A very good friend of mine, whom I've known forever..fell ill some years back. It's a rare disease that not too many people are familar with.
Why am I posting this you ask? Rob contracted this disease digging in the dirt in the East county of San Diego. Whenever, I'm breathing in plumes of dust, especially this time of year...I can't help but get a little nervous and think of him.
His story below:
By Christine Davis
June 20, 2007
Escondido, Ca -- On June 18th 1995, Robin Smith's life changed forever as he hunted for arrowheads in Eastern San Diego County with two friends.
Unbeknownst to the 38-year-old San Diego native, he was breathing in airborne coccidioidomycosis spores stirred up from the soil during his informal scavenger hunt and was infected with valley fever, a parasitic fungal disease. What followed was a 12 year journey that dragged Smith through two near-death episodes and has since left him in a wheelchair.
With the help of family, a dedicated doctor and now his constant companion, Chauncey, a service dog, this Escondido resident has regained his life and plans to help other disabled people regain theirs.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, valley fever is an emerging and sometimes deadly fungus infection. The valley fever fungus lives in soil and is spread through the air. It is commonly found in the soil of the southwestern United States, Mexico, and parts of Central and South America.
An estimated 50,000 to 100,000 persons develop symptoms of valley fever each year in the United States, with 35,000 new infections per year in California alone.
"I had never even heard of valley fever before," Robin said. "Now it is a part of my everyday vocabulary."
While at his job about two weeks after searching for arrowheads, Robin started feeling ill and figured he was coming down with the flu. After bed rest did nothing to stave off the headaches, fever, profuse sweating and fatigue, he went to see his doctor who prescribed antibiotics for a bacterial infection and sent him home.
"I was told I'd start feeling better in a day or two," Robin said. "I thought it was a typical bacterial infection and that I had seen the worst of it."
On the morning of July 4th, with his condition more grave than before, Smith finally asked his parents to take him to an urgent care facility. Doctors quickly determined that Smith was operating with only 15% lung capacity. He was put on oxygen and was immediately transferred to the intensive care unit at UCSD Medical Center in critical condition.
After several days in the ICU with what was thought to be pneumonia, the doctors decided to induce a coma and inserted a breathing tube into Robin's lungs; he remained comatose and on life-support for 10 days as his body was pumped full of steroids.
The treatment was effective and after being brought out of the coma and taken off the respirator, Robin began a year and a half healing process.
"Spending 10 days in a coma had left me so weak that I was unable to walk or even feed myself," Robin said.
But Robin slowly regained control of his life and returned to work, full-time. Again he thought he had seen the worst of it.
Four years later, in 1999, Robin's legs, which had been growing weaker and weaker, suddenly gave way beneath him one day while he was at work. That fall was the beginning of Robin's life in a wheelchair as he knows it today.
"During 2000 and 2001 I spent most of my time in the hospital," Robin said. "I was never sure if I would be home for more than a day. I had a total of seven surgeries including gallbladder removal, spinal surgery, having both hips replaced and brain surgery to install a stent behind my ear to administer medication. Due to the different drugs I took I experienced liver, kidney and pancreas damage and a loss of hearing. I was placed into a drug-induced coma and put on a respirator for a second time. My insurance was stopped when I reached expenses of $2 million."
Robin said that while progress seemed slow, he was actually getting better. After being hospitalized for over two years, Robin finally came home to live with his parents in 2001.
"I thought everything would be okay when I got home," Robin said. "What followed instead were some very dark days."
According to his mother, his primary caretaker, he couldn't dress himself or care for himself and had to relearn the simplest things. She said it was like having a toddler at home again. But he continued to improve.
After realizing that walking was not a realistic goal, Robin began to set his mind on reaching other more attainable milestones in his new life.
"I knew I needed three things to have the life I wanted," Robin said. "I knew I needed a service dog to help me; I wanted to finish my Master's Degree in Counseling Psychology to help others; and I wanted a van to help me get around to start living my life again."
To date, Robin has achieved two of his three goals and now shares his life with Chauncey, a three-year-old Golden Retriever, and has only 12 more units to go to finish his degree.
