Derek Olson's Recovery Fund

We are raising money to help with the cost of Derek's medical and personal expenses as a result of Lyme Disease. 

Derek will be starting his senior year of college at Winona State University in Minnesota. He's a 4.0 student working towards a doctorate in physical therapy. He's always been very athletic (weight lifting, football, basketball, camping, hiking, canoeing), and loves spending time with his family, siblings and many friends. 

We want to share Derek's experience with you so that you not only understand how close it came to taking his life, but also gain insight into this horrible disease and possibly help someone else that may be affected. 
We never found a tick on him or noticed a bite.. a lot of people think that's needed, but it's so common to be unaware that you were ever bitten.  
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Derek went camping/tenting at Forestville State Park around June 6, hiked up to the Sugar Loaf in Winona on June 20, and went canoeing on the Zumbro River June 28th.  It's unclear which of these events involved the bite from a tick that gave him Lyme Disease. 

July 11th, 103.5 degree temp that lasted about 1-2 days followed by chills (sweating so bad we had to change the sheets as his fever broke), and body aches and discomforts that lasted a couple of days. We just thought he was recovering from the flu. 

Shortly after the fever was gone, we noticed small, thumbprint-sized spots that grew into larger red, oblong/oval shaped patches on his arm, then stomach, back and upper body. They didn't itch, weren't scaly and we just assumed it was his body fighting off a small virus. These weren't the classic bullseye rashes that many associate with Lyme Disease. 

July 24th, Derek was experiencing shortness of breath and his girlfriend insisted he go to Urgent Care. It really wasn't happening very often, but the clinic decided to send Derek home with a heart monitor for 24 hours as well as did several tests before sending him home. He returned the heart monitor the next day, but it was right before the weekend and no one at the clinic reviewed the results until the following Monday (ugh).  

July 31st, Derek started having episodes of dizziness, blurred vision and seeing spots.  This would happen for a few seconds, and then go away.  Again, he called Urgent Care and they suggested he just lay low and take it easy a few days. Rest. 

Aug 2nd. Urgent Care nurse called and said the tests showed Third Degree Heart Block and to go immediately to St. Mary's Hospital ER in Rochester.   Derek was quickly admitted.  His heart "bottomed out" or stopped for 12...15...18 seconds at at time.  It is a terrifying experience to feel helpless as we watched waves of nurses and doctors rushing into the room to prepared to shock Derek's heart or do CPR.  Hearing the words "CODE BLUE" is nothing we prepared ourselves for.   Fortunately, his heart would rebound on its own.  However, having repeated 18+ episodes in under 24 hours, the team of doctors decided a temporary pacemaker was inevitable.  His heart stopped 3 times during that conversation and they had no choice but to rush him into another room for the procedure. 

Derek's heart didn't rebound that final time just as the temporary pacemaker was going in...... they had to preform CPR on him.....and we are so thankful for the competant staff at St. Mary's as well as the many prayers he was receiving that ultimately saved his life that day. 

After 2  tests (Elisa, Western Blot), it was confirmed that Derek has Lyme Disease and Lyme Carditis (although very rare, only about 2% experience heart block from Lyme), has unfortunately affected his heart.  Doctors are hopeful that he will make a full recovery but we are at least 3 months away from knowing for sure.  

Derek NEEDS a pacemaker. His heart can not beat on it's own without it. He had the choice of the classic pacemaker but decided to go with a new, leadless pacemaker, also known as the Nanostim. He will be limited in what he can do.. at least for awhile as his heart continues to heal while he is taking IV and oral antibiotics. Although he no longer needs to stay overnight at the hospital and can return to a somewhat normal life with the assistance of a pacemaker, this is only the beginning of a long road to recovery and many, many more hospital visits along the way.

Every day, we are told new information, Derek is doing more testing, and we are educating ourselves of the things that this horrible disease can do to an otherwise perfectly healthy body. It's debilitating at times and can be lifelong if not treated properly. Derek's care will continue for months and we appreciate any small donation you would consider to help him in his fight against Lyme Disease. 




Information on the Nanotstim can be found here: https://www.sjmglobal.com/en-int/professionals/featured-products/cardiac-rhythm-management/pacemakers/leadless-pacemakers/nanostim-leadless-pacemaker?halert=show&clset=92f57278-460e-4300-b7fe-89e52a04194f%3acadddb93-fcc4-47f2-8ceb-fd88f01ca17f