.
"At this point, I'm just thinking about her," Opdyke said.
http://postpix.palmbeachpost.com/my...98&event=795669&CategoryID=48010&pSlideshow=1