"Chauncey helped me turn the corner and begin to move forward in a new way," Robin said. "People only have a few seconds to make a decision about whether or not to approach a disabled person in a wheelchair. He demolished the barrier of being disabled. People just aren't sure if you are sensitive about your disability, but they don't hesitate to ask if they can pet Chauncey. Being social again was an unforeseen benefit of having Chauncey."
Chauncey was specially matched to Robin by Carol Davis, Executive Director of Paws'itive Teams, a non-profit, volunteer organization that provides service dogs for persons with disabilities in San Diego County.
"The process involved in matching a dog with a person is very involved," Davis said. "We will easily interview a dozen people or more to find a match with just one dog. Chauncey was chosen for Robin because he had a tremendous work ethic and very strong people skills. We felt that Chauncey would be a nice social ice-breaker for Robin."
Paws'itive Teams raises and trains each dog to assist with mobility limiting disabilities but does not train dogs for seizure response or to work with hearing or visually impaired people. They are currently training five puppies.
"Our service dogs live with their trainers for the first two years," Davis said. "When we release a dog to its new owner it is already trained and ready to help them with everyday tasks."
Chauncey came to live with Robin and his parents in April after starting occasional day trips and sleepovers in December 2006.
Robin said that Chauncey has been a lifesaver in that he picks up the many things that Robin drops, helps him open and shut doors, helps him in and out of elevators and can go find Robin's mother if he needs help.
"Just knowing that if I need help he will go get a phone for me is a comforting feeling," Robin said. "His companionship has filled a void in my life in a way I didn't think possible."
Although Robin is and always will be in a wheelchair, he is gradually moving forward with the help of Chauncey. His newest goal is to use his Master's Degree to help other newly disabled people to set them on their new path in life.
"I have learned so much; I've gained so much from this and want to help others get to where I am now," Robin said. "It might sound strange, but I wouldn't trade the lessons I've learned. It's been hard, but it's been worth it. My life is good now."
Christine Davis is a freelance writer who lives in Carlsbad, Ca.
Why am I posting this you ask? Rob contracted this disease digging in the dirt in the East county of San Diego. Whenever, I'm breathing in plumes of dust, especially this time of year...I can't help but get a little nervous and think of him.
His story below:
By Christine Davis
June 20, 2007
Escondido, Ca -- On June 18th 1995, Robin Smith's life changed forever as he hunted for arrowheads in Eastern San Diego County with two friends.
Unbeknownst to the 38-year-old San Diego native, he was breathing in airborne coccidioidomycosis spores stirred up from the soil during his informal scavenger hunt and was infected with valley fever, a parasitic fungal disease. What followed was a 12 year journey that dragged Smith through two near-death episodes and has since left him in a wheelchair.
With the help of family, a dedicated doctor and now his constant companion, Chauncey, a service dog, this Escondido resident has regained his life and plans to help other disabled people regain theirs.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, valley fever is an emerging and sometimes deadly fungus infection. The valley fever fungus lives in soil and is spread through the air. It is commonly found in the soil of the southwestern United States, Mexico, and parts of Central and South America.
An estimated 50,000 to 100,000 persons develop symptoms of valley fever each year in the United States, with 35,000 new infections per year in California alone.
"I had never even heard of valley fever before," Robin said. "Now it is a part of my everyday vocabulary."
While at his job about two weeks after searching for arrowheads, Robin started feeling ill and figured he was coming down with the flu. After bed rest did nothing to stave off the headaches, fever, profuse sweating and fatigue, he went to see his doctor who prescribed antibiotics for a bacterial infection and sent him home.
"I was told I'd start feeling better in a day or two," Robin said. "I thought it was a typical bacterial infection and that I had seen the worst of it."
On the morning of July 4th, with his condition more grave than before, Smith finally asked his parents to take him to an urgent care facility. Doctors quickly determined that Smith was operating with only 15% lung capacity. He was put on oxygen and was immediately transferred to the intensive care unit at UCSD Medical Center in critical condition.
