Join Patrick's Fight Against Illness

Dear Friends and Family,

I am back in Houston now and hope to stay here. After leaving the place in San Marcos and living out of the car for ten days at the beginning of September, I have landed at a halfway house in southwest Houston. This place is not ideal, but it's way better than the car or rundown motels, and I can make this work until the law firm finishes my appeal for social security disability.

I have good news regarding my issues with mental health. The organization that gives me free mental health care and medication management assigned me to a new psychiatrist. This also happened at the beginning of September, and she is PHENOMENAL! Her name is Dr. Chang, and she has been a bright light in a long, long period of darkness. She has been making medication changes regularly, granting me extremely quick turnaround on follow-up appointments, and is generally a joy to deal with. This is like winning the lottery in mental healthcare in America. After a lifetime of seeing mental health professionals from the time I was a wayward teenager to the last seven years of hell battling these diseases, she is the psychiatrist I have dreamed about. Under her care, I am finally starting to have some conversations about doing some sort of part-time work going in to the spring and summer. My window of daily function has increased to around 3 PM to around 9 PM. As long as I am generally sitting down, I can be present for that part of the day, and my thoughts are getting somewhat clearer and less overwhelming.

As to a physician, I am still unable to access anything like any real form of health care here in Texas. Through the free clinic where I see Dr. Chang, I tested positive for autoimmune inflammatory disease markers in three different screenings in January 2024, but the answer to the specific disease I have and the treatment for it have not been addressed yet. I need a rheumatologist and further testing. I also have not had any more forward progress regarding sleep medicine. I am due for another attempt at the latest machine breather. I am also ready to have the full mandibular advancement surgery when I get coverage again. And who knows, they are always developing new solutions, equipment, procedures and medications. I have high hopes that if I can hold on I will find a solution that works for me eventually. The clinic is front line only. They do not have any specialists or free referrals for physicians.

It is much more difficult to access health care here than it was in California. The policy philosophy is just very different here, and I have nothing but some mostly standard blood work done. I was pre-diabetic last January and most likely need insulin now.

I am working on a plan for health care here with the local county (I was just denied again yesterday because I missed a single box on the application), but for the most part, everything here in Texas hinges on the Social Security. Once that is approved, then there are automatic approvals for Medicaid and Medicare.

In the meantime, I am seeking funds for rent expenses, car registration and repairs, and I am hoping to purchase an auto CPAP machine and try again on my own with that before I get coverage. Those are about $1,500 with all the hoses and masks. I will likely need to try more than one before I can tolerate it for any duration. If I can even get one or two hours a night of sleep without the choking and hypoxia, I think it will make for a big improvement in my daily function.

So those are the things I am fundraising for here: some medical equipment (APAP machine and attachments), the car I was donated needs multiple repairs. I have done some already. She has 223,000 miles on her, but she has a good motor and transmission, and I think I can make her go another 5 years or so. And rent , bills, and general expenses (toilet paper, meds, gas, etc.).

I am asking for your help to get me through the next phase of my recovery as I climb up from the depths of despair and darkness I was in. I have had some very beautiful days of healing as my mental health improves, and I am so far away from the horror that I ended up in 2023 in Los Angeles.

Thank you all for your love and support. I cannot wait to see you all again.

All my love,

Patrick