On March 29 Bakersfield college hosted a Mesa Stem Pre-Health valley fever forum with guest speakers: Rob Purdie, Isabel Stierle, Brynn Carrigan, and Dr. Shikha Mishra. Whom all share their personal experience with valley fever and how draining it can be.
Experiences may vary from person to person. However, it’s important to know the symptoms and check in with your doctor and or hospital. In the community we must be careful and take the proper precautions to protect ourselves especially because its common in Bakersfield.
Valley fever comes in headaches or having a cough like sore throat or even joint pain. Other common symptoms include fatigue, cough, fever and headache, shortness of breath, night sweats, rash on upper body or legs, etc. Make sure you’re advocating for yourself and if you’re feeling sick for way longer than usual make sure to get tested and get a diagnosis.
Dr. Mirsha explains how there is a lot of research going to fully understand certain people who get different symptoms than others. Purdie says, “We need to be more invested in educating the community especially in school so we can be more aware.”
Climate change is one of the main causes of valley fever, especially because of the dry weather in our region. If you have been recently diagnosed you should make sure you get treated and it’s going to be mentally draining but don’t give up, don’t lose sight of the bigger picture. Join a support group and talk to people who are in the same boat as you.
It is important to listen to your body if you need rest, get rest, give yourself a break and lay in bed. Take your medication every day and talk to your doctors occasionally if you aren’t getting better. There are many different resources available where you could get information on and encourage friends and family to talk to their doctors.
A goal is to get more funds to make tests more accessible without having to worry about insurance because not everyone is fortunate to have insurance because of how expensive it is. A relapse could happen especially if in the future your health changes or with taking new drugs or and just being really stressed.