Influenza blamed in deaths of Regina-area women, ages 33 and 48, last month

By all accounts, 48-year-old Lynette Buhler was the picture of health. The single mother dedicated her life to her children and the elderly patients she cared for in her job at a nursing home. 

"She touched everybody's life that she met. She was kind, always," said Brandy Fatteicher, Buhler's 24-year-old daughter.

But in late February, Buhler, who lived in Qu'Appelle — about 57 kilometres east of Regina — picked up a flu bug and was sick enough she had to miss her final two shifts at the Regina care home where she worked.

Buhler's friend Sue McGee said she became worryingly ill over the weekend.

McGee said Buhler's partner drove her to a nearby hospital in Indian Head where she was diagnosed with influenza A.

McGee said Buhler was sent home with Tamiflu, an antiviral medication used to treat influenza, and told to rest and drink plenty of fluids. It didn't help.

"He said she can't even sit up. She lost bladder control and she was vomiting," McGee said. 

"She was crying and she was in pain," Fatteicher said.

Buhler's condition continued to worsen and she was taken by ambulance and admitted to intensive care at the Pasqua Hospital in Regina, McGee said.

Fatteicher, who lives in Waldheim, said that when she arrived in Regina her mother was desperately sick. 

"They were basically telling us that she's fighting, she's very tough, She might pull through from this. But as a health-care worker myself, when I walked into the room, I knew better," Fatteicher said.

On Tuesday, March 4, Buhler died, one week after contracting influenza.

"She was the healthiest person I knew,"  Fatteicher said. 

Buhler isn't the only adult under 65 diagnosed with influenza to die in March.