Prayers for Pete
Donation protected
While getting this fundraiser started for Pete I asked him to give me a little autobiography about the journey he has been on so far. Quickly, I realized being the modest guy he is, I was going to have to tell it from my perspective to ensure everyone knew what really was going on here.
I have grown extremely close with Pete over the past year, close enough to consider him a brother. As we always gain joy by seeing our family members and loved ones succeed in life, nothing takes away more joy than watching a loved one suffer. This past year I have watched Pete’s health and well being deteriorate dramatically and his suffering grow exponentially. Pete is one of the strongest people I have ever met in my life and I truly, without a doubt believe that if anyone else were in his shoes, they wouldn't be alive today.
Throughout his life, Pete has dealt with many health complications ranging from odd symptoms to many bizarre surgeries. It wasn't until 7 years ago that it started becoming debilitating to his lifestyle. He contracted mono in the spring of his senior year of high school, which is common for most, but it was just the beginning of something much worse. He started becoming sick more frequently and severely as the months went on until he was hospitalized that fall during his freshman season of college soccer which caused him to miss most of his season.
Over the next 3 years, he suffered many more bouts of sickness and chronic symptoms but always seemed to recover enough to try to live a normal life. It was not until January 2016 where he became extremely ill. This caused him to miss several weeks of college classes and soccer games on multiple occasions over the next two years. Struggling to keep his grades up and play a college sport, he sought out some of the best doctors; bouncing around between the best at Johns Hopkins. Even with the care of the experts, his symptoms got worse. He had every test and scan they could think of with no avail. He was eventually diagnosed with an "unknown autoimmune disease" and told there was nothing they could do.
Despite being told that there was nothing even Johns Hopkins could do for him, he never gave up. After graduating college, he still strived to become a professional soccer player. After earning a tryout at a professional team in Sweden, his dreams were cut short as this sickness became even worse. He had to turn down the opportunity and with it, his dream of playing professional soccer. He had to stop working and put his life on pause as the illness began to take over.
After spending 6 long weeks bed ridden, he was finally healthy enough to try to begin getting his life together. Our paths crossed when he started working at Rockwell Fitness in January 2018. We immediately became best friends, bonding over our love of fitness, helping others, and everything adventurous. That spring we began working out together, running mountains together, and trekking through blizzards across snow capped mountains together. We even managed to have the opportunity to compete in a Qualifier for a World Championship Obstacle Course Race. As a justification for the amount of fight in this kid, he broke his leg from a bad fall around mile 13 but still ran another 22 miles and completed another 50 some obstacles to qualify for Worlds. Depressingly enough, he would never have the chance to compete at Worlds. While we always had the time of our lives on these crazy adventures, there was one thing I slowly started to notice. Pete was fighting an internal battle behind the scenes. He would miss a day here or there and always bounce back, but his health slowly started deteriorating again. It began to slip even further over the following months, being hospitalized several times with no cure available to him.
It is one of the most soul crushing feelings to watch one of the strongest people you know and care about face endless suffering with no end to the madness. As of right now, Pete's autoimmune disease has kept him from working out or exercising for the past 8 months. He has a very restricted diet of just cooked vegetables and fish, as that is all his body can handle. He has had an infection in his hand for over a year and a half that cannot be cured due to his autoimmune disease, which renders him unable to take antibiotics. He can't even fly or travel due to his disease. He is forced to spend most of his time home in bed, only fighting to come in to work for a few hours at a time.
However, there has been a glimpse of hope. Pete was able to make an appointment with one of the most world renowned doctors and patiently waited 3 months to be seen by him. He has given light to what could be causing all of this suffering for Pete. The doctor is sure it is a very severe strand of lymes disease that is the root cause of all the autoimmune issues. He has drawn out a plan of treatment, but warned Pete that is going to be a very rough 6 months ahead of him, informing him he will most likely not be able to work and will be bed ridden for periods of time. Yet most importantly, he will be cured of all of this.
Although, this promise of a cure brings about more problems as these treatments are very expensive and Pete will be turning 26 in two months and will no longer be on his parents’ health insurance. Not many 26 year olds have the means to go weeks without work either. Pete just as always plans to fight through the misery and keep working as much as he can. Yet this will only draw this suffering out longer. I have already told him its going to be worth it to just take the time off and give this treatment the best shot at curing him. He is one of the most beloved guys I know and I know there are many who have witnessed his suffering and wished they could do something to help him. This is how we can help him. Please donate whatever you can to aid him in the costliness of all these medical bills, insurances, and inability to work over these next few months. We all wish to see him finally rid of all this sickness and have the ability to live without fear of this illness wrecking havoc on all that he loves and cares for any longer.
