Darlene C.
Describe the symptoms and the timeline of the reaction.
5/17/2022- 2nd COVID-19 booster shot
5/18/2022 - felt ill with a fever and fatigue
5/25/2022 - I took her to the ER due to continued fatigue and extreme shortness of breath. She was admitted.
5/26/2022 - Moved to ICU due to increased need for oxygen via bi-pap machine
6/1/2022 - Intubated, requiring a ventilator to breathe
6/2/2022 - Had a heart attack while on the ventilator. She passed away shortly after she was extubated.
My mother died 7 months ago, just 2.5 weeks after receiving her 2nd COVID-19 booster shot. The death certificate lists pneumonia as the cause of death for my mom, but the doctor explained that he used that diagnosis on her death certificate because there isn't an ICD-10 diagnosis code for what caused her death; it was an averse immune response to her 2nd COVID-19 booster shot, which he was able to include in 'other contributing conditions' on the death certificate.My mom felt ill, like many people, the day after the shot, but didn't bounce back fully, like most people, on day 3. She went on with her usual activities, called her doctor later in the week because she had some upper back pain, but thought it was stress-related and didn't let it stop her. She had increasing difficulty breathing a week later and I brought her to the emergency room after she had barely managed to go out and get her hair cut! She was admitted to the hospital due to her need for oxygen and abnormal pulse, moved to ICU the following day due to increasing needs for oxygen, eventually requiring a ventilator after a week in the ICU. She had a heart attack after a day on the ventilator and we knew she wasn't going to pull through; she died shortly after the device was removed. While on the ventilator, secretions taken from her lungs were bloody and appeared to have lung tissue in them. She was tested for COVID-19 twice while in the hospital because her lungs had that signature appearance to the doctors. Both of the COVID-19 tests came back negative. She was tested for various other atypical pneumonias via Mayo Clinic lab, but all those tests were negative as well. She didn't have fungal or bacterial pneumonia; her white blood cell count was not elevated, and antibiotics and steroid treatments didn't seem to help. After using the process of elimination, the Pulmonologists informed us that she had experienced an adverse immune response to the COVID-19 booster shot.
I reported my mom's death in Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS); it bothers me that the hospital where she died didn't report it... They put the COVID-19 booster shot as a 'contributing condition' on her death certificate; surely, they would report it for tracking purposes, like they do all COVID-related deaths?!? No. They did not and I believe that they do not. My report in VAERS is the only report for my mom. I am a data analyst by profession, so I have queried the VAERS database with various filters - as few as possible, so as to catch the hospital's report of my mom's death. It just isn't there. When I looked through all the possible matches to my mom's VAERS report, I noticed a trend... Most of them appeared to be reported by either family members or skilled nursing facilities; none by hospitals.
I contacted all of the major news outlets, naively thinking that they would want to share my mom's story, but there was zero response.
Then we found Liz Collin... This is a link to an Alpha News story on my mom: https://alphanews.org/daughters-demand-answers-as-healthy-active-mother-dies-after-booster-shot/I reported my mom's death in Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS); it bothers me that the hospital where she died didn't report it... They put the COVID-19 booster shot as a 'contributing condition' on her death certificate; surely, they would report it for tracking purposes, like they do all COVID-related deaths?!? No. They did not and I believe that they do not. My report in VAERS is the only report for my mom. I am a data analyst by profession, so I have queried the VAERS database with various filters - as few as possible, so as to catch the hospital's report of my mom's death. It just isn't there. When I looked through all the possible matches to my mom's VAERS report, I noticed a trend... Most of them appeared to be reported by either family members or skilled nursing facilities; none by hospitals.I contacted all of the major news outlets, naively thinking that they would want to share my mom's story, but there was zero response.Then we found Liz Collin... This is a link to an Alpha News story on my mom: https://alphanews.org/daughters-demand-answers-as-healthy-active-mother-dies-after-booster-shot/
What would you like others to know?
