Going from flu to heart failure in an instant: A Tacoma woman has lessons to share

Latasha Haynes recently marked one year since having everything in her life take a turn for the worse.

It started as a flu she didn't even realize was the flu and turned into a near-fatal heart event.

Spoiler alert: This story has a happy ending.

Haynes pulled through so well that she's scheduled to be a speaker at the American Heart Association's local Go Red for Women luncheon on Thursday (March 29) at the Hotel Murano, 1320 Broadway, in Tacoma.

When she fell ill last March, she was 34, helping run her company, Ike and Tash Photography in Tacoma, and preparing to travel to Indiana for a conference.

"I'd felt bad for a couple of weeks," she recalled in a recent interview with The News Tribune. "I'd been to urgent care and they thought it was just a virus."

Flu didn't occur to her and didn't realize how bad it could get.

"I didn't have a flu shot and I'd never had the flu, so didn't know what that felt like.

"I thought I had meningitis because my body was in so much pain going through everything."

Getting ready for the flight, though, gave her pause.

"I said, 'Something's not right.' "

Her photographic work had led to an important client, though at the moment she wasn't quite aware of how important.

"My husband and I had been shooting for the American Heart Association for a few years," she said. "... I loved the work but it felt very far removed from my reality."

Still, she said, she had "heard enough stories from (the Heart Association) that I knew enough to not get on an airplane" feeling like she did.

She knows that decision saved her life.

After she was admitted to St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma, she soon suffered acute heart failure.

As she describes it on her blog: "My diagnosis was pneumonia and congestive heart failure caused by myocarditis and pericarditis brought on by a flu virus."

Sixteen days after being admitted (six of those spent in critical care), she was released.

"I reached out to (the Heart Association) and said, 'Look, I didn't get it, but I get it now and want to spread the word. I have a story now.' "

One year later, she said, she's received the all-clear from her cardiologist and has gone from photographing Go Red for Women ambassadors in Tacoma to being one.

Asked what the illness changed in her life, she answered with one word: "Everything."

The change wasn't just physical.

"This was a huge wake-up call on the value of time and how it is used," she said. "I am living the life I want to be living."

She's also more cognizant of her diet and exercise.

"I work out every day even if it's just a walk, but I'm keeping my body healthy and moving," she said.

"After being totally healthy and then being that sick, you look at your body and honor it in a different way," she said.

"Now I'm excited to go to the gym."

South Sound Go Red for Women luncheon

Local heart disease and stroke survivors, community leaders, and other supporters meet for a day of empowerment, education and fund raising for the American Heart Association.

WHEN AND WHERE: Thursday (March 29), Hotel Murano, 1320 Broadway, Tacoma. Health expo will begin at 10:30 a.m., followed by luncheon at 11:30 a.m.

SPEAKERS: Latasha Haynes, a young mother and long-time Go Red For Women photographer who nearly died from heart failure because of the flu virus. Also speaking: National Heart Association board member and Go Red For Women spokeswoman Mary Ann Bauman.

TICKETS: Available at http://tacomagoredluncheon.heart.org or by calling 253-240-3310. Last day to buy tickets to the event is Tuesday (March 27.) Donations can be made anytime at tacomagoredluncheon.heart.org.

This story was originally published March 23, 2018 at 11:00 AM with the headline "Going from flu to heart failure in an instant: A Tacoma woman has lessons to share."