After several days in the ICU with what was thought to be pneumonia, the doctors decided to induce a coma and inserted a breathing tube into Robin's lungs; he remained comatose and on life-support for 10 days as his body was pumped full of steroids.
The treatment was effective and after being brought out of the coma and taken off the respirator, Robin began a year and a half healing process.
"Spending 10 days in a coma had left me so weak that I was unable to walk or even feed myself," Robin said.
But Robin slowly regained control of his life and returned to work, full-time. Again he thought he had seen the worst of it.
Four years later, in 1999, Robin's legs, which had been growing weaker and weaker, suddenly gave way beneath him one day while he was at work. That fall was the beginning of Robin's life in a wheelchair as he knows it today.
"During 2000 and 2001 I spent most of my time in the hospital," Robin said. "I was never sure if I would be home for more than a day. I had a total of seven surgeries including gallbladder removal, spinal surgery, having both hips replaced and brain surgery to install a stent behind my ear to administer medication. Due to the different drugs I took I experienced liver, kidney and pancreas damage and a loss of hearing. I was placed into a drug-induced coma and put on a respirator for a second time. My insurance was stopped when I reached expenses of $2 million."
Robin said that while progress seemed slow, he was actually getting better. After being hospitalized for over two years, Robin finally came home to live with his parents in 2001.
"I thought everything would be okay when I got home," Robin said. "What followed instead were some very dark days."
According to his mother, his primary caretaker, he couldn't dress himself or care for himself and had to relearn the simplest things. She said it was like having a toddler at home again. But he continued to improve.
After realizing that walking was not a realistic goal, Robin began to set his mind on reaching other more attainable milestones in his new life.
"I knew I needed three things to have the life I wanted," Robin said. "I knew I needed a service dog to help me; I wanted to finish my Master's Degree in Counseling Psychology to help others; and I wanted a van to help me get around to start living my life again."
To date, Robin has achieved two of his three goals and now shares his life with Chauncey, a three-year-old Golden Retriever, and has only 12 more units to go to finish his degree.
"Chauncey helped me turn the corner and begin to move forward in a new way," Robin said. "People only have a few seconds to make a decision about whether or not to approach a disabled person in a wheelchair. He demolished the barrier of being disabled. People just aren't sure if you are sensitive about your disability, but they don't hesitate to ask if they can pet Chauncey. Being social again was an unforeseen benefit of having Chauncey."
Chauncey was specially matched to Robin by Carol Davis, Executive Director of Paws'itive Teams, a non-profit, volunteer organization that provides service dogs for persons with disabilities in San Diego County.
"The process involved in matching a dog with a person is very involved," Davis said. "We will easily interview a dozen people or more to find a match with just one dog. Chauncey was chosen for Robin because he had a tremendous work ethic and very strong people skills. We felt that Chauncey would be a nice social ice-breaker for Robin."
Paws'itive Teams raises and trains each dog to assist with mobility limiting disabilities but does not train dogs for seizure response or to work with hearing or visually impaired people. They are currently training five puppies.
"Our service dogs live with their trainers for the first two years," Davis said. "When we release a dog to its new owner it is already trained and ready to help them with everyday tasks."
Chauncey came to live with Robin and his parents in April after starting occasional day trips and sleepovers in December 2006.
Robin said that Chauncey has been a lifesaver in that he picks up the many things that Robin drops, helps him open and shut doors, helps him in and out of elevators and can go find Robin's mother if he needs help.
"Just knowing that if I need help he will go get a phone for me is a comforting feeling," Robin said. "His companionship has filled a void in my life in a way I didn't think possible."
Although Robin is and always will be in a wheelchair, he is gradually moving forward with the help of Chauncey. His newest goal is to use his Master's Degree to help other newly disabled people to set them on their new path in life.
"I have learned so much; I've gained so much from this and want to help others get to where I am now," Robin said. "It might sound strange, but I wouldn't trade the lessons I've learned. It's been hard, but it's been worth it. My life is good now."
Christine Davis is a freelance writer who lives in Carlsbad, Ca.