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We lost a bright light in the Bartonella patient community on January 20, 2024. Jake Picker, aka the Bartonella Babe, passed away peacefully Saturday evening surrounded by loved ones at her home in California.
At age 30, Jake had struggled for over five years with a GI illness complicated by MCAS, SIBO and Bartonella infection. Her mother shared that Jake was increasingly losing tolerance for food, leaving her at only 79 pounds and in constant pain. After many months of intense struggle, Jake decided to end her torment through medical aid in dying (MAID), which is legal in California as of 2016. It was a heart-breaking choice for such a remarkable young woman but one by which Jake found dignity and peace. MAID is an option for patients of sound mind whose physicians have determined their conditions are terminal. She had the full support of her family and loved ones who had witnessed her extreme suffering.
If you are experiencing thoughts of suicide, please call the Suicide Lifeline for your region. In the US, that number is 988.
Memories by Amanda Elam, Galaxy Diagnostics Cofounder and CEO:
After hearing the news, I looked through my email conversations with Jake over the years. We had so many positive interactions. I reached out to members of our team with the news as well. Our hearts are broken by the loss of this exceptional young patient and advocate. With tremendous humor and grace, Jake educated and entertained us all and gave hope to many patients struggling with chronic illness and trying to understand how Bartonella infection might play a role in their symptoms.
Jake was an exceptional and very talented young woman who turned her health struggles into extraordinary disease advocacy. Despite the demands of her illness and her determination to recover her health, she, with two mothers of patients created a Facebook patient forum, Breaking Down Bartonella, for others navigating Bartonella-associated chronic illness and produced an “edu-tainment” series, Bartonella Babe, on YouTube. Everything that Jake did, she approached with thoughtfulness and craft.
Amazingly, Jake took her skills as an actor, powered by research training from her Masters in Gender, Policy, and Inequalities from the London School of Economics, and threw herself into disease advocacy to learn everything she could about the science behind Bartonella, MCAS, and infection-associated chronic illness. She reached out to me at Galaxy Diagnostics to share her idea for a video series and later for a patient forum. I offered to support her efforts in any way that would be helpful, especially as a guide on Bartonella research publications and a connector to other scientific experts.
Jake took me up on this offer and worked tirelessly with our team and many other experts to learn the science. Lo and behold, Jake proved to be an outstanding student. She devoured every publication, asked loads of questions, and requested calls to work through trickier pieces of the available science. We were repeatedly impressed by Jake’s commitment to excellence and, honestly, amazed by the entertaining video series that she created.
Our thoughts are with Jake’s mother and other family and friends as they mourn her loss. We will deeply miss Jake’s bright spirit and leadership in the Bartonella community. We are endlessly grateful for all her contributions to building awareness and educating the public on the complexities of Bartonella-associated disease. Finally, we will work harder on our mission and in our work with disease advocates, researchers, and other partners to drive better clinical solutions for patients in Jake’s memory.
Rest in Peace, dear Jake. Your legacy lives on in the hearts and minds of many.