Help for Peter Park
It's been over a year and Peter is still fighting! If you know Peter at all, you'll know that "idle" would never describe him in any way. Between going to the gym every day, playing basketball on weekends, leading worship on Sundays, and meeting up with people weekly, he would barely have time to rest. This was the life of a healthy, joyful man who loved God and his family and spent his time trying to serve others.
Being "couch-ridden" for most of the day is one of the challenges that he's had to manage since becoming sick with Bartonella. Although he's made significant strides in his treatment, his herxeimer reactions have been severe and managing pain has become a daily struggle. More than the physical pain though, the anxiety & depression that come with the disease can be crippling. On my sad days, I find myself looking through forums to read success stories of those who overcome this disease and on my brave days, I dare to read the stories of strangers who are still afflicted. These people who have been sick for 5, 10, 20+ years and are still sick because they either don't have the same support, resources, or early diagnosis that Peter had. With the benefit of hindsight, I'm realizing how the timeline I wrote 7+ months ago is the early stages of a recovery that I'm confident will become remission in 2019!
UPDATED TIMELINE:
Dec 2017: Peter is in Korea mid December and is flown home early due severe flu-like symptoms. He visited the ER while in Korea 3 times. Lost 20 pounds. Primary Dr. says: just a flu
Jan 2018: mid-January things take a turn for the worse and he visits the ER again with difficulty breathing, body aches, intense fatigue, dizziness, loss of appetite, nausea, insomnia, and chills. Disability from work begins. ID "specialist": you just have anxiety, prescribes anti-anxiety medication
February: Doing light activity (ie - going to the bank, light household chores) he would crash for days, not able to walk or move. insomnia continues leading to un-refreshing sleep, chest congestion makes breathing difficult at times. ID "specialist" discounts Lyme/Bartonella as a real condition & refuses to test anything further.
March: Back at work - disability ended. This came with severe consequences as he crashed on weekends and in the evenings. Doctors are beginning to suspect a worse underlying disease.
April: Another ER visit in early April sends Peter back on disability leave from work. Symptoms seemed to be getting better but during the whole month of April, they became drastically worse. Dr. Friend gives Peter first ABX which actually stabilizes him!
May: Symptoms drastically get worse with the added heart palpitations and shortness of breath making breathing extremely difficult. 3 emergency room visits. neurologist and holistic doctors agree now that there is something severely wrong and they work to find a diagnosis and treatment plan. Primary Dr. is still completely ignorant. Agrees that something is wrong but has never heard of Bartonella (???) ID "specialist": CFS/lyme doesn't exist (???)
June: taking medication prescribed from holistic Dr. who suspects Lyme. beginning of month starts better but ends with 3 ER/UC visits and ends with a plateau from Lyme medication. Looking forward to LLMD in July (up in Norcal)
July: Dr. Chheda clinic. The 2 total flight up to Mountain View was killer but stewardesses were amazingly helpful and went out of their way to accommodate (wheelchair, oxygen tank, better seats). a week of crashing from the appointment was WORTH IT. 1. first official diagnosis. 2. first completely knowledgable DR., understanding, kind, helpful & available 3. compassionate friends who opened her home and took care of Peter + others drove us around, brought us food. Peter is loved. Somehow, the 15 min drive back from SD airport to his apartment was actually worse than the 2 hour flight. sent him into a severe crash but July is the beginning of the end!!
August - October: No ER visits (Praise God). Bartonella treatment has been comprehensive and I have never known a Dr. to give blood results back within first 24 hours of draw. Peter has a newfound optimism and "old Peter" is coming back slowly but surely. he laughs more, smiles more, and does more.
November: Rifabutin is the worst...but the best. First ER visit due to major herx & complicated by a cold (something to this degree). First time hospitalized overnight due to "left shift" but Dr. Chheda was on call and helpful. We even got to watch Jumanji on the hospital TV :) Peter was discouraged but the month ended with him getting back on track.
December: Took a 2 week break on ABX. best decision ever. Peter has new strength to restart Rifabutin and he has been doing well increasing his dosage. Despite herxing, he is still fighting and though the symptoms are very real and very severe at times, he is doing better.
Ending the year on abundant blessings:
1. he moved to a new apartment and survived the move
2. friends who are supportive and so sacrificial
3. upward trend in treatment
4. his work is incredibly kind and understanding of his condition
5. Laker season keeps him occupied
6. Dr.s who are invested in him and giving him resources, encouragement, wisdom (church Dr.s, friend Dr.s, etc)
January 2019: Not over yet but halfway through and though this disease is exhausting mentally, physically, and emotionally, Peter is hopeful and joyful. Please continue to pray for him whenever you remember or think of him. Just for "fun" we calculated the medical cost of this past year and the number is staggering so if you want to also contribute to his medical costs, please know that every last cent goes to covering the cost of his recovery and treatment. I hope in the next few moths I'll be able to close out this page FOR GOOD and you can hear his story in person one day :)
if you want to know more detailed information on his treatment or if you want to be included in the daily updates please feel free to message either of us!
Gratefully,
ashley
peter's secretary :)