This Australian couple had no idea what destiny had in store for them as they vacationed in the US, with Las Vegas being the final stop. The doctors had cleared Natasha for her three week trip across the US. But within two days, Natasha and her and unborn child succumbed to a condition doctors couldn’t diagnose.
Natasha appeared normal, and her pregnancy was coming along just fine. What happened in Las Vegas wasn’t anticipated, to say the very least.
Just a few days ago Natasha was sick with an abdominal pain and migraine, but they didn’t know the seriousness of her situation. She just wanted to rest. The migraines and abdominal pains would recur and go away every three days. But that weekend as Natasha woke her husband up; he noticed she was exhibiting stroke-like symptoms.
He called 911. As the couple was on their way to the hospital, the last words that she uttered to Shaw, her husband, was that she loved him.
At the hospital, the doctors diagnosed Natasha with HELLP syndrome, a life-threatening complication during pregnancy that could affect women in the third trimester. HELLP is an acronym for H (hemolysis, which is the breaking down of red blood cells), EL (elevated liver enzymes), LP (low platelet count).
The condition is known as an aggressive variant of preeclampsia and is characterized by high blood pressure and the presence of protein urine with symptoms that include sudden weight gain, swelling, headaches, and change in vision. The symptoms may worsen rapidly with some women reporting few symptoms.
5 % of all pregnancies have an incidence of preeclampsia, out of which at least 20 % of the women are known to develop the HELLP syndrome. If the condition is not assessed timely, then it could get serious. A patient might complain of a terrible headache, visual disturbances, and nausea. If these symptoms are coupled with high blood pressure and protein in the urine, but timely treatment isn’t given, then it can get serious. Statistically, one in four of the cases turns out to be serious if ignored.
Right diagnosis is the key here because sometimes the symptoms might be mistaken to be that for gastritis, acute hepatitis or influenza. Blood and urine test reports also help accurately diagnose the condition.
The high-risk factors that contribute to HELLP syndrome are: being over the age of thirty-five with a first pregnancy, obesity, diabetes or multiple pregnancies. But preeclampsia is in an earlier pregnancy is said to be the biggest risk factor for HELLP, with at least twenty-five percent of women reporting preeclampsia in a previous pregnancy can show symptoms of HELLP syndrome in the following pregnancy.
With Natasha, the symptoms were pretty sudden, and she did not have any complications in her past pregnancies. Her 26-week-old baby was delivered while she was sedated. But, the baby was deceased at the time of birth. Natasha wasn’t aware of anything. Her kidney and heart failed while doctors tried to put her on the support that night. But, soon she had a swelling and later bleeding in her brain, and she was gone.
Shaw and Natasha’s three children bid their farewell to their other on a video call. Their youngest child aged three was not aware of what was happening, but Shaw regrets that Natasha could not live long to see her dreams for her children being fulfilled, but he hopes to do all that for them.
Shaw wishes to share his story, so more and more people become aware of the condition and seek timely help.
