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A couple days after Christmas 2003 Marissa got a 24hr flu bug. It was very mild and she recovered quickly. Then 2 days later my oldest daughter Brooke had the same symptoms and she also recovered quickly. On New Years Eve, Tony & I both got it also, but were feeling better by that night and everything got back to normal.
Friday, January 10th 2003, Marissa went to school as usual. We stayed up until midnight watching movies. This was an weekly ritual that Marissa looked forward to. This specific weekend we were planning to go shopping so she could spend her birthday money.
On Saturday January 11, 2003 Marissa started to not feel well again. We treated her with Motrin. She was up playing Bratz & later she seemed to be feeling better. On Sunday, she had a fever off & on, but it always came down with the Motrin. She complained of feeling achy & nauseated. I even went to get her, her favoritest meal in the world, a chicken nugget happy meal, but she only ate 1 1/2 nuggets & nothing else. That night she wanted to sleep with her big sissy Brooke so she did. At 4:30am she woke up & had to go to the bathroom. I heard them & got up to check on Rissa. When I felt her she was very cool. I checked her temperature it was 93.9. We didn`t think that could be right so we just put her in our bed. Then at 6am we all got up. I again took her temperature it was 94.6 so i decided to call the doctor.
The doctor`s office was closed but I got a recording saying, “For professional advice from a nurse please call ###-####”, so I did. I spoke to the nurse & explained to her that Marissa had been running a fever on & off and now her temperature was low & I didn`t know what to do. She said “She is probably fighting off the flu bug” & for me to let her own antibodies fight it & “if she didn`t feel better that afternoon to go to the doctor”.
Tony went to work & Brooke & Sammie went on the bus with Grandma Patty. From 7am to 8am I kept trying to call the doctor but they didn`t open yet. Marissa started complaining more that her stomach hurt so I began to think it might be appendicitis. At 8am the doctor`s line was busy & shortly after Marissa threw up clear fluids. I took her upstairs to change her clothes & she took a turn for the worse. She began to look peaked & when I was changing her she couldn`t move her limbs very well, so I rushed her to the ER. All the while never fathoming it could be very serious. By the time we got to the ER it was to late. . . her heart had stopped. She was born into Heaven January 13, 2003.
We later found out the cause was Viral Myocarditis, which is a complication of the flu that affects the walls of the heart. Through research, we learned that in most cases, Viral Myocarditis is fatal for children.
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