In 1993, after living for years in the Portland area, I moved with my husband, John, to Lincoln City, Oregon. We were blessed to find 40 acres in the coastal mountains, fifteen miles from town. John worked for United Telephone, and I worked at a local restaurant. It was the perfect place for our three kids to grow up. Eventually, each of my kids worked at the restaurant too, learning how to put their heart into their work, deal with the public, handle money and follow the proper procedures. They did me proud. Our family was happy and enjoying all the natural places Oregon had to offer.
In 2005 Aleasha, our middle child, was first down the aisle and in 2006, our oldest, Steve, married Rachel. I love having a daughter-in-law who is like one of my own kids! That same year, Aleasha also gave us our first granddaughter, baby Alexandra.
The next year Rachel and Aleasha announced they were pregnant with girls a month apart. Everyone was so excited. But only two weeks before delivery, Rachel and Steve lost their baby, Moriah, to an umbilical cord around her neck. My daughter-in-law let nature take its course and delivered her deceased child. It was a sock in the gut to everybody. For me, it was even harder than the loss of my father. I have never been as moved by a person’s strength as I was by Rachel’s. Weeks later, we were all with Aleasha for the arrival of granddaughter number three. Rachel held Aleasha’s hand and coached her through delivery like it was the happiest day ever, yet inside was grieving for her own. I’m not sure I could have been so gracious.
Steve had joined the Air Force Reserves and was required to spend his first two years away, so off he went with Rachel, to Florida. Living right next door, I hated losing my neighbors … especially now that Rachel was pregnant with granddaughter number four. Thankfully, they were able to push back their departure and Serena Faith was born in Oregon, October 6, 2009. The joy our family felt was amazing!
Those two years went by quickly, and just like that, my little “Squeaky Girl” was living next door to Nana again! And I loved it. She would come to play, bake with me, or just watch cartoons. Sometimes all three granddaughters came over just so we could have girl time. We started the family tradition of all us girls wearing matching flannel, like Nana’s, for Christmas. My Squeaky Girl, Serena, was the most excited for that!
In 2012, Rachel and Aleasha were pregnant with girls again, due at the same time. Just like that, I had five granddaughters. I loved having them all together and dressing them alike. Of the three older girls, Serena lived the closest and spent the most time at my house. She talked like Nana, walked like Nana, and most the time, wore her red sparkly shoes with a twirly dress. If the dress didn’t twirl, she wouldn’t wear it.
Serena was very smart and could sing a song after hearing it once. She was certain that her sister was born just for her. When she spent time with her dad, they enjoyed building things and hunting. Every week, while I was working, Rachel would bring Serena and sister, Hannah, into the restaurant for blueberry pancakes. Serena would ask to be my helper and put in her own order on the computer. There wasn’t anything she didn’t think she could do. Having more faith in God than any child of four I’ve ever seen, at dinner she would reach for my hand, “Come on Nana we need to pray.”
The weekend before Labor Day 2014, Steve’s family met up with their friend, Elizabeth, and her son, Brad, at Aleasha’s place. They all went swimming, ate watermelon, and fed watermelon to the family goat. The next weekend Elizabeth and lil’ Brad came down to Steve and Rachel’s house, along with six other kids. Brad and Serena shared a sandwich that day at a local restaurant. After they’d all headed home, we’d heard Brad wasn’t feeling very good.
Serena started showing signs of being sick that weekend too, but still helped her dad with woodwork. By Wednesday, Rachel took her to the local hospital because she’d suffered days from diarrhea and was starting to have blood in her stool too. Speaking with Rachel, she said they were running tests but thought Serena had a rotavirus infection.
They recommended seeing a pediatrician in two days. But Rachel didn’t wait — Serena was getting worse, so she went to the pediatrician a day earlier. Even though Rachel said she didn’t know the last time Serena had peed, the doctor said she looked good. His office called the next day saying the test results were negative.
On Saturday, Rachel called me and said Serena was not good and could I go with her to McMinnville to a larger hospital? I did. From what Rachel told me I guessed that maybe Serena had a kidney infection on top of a rotavirus infection. Hearing the doctors say her kidneys were failing made my heart sink. Fear was at the door, but I didn’t want to answer it. E. coli tests, which had been cancelled at the smaller hospital, were ordered. Then an ambulance came to take her to the Children’s Hospital in Portland. I told myself, “No!” even as the panic was rising. I reassured myself that now Serena was getting the best care, and everything would be alright. I drove home to get baby Hannah so Steve could meet up with Rachel in Portland. All the way there I tried to be positive, but my mind kept wandering back to when we lost Moriah, and I prayed that nothing like that would ever happen to my son again. Yet here we were praying for our Serena.
After a night of dialysis, she woke up smiling and said,” Good morning daddy and mama,” and we thought we were ok. I prayed harder. The family of friends that showed up to support us was unbelievable. The same friends that have been to all our weddings, have gathered around our table, and who gave us a memorial service in honor of Moriah sat and waited, and prayed with us. We clung to each other. I felt like it wasn’t real, Serena had to be ok.
Later that night while her exhausted parents napped in a bed beside her she had a stroke while holding her Aunt Aleasha’s hand, a grip my daughter says she will never forget. She had HUS and it was attacking her brain. They tried to remove the pressure off her brain, but it wasn’t enough. She was pronounced brain dead.