If only my mom had known about the risk of death from getting her 2nd COVID-19 booster shot at her annual well visit in May (and she was VERY well - lab reports from that day prove it). Yes, she was 82 years old and had A-fib, but she has lived with that her whole life. I want her story to be told so that others will know about the risk of injury and death associated with COVID-19 vaccinations and continued COVID-19 boosters. If we are to "Be Informed!", as my mother's final Medicare EOB stated, urging members to keep themselves and others 'safe' by getting their COVID-19 booster shot, don't we need data to inform us? But what if the data isn't made available to us? This is why I have had many nights of little sleep since my mom's death. I am thankful for this platform to tell her story.She and my dad would have been married 60 years on June 30th, 2022. What adds to the tragedy of this story is that my mom was the primary caregiver for her husband, my dad, who has Alzheimer's. Thankfully, I have a sister and brother-in-law who are recent empty-nesters and were able to move in with my dad to care for him. However, we all have full time jobs, so it is a challenge to coordinate his care with our already full schedules... It is our privilege to care for him, though, and we are so thankful that the 2nd booster shot he received that same day didn't affect him at all. That is something he can't wrap his mind around right now, though, and he sometimes wonders if my mom, the love of his life, chose to leave him and die. It is truly heartbreaking!
How would you like your loved one to be remembered?
We held a memorial concert to celebrate my mom's life in August. Hers was a HUGE life to celebrate! Here's an excerpt from her eulogy:Darlene and Ken Carlson would have been married for 60 years this past June 30th. They thoroughly enjoyed raising 3 daughters together: Carmen, Leanne, and Susan. Her grandchildren - James, Johnny, Matthew, Thomas, Luke, and Lily - were her true pride and joy. Darlene loved with her whole heart, she was so proud, and gushed about her passions to whomever would listen. Her sons-in-law, Mark, Michael, and Brad, as well as her grand-daughter-in-law, Kelsey, also held a special place in her heart. And then there was Annie… Five years ago, Carmen, Leanne, and Susan gave Ken and Darlene a Morkie-Poo for Christmas. Annie quickly stole her heart and went everywhere with Darlene and Ken.As an only child, Darlene's friends were often like sisters to her. She had many life-long friends from her hometown of Stephen, MN, her and Ken’s classes at Minnehaha Academy and the University of Minnesota, and her neighborhoods in Golden Valley and Minnetonka. She also had many friends from church, substitute teaching, volunteering at Dayton’s, working at Marshall Field’s and Macy’s, and playing bridge.Darlene had the gift of hospitality. She didn’t host as many large parties in recent years as she did in the past, but she enjoyed making gatherings with friends and family memorable with a beautifully set table and delicious food. She loved decorating her homes - both in Minnesota and Florida, and opened them for all to enjoy. Darlene also loved to travel and made several trips to Sweden to visit relatives of hers and Ken’s there. Cruises were a great option for the whole family to enjoy and the family cherishes the memories made on those trips now more than ever!A few other favorite things we remember about her: Her sense of style and elegance; anything feminine, especially in the colors of pink and green. Shopping for bargains! She would never pay full price for her one-of-a-kind finds. She was a whiz with math and words. She enjoyed daily Sudoku puzzles, endless Skip-Bo with Ken, and hot games of scrabble. She loved to play games, was a competitive card shark. She was so quick witted and energetic. She had an insatiable sweet tooth although married to a dentist. It seemed she could survive on jellybeans, and baked goods with almond or lemon flavoring. And yet, she was an AMAZING cook! Darlene was a gifted seamstress, and created beautiful handiwork such as needlepoint, hardanger, cross stitch, knitted outfits, quilts, and crochet. Her hands were busy hands, NEVER idle. She enjoyed keeping the Swedish traditions alive for her girls and grandkids. In recent years, she seemed to be acutely aware of the passage of time, and truly made an effort to not miss an opportunity to show her love and be there for her family. She was grateful for each day and had a beautiful and positive attitude about this brief life we are given. She would joke, “I never expected to live to be this old!” She was incredibly youthful and energetic, always wanting to “be where the action is,” so her absence leaves us with a lot to miss and remember. There are dozens of hilarious “Dar-isms” that will, no doubt, live on.