I have grown extremely close with Pete over the past year, close enough to consider him a brother. As we always gain joy by seeing our family members and loved ones succeed in life, nothing takes away more joy than watching a loved one suffer. This past year I have watched Pete’s health and well being deteriorate dramatically and his suffering grow exponentially. Pete is one of the strongest people I have ever met in my life and I truly, without a doubt believe that if anyone else were in his shoes, they wouldn't be alive today.
Throughout his life, Pete has dealt with many health complications ranging from odd symptoms to many bizarre surgeries. It wasn't until 7 years ago that it started becoming debilitating to his lifestyle. He contracted mono in the spring of his senior year of high school, which is common for most, but it was just the beginning of something much worse. He started becoming sick more frequently and severely as the months went on until he was hospitalized that fall during his freshman season of college soccer which caused him to miss most of his season.
Over the next 3 years, he suffered many more bouts of sickness and chronic symptoms but always seemed to recover enough to try to live a normal life. It was not until January 2016 where he became extremely ill. This caused him to miss several weeks of college classes and soccer games on multiple occasions over the next two years. Struggling to keep his grades up and play a college sport, he sought out some of the best doctors; bouncing around between the best at Johns Hopkins. Even with the care of the experts, his symptoms got worse. He had every test and scan they could think of with no avail. He was eventually diagnosed with an "unknown autoimmune disease" and told there was nothing they could do.
Despite being told that there was nothing even Johns Hopkins could do for him, he never gave up. After graduating college, he still strived to become a professional soccer player. After earning a tryout at a professional team in Sweden, his dreams were cut short as this sickness became even worse. He had to turn down the opportunity and with it, his dream of playing professional soccer. He had to stop working and put his life on pause as the illness began to take over.
After spending 6 long weeks bed ridden, he was finally healthy enough to try to begin getting his life together. Our paths crossed when he started working at Rockwell Fitness in January 2018. We immediately became best friends, bonding over our love of fitness, helping others, and everything adventurous. That spring we began working out together, running mountains together, and trekking through blizzards across snow capped mountains together. We even managed to have the opportunity to compete in a Qualifier for a World Championship Obstacle Course Race. As a justification for the amount of fight in this kid, he broke his leg from a bad fall around mile 13 but still ran another 22 miles and completed another 50 some obstacles to qualify for Worlds. Depressingly enough, he would never have the chance to compete at Worlds. While we always had the time of our lives on these crazy adventures, there was one thing I slowly started to notice. Pete was fighting an internal battle behind the scenes. He would miss a day here or there and always bounce back, but his health slowly started deteriorating again. It began to slip even further over the following months, being hospitalized several times with no cure available to him.
It is one of the most soul crushing feelings to watch one of the strongest people you know and care about face endless suffering with no end to the madness. As of right now, Pete's autoimmune disease has kept him from working out or exercising for the past 8 months. He has a very restricted diet of just cooked vegetables and fish, as that is all his body can handle. He has had an infection in his hand for over a year and a half that cannot be cured due to his autoimmune disease, which renders him unable to take antibiotics. He can't even fly or travel due to his disease. He is forced to spend most of his time home in bed, only fighting to come in to work for a few hours at a time.
However, there has been a glimpse of hope. Pete was able to make an appointment with one of the most world renowned doctors and patiently waited 3 months to be seen by him. He has given light to what could be causing all of this suffering for Pete. The doctor is sure it is a very severe strand of lymes disease that is the root cause of all the autoimmune issues. He has drawn out a plan of treatment, but warned Pete that is going to be a very rough 6 months ahead of him, informing him he will most likely not be able to work and will be bed ridden for periods of time. Yet most importantly, he will be cured of all of this.
Although, this promise of a cure brings about more problems as these treatments are very expensive and Pete will be turning 26 in two months and will no longer be on his parents’ health insurance. Not many 26 year olds have the means to go weeks without work either. Pete just as always plans to fight through the misery and keep working as much as he can. Yet this will only draw this suffering out longer. I have already told him its going to be worth it to just take the time off and give this treatment the best shot at curing him. He is one of the most beloved guys I know and I know there are many who have witnessed his suffering and wished they could do something to help him. This is how we can help him. Please donate whatever you can to aid him in the costliness of all these medical bills, insurances, and inability to work over these next few months. We all wish to see him finally rid of all this sickness and have the ability to live without fear of this illness wrecking havoc on all that he loves and cares for any longer.
Organizer and beneficiary
Devin Conway
Organizer
Severna Park, MD
Pete Ostergren
Beneficiary