This was more than devastating, it was unbearable. Nothing is worse than seeing your children helpless, watching their own child suffer. The pain was enormous, and far worse than losing the first child. Serena was too full of life to just be gone in 10 days!
Suddenly it became news. Two other children being infected with E. coli O157 during the same time frame who had all been in the same area (one of them was our friend, Brad). Our phones were ringing with people really wanting to talk to us. Multiple causes were investigated, though the source was never conclusively determined. We escaped to Annie’s (our youngest) home seeking solace from reality a little longer.
The kids were too devastated to even begin to handle this, so as the health department started investigating possible leads, I was planning another memorial service. I had never written an obituary, and now I was writing one for my granddaughter.
Then I went to our local businesses and told them who I was and that I desperately needed their help. They unquestioningly responded with such humbling generosity. So, with fairy wings and wands for decoration, we pulled together pictures and songs fit for a four-year-old. At the service, whenever anyone asked how I was doing, I told them I was wearing my “big girl panties.”
Just as soon as it was over, the big girl panties hit the wash and I hit a wall of depression. Aleasha and her girls parked their motor home at Steve and Rachel’s to be on hand to take care of them. I was thankful for that, as John and I could hardly take care of ourselves. Time kind of stood still as I was spinning in circles. I didn’t go back to work. I didn’t go back to anything. There was a light during this dark grieving time – my Annie gave birth to a beautiful girl!
She will never know her cousin, Serena. My thoughts were outside myself … you look at the wall filled with pictures of your life knowing that this one is her last one; when the other girls come over you can hear her voice in their laughter, and then you don’t; you buy Nana’s flannel for Christmas, but no one really wants to wear it because Serena’s not here.
Eventually, the day comes when you look at all the news articles again, but instead of sad remembrances or torturous feelings you just get mad. And mad is just what I got when I read that the third child’s mom had to fight to get her child’s E. coli test. “Why?!” “Why did she have to FIGHT for it?” “What if she wouldn’t have gotten it? Would her child be gone like Serena?”
First, I began a letter to Ron Wyden, a Senator from Oregon and posted it on my Facebook page. And then I sent it to him. My friends’ responses were encouraging. They gave me names of State representatives to contact and told me what it takes to pass a bill. Considering there are 60 representatives in the Oregon legislature, I decided that contacting the six or so people my friends recommended was a good start. My friends were such a great help to me, and even shared my message on their social media. Then I contacted the reporter who’d made me feel most comfortable after Serena’s death. I waited 10 days before I sent everybody a follow-up email.
You can imagine my apprehension when I got a message on my home phone from State Representative David Gomberg. As I listened to his voice I started to cry. He said he and his staff were picking up my bill and would write it. I really didn’t expect any response, let alone a supportive one. I gathered my composure and returned Mr. Gomberg’s call. “Yes,” he said. They were writing it and would notify me, and send a copy, when it was written. I received a copy just as he said, and the bill was put on the committee’s desk to be read, and hopefully receive a hearing date.
So, I got to work gathering information on E. coli, brought the other representatives I’d contacted up to date, and again asked for their support. Now my reporter wanted an interview, so I started talking. Basically, what I wanted and what this bill requested was: a change in Oregon law that requires testing for pathogenic E. coli for patients that are under 18 years of age after having 4 or more consecutive days of unexplained diarrhea. And, that positive test results would be reported to the Oregon Health Authority.
Together with my longtime high school girlfriend that my granddaughters call Grandma Gigi, I was working to see this through. Gigi helped design a logo button featuring Serena’s sparkly red shoes with Serena’s name in bright white letters. We gave them to all our friends and supporters. And sent them to the review committee members too. There was plenty to do to get the word out! I don’t consider myself to be an over-grieving Nana acting on a whim. The simple truth is, no family should be in our shoes when a test could prevent it! Appearances can be deceiving, but a test will give you answers. Period.
More than ever, I believe that if Serena had gotten tested the first time we went to a hospital she’d be alive today. If I can spare another family from going through the hell we went through, and continue to go through, then I’ll have helped my neighbor to the best of my ability.
Serena’s Bill (HB3540) was designed to help some of the most vulnerable among us – our children. In a nutshell, it directed the Oregon Medical Board and the State Board of Nursing to adopt rules requiring practitioners to screen certain patients for pathogenic E. coli bacteria and report positive screening results to the Oregon Health Authority.
In April 2017, after sharing Serena’s story and explaining how important E. coli screenings can be to the most vulnerable, Representative Johnson requested that the Bill receive a public hearing and made every effort to convince the Chair to schedule it.
Sherri and her family got the bad news from that the Health Care Committee of the Oregon Legislature wasn’t planning to hear HB3540. The Committee Chair decided against it. The Bill had been amended so that E. coli screenings would only be required for children 5-years of age and under, the elderly, and immunocompromised individuals, but there was still opposition from the medical community.
Update, July 2023: Sherri says, It’s been a while since I read this story, oh how it still hurts! Thank you for continuing to put Serena’s story out there to remind people how dangerous and serious E. coli O157 is to our small children. It’s still out there and can still take their lives in such a short span of time. Emergency physicians, pediatricians, and other medical professionals need to realize how important it is to test ASAP. Following through with treatment in speedy time is of the utmost importance.
