By Mike Weland
The largest organ of the human body resides on it, not in it. The skin is an incredibly complex and amazing structure, about 21-square feet of it for the average human adult, replenishing itself every 28 days with 30,000 to 40,000 skin cells being shed each minute. When everything works as it should, it protects you from the world outside. A Spokane man with ties to Bonners Ferry is believed to be the first person in the history of humanity to suffer the singularly worst form of a skin disease that is excruciatingly debilitating in its mildest form. If it doesn’t kill him, the Spokane County bureaucracy might.
Ryan Becker, who took his wife Mikkel Becker’s last name when they married last July, is a Spokane attorney who opted to help his community rather than chase the big money working for a firm or in private practice, he chose instead to serve his community and his county as a plans examiner in the county planning office. During his tenure, he earned a reputation as a diligent member of the planning staff, thorough in his work, dedicated, willing to give more than was required.
A good public servant.
Kel is the daughter of Dr. Marty and Teresa Becker, Bonners Ferry. Hers became a family of three with the arrival of son Atlas in November 2024.
In February, Ryan began breaking out in painful lesions, his skin erupting in suppurating pustules, patches of skin that turn black and necrotic. Physicians in Spokane had no answers. Likewise Mayo Clinic. They finally got a diagnosis at John’s Hopkins in February; Pyoderma gangrenosum, a rare disease of three variants based on the type of lesion displayed. About 10 people in a million contract the most common form of the evil-sounding illness, with one type lesion. Fewer than 100 people worldwide have the even more excruciating second type, in which two types of lesion manifest.
And in February, 2024, Ryan Becker became the only person in the annals of medicine, and thought to be the first such case in the history of mankind to be afflicted with all three types.
The Bible tells the story of righteous Job, whose faith was in God was tested. After losing his sons, his livestock and his wealth, Job remained steadfast, and Satan poses a test to which God agrees, and Satan visits upon him an affliction that leaves him covered in boils and writhing in the dirt, his wife begging him to denounce his faith.
Today, the disease it is believed was brought upon Job around 2100 BC is called Job Syndrome, or Hyperimmunoglobulin E syndrome. Excruciatingly painful, it doesn’t hurt as bad as does Pyoderma gangrenosum I or II, which often can be attenuated only by the strongest opioids.
No one on Earth but Ryan Becker knows how much worse III is, but he has too much to live for to think of giving up, not with Kel’s unwavering love, the love in Atlas’s eyes when he’s with Daddy.
With the February diagnosis from John’s Hopkin’s, Ryan and Kel were surprised to learn that one of the world’s foremost experts on Pyoderma gangrenosum, practices in their back yard,, Dr. Alex Ortega-Loayza. associate professor of dermatology at Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, one of only 14 doctors in the United States who specialize in pyoderma gangrenosum.
Ryan was fortunate to be accepted into an experimental trial under Dr. Ortega-Loayza, and he, Kel and Atlas had just started traveling to Portland every two-weeks to begin the months-long course of treatment, and they were seeing small signs of improvement, small signs of hope.
But on May 12 the Beckers’ learned that in Ryan’s condition, stress was a thing to avoid. It was a certified letter from his supervisor, Jordan Neal, director of Spokane County Building and Code Enforcement.
“After reviewing your file and consulting with Human Resources,” Neal wrote, “this correspondence is an official notification that we must regretfully consider taking action regarding your employment, which may result in your termination from Spokane County.”
The shock of it landed Ryan in the hospital, convinced he wouldn’t survive the night.
It’s not just a job Ryan would be losing. He and Kel would lose the insurance that currently enables him to continue his course of treatment. It would begin a long dry spell few who haven’t lost a job due to a catastrophic health event are aware of — a six month waiting period before social security, Medicare, Medicaid and most retirement plans kick in, leaving most working families broke and alone right at the moment of their greatest vulnerability and greatest need.
Polite letters and calls have met with that most maddening but ubiquitous bureaucratic response when the future of not only an employee but an entire family hangs in the balance, “we can’t discuss it, it’s a personnel issue.”
Ryan has until close of business tomorrow May 22, to submit a written response.
“If you are unable to prepare a response, someone May prepare and submit it on your behalf.”
That’s a line Jordan Neal may come to regret having included.
“Thank you to KHQ Local News and John Webb for sharing Ryan’s story last night,” Kel posted to Facebook today. “Let’s hope that Spokane County does the right thing and doesn’t fire a dying man. This decision really is a quality of life decision and an imminent matter of life or death. To the Spokane County Commissioners, please ensure Ryan is shown the same level of care and compassion that you’d want for yourself and for your own family members and help right this egregious wrong.”
That segment can be seen here.
A petition to “Stop Spokane County from Firing a Dying Man,” has garnered 4,643 signatures as of 8 p.m. today, and there’s time to double that before deadline by sharing the link.
And Kel’s dad, America’s Vet Dr. Marty Becker, DVM, will by no means be sitting still.
“Friends, I’m inviting you to the most important Facebook Live I’ve ever done – and it’s not about pets,” he posted today to his Facebook page. “It’s about my family. Tomorrow (Thursday) at 3 p.m. PT / 6 p.m. ET, I’ll be going live right here on my Facebook page to share something incredibly personal and painful. My beloved son-in-law, Ryan, is fighting for his life. And now, my daughter, Mikkel, and their infant son are fighting a second battle against a system that’s threatening to take everything from them.”
“If you know me, you know how much my family means to me. You’ve seen Mikkel work alongside me for years, helping pets and people through Fear Free. Now it’s our turn to ask for help.
“Please join me live at facebook.com/DrMartyBecker. I’ll explain what’s happening, how you can help, and why your voice could make all the difference. 🙏