By Sally Gracie
Six months after I first wrote about Brandon Sheely as “a patient in search of a diagnosis,” doctors have still not been able to give his illness a name. In January and February 2016, Brandon has appointments with two different Lyme disease specialists on the west side. He is somewhat hopeful that Lyme could be the disease that covers all of his symptoms.
While he waits, Brandon still suffers from muscle spasms, nausea, hemiplegic migraines, low blood pressure, high cholesterol and lesions on his face. Excruciating pain still moves through his nervous system from the bottom of his feet to his legs, arms, shoulder and back. Exhaustion and anxiety have become part of his life.
Brandon has been unable to return to his work as a field biologist. A paralegal who agreed to help the Sheelys get a hearing for SSI Disability benefits (for a percentage of what Brandon receives) has not succeeded in getting Brandon a hearing. “Maybe by the spring of 2016,” she has told them.
Brandon Sheely at his Beaver Creek home, with a duckling he rescued from the middle of Highway 20 near Loup Loup.
While his wife, Laura Schrager, continues in her job as special education teacher at Liberty Bell High School, and his two daughters go off to school, Brandon is at home. He spends time searching the Internet for a reason for his chronic illness, even reading books with titles like Why Am I Still Sick for answers. During the short periods when he feels OK, Brandon does projects around the house. He’s taken up playing his guitar and drawing. When pain moves through his body, he finds that drawing seems to help him take his mind off his pains.
Brandon and Laura are doing their best to get by on one salary, but Brandon admits that their “credit as gone to hell.” Timely car payments for the truck he bought before the onset of his illness are not always possible.
An earlier community fundraising campaign covered a couple of thousand-dollars of their medical co-pays. The Sheelys were very grateful for that help. (Funds generously given to the Brandon Sheely Donation Account have been exhausted, but the account is still open at North Cascades Bank in Twisp).
The Sheelys’ economic woes were compounded by the damage done to their home during the fires of 2014. They had insurance and hired a local contractor who seemed qualified for the job, but his work didn’t live up to expectations. Parts of the job were never completed, so Brandon has had to jerry-rig a heating system when the in-floor heating they paid for was never completed by the contractor. If they had the funds, the Sheelys would hire a lawyer. They need legal advice for several issues, but daily living takes priority and most of their income.
Since I wrote about Brandon last spring, Room One has been very helpful to the Sheelys, finding volunteers to install new siding to the house and clean up the yard. This is the good news and the Sheelys are very grateful.
Jerry Bristol at Washington Pass overlook.
Jerry Bristol succumbed to Alzheimer’s this week. His wife, Josephine, cared for Jerry at their home and made sure to keep him among us in the community during the progression of the illness. I’ll always remember Jerry as the handsome and good-natured volunteer at our Twisp Library book sales. My love and sympathy to Josephine and Katie Bristol, and the rest of the family.
I ran into Sue Marracci at Hank’s Harvest Foods not too long ago. At the time, transfusions were working to battle the cancer she had fought for a long time. What a lovely lady she was. A talented artist, she was also a baker whose confections she served at an elaborate annual tea at her home on Balky Hill. How pleased I was the first time I received one of Sue’s handmade invitations to that event, where Josephine Bristol poured tea as an English lady does. My love and sympathy to her daughter Joanne and Joanne’s husband, Vern White, and to her close friend Cheryl Wrangle.
I didn’t know Robert Roseland, who died recently. But I know two of his sons. And I found out that my Chevron friend Terri Flory has been Robert’s partner for the past eight years. She is grieving the death of the man she says she loved “at first sight.”
