This story was originally published on Grist, and is part the Climate Desk collaboration.
Jesse Merrick received a text message from his roommate at 5 AM on December 4, 2017. He hoped his family was OK and recalled reading the text when he woke up. Southern California's Thomas Fire had just erupted and was rapidly growing to nearly 300,000. Jesse tried desperately to reach his Ventura relatives. He finally managed to reach his mom but she was distraught. Jesse said that she answered the phone and was crying out of sheer joy. She said, It's gone. It's gone.
Jesses childhood stuff was in the Merricks ranch-style home. It was destroyed by fire that day. He flew out to his mother to salvage what little was left a week later. They spent many days sorting through the rubble. Jesse, a former college footballer, was tasked with sorting through the rubble in their basement's deep, charcoaled hull. To protect their lungs from dust, the entire family used masks and gloves to protect their hands from sharp objects. It wasn't enough protection from the dangers lurking in dirt.
Jesse was forced to return to Alabama three weeks later to work as a sportscaster. It was a huge opportunity for him to cover the Sugar Bowl college football match in New Orleans. He arrived at the Sugar Bowl college football game in New Orleans and something wasn't right. He said that he felt like he had been hit by a bus. Jesse put it down to jetlag and continued with the broadcast. His symptoms did not go away. They got worse. He was soon coughing profusely and suffering from a low-grade fever. His upper torso was covered in a rash. He said that he was miserable. He said that he was miserable and couldn't sleep. It started four days after he started feeling sick. Jesse knew he needed to go to the urgent care clinic.
This was only the beginning of many doctor visits. Jesses symptoms deteriorated for a month. Giant welts developed around his joints, looking like someone had beaten him with a baseball bat. His breathing became difficult and he developed pneumonia. It was difficult to walk. Jesse said it felt like someone was stomping on my feet with knives.
Jesse began to worry that he might have a terminal disease. His primary care doctor found a 6-centimeter lung mass. A biopsy was planned for Jesse, as well as a spinal taplast-ditch attempts to determine the cause of his illness. On the morning of his procedures, a team made up of infectious disease specialists arrived in his hospital room. Jesse chuckled, saying that it was almost like he was in an episode of House. The spinal tap and the biopsy were no longer relevant. His regular doctor could not give him a diagnosis.
Jesse was suffering from valley fever. Coccidioides is a strain of fungus that grows in California soils and in the desert Southwest. It was not cancer. The mass was caused by a fungal ballaglob of fungal filaments and fungal hyphae. He was immediately put on an intravenous drip with fluconazole by infectious disease specialists. This is an antifungal medication. Jesse stated that I felt instantly better.
Jesse was lucky that day. The infectious disease specialists were at the right place at just the right moment. 60% of valley fever patients do not experience symptoms. 30% of people infected with valley fever develop moderate illnesses that require medical attention, such as Jesse's. Another 10% are infected with severe forms of the disease. This is when the fungus spreads beyond your lungs to other parts of your body. These cases could prove fatal.
