Dr. Cesar Termulo is a pediatrician at Parkland Hospital. He lost his healthy, active 16-year-old daughter to the flu in 2020.
DALLAS — She can still be seen inside his office. A baby picture on a shelf. A flower drawn on a handwritten note she left behind telling her “papa” to have a good day. And her presence can be felt down every hall her father walks.
“She’s always here. She’s always here,” Dr. Cesar Termulo said of his daughter, pointing to his heart.
Reese Termulo was a 16-year-old sophomore at Bishop Lynch High School in Dallas.
Six years ago this week, she developed a fever.
Dr. Termulo, a pediatrician and Associate Medical Director for Parkland Health, thought it was the flu.
A test proved him right, and everything quickly went wrong.
“She passed away on January 10. Her first fever was January 9. It was less than 24 hours that she started having a fever and passed away,” he said.
Reese had gotten a flu shot, but the strain of flu she caught was not in that season’s vaccine. Her father still believes flu shots can and do save lives. So he still tells each family he treats to get them, and he’s disappointed that these days, an increasing number of families don’t.
“I think it’s horrible that a lot of people are somewhat indifferent to flu. They think flu is a runny nose or some phlegm, and that’s all it is. No, flu can cause pneumonia, asthma attacks, and children can die,” he said.
“Too many times, people, when they think about the flu shot, they really minimize its importance,” he said. “If I could just tell them, my daughter died from the flu. These things happen. You have to be able to take the flu seriously.”
Dr. Termulo practices out of a Parkland Health clinic on Scyene Road on Dallas’ south side.
The entrance to the pediatrics wing of the clinic bears a sign dedicated to his daughter, Teresa Ann “Reese” Malvar Termulo.
The waiting room there was full on Tuesday afternoon.
Dr. Termulo said he’s already treated many pediatric flu cases this season, and some of his patients have ended up hospitalized.
He doesn’t share his personal tragedy with each family he comes in contact with, but Reese is on his mind every time he’s treating a child with flu.
“It’s paradoxical because six years ago feels like just yesterday, but six years ago also feels like an eternity. That’s how it feels. That’s what it’s like when your child dies,” Termulo said.
As a pediatrician, he hopes the number one takeaway for anyone who hears his story is how important flu shots are.
But as a father, he says he hopes people see a family continuing to lean on faith.
“The suffering can be redemptive,” Termulo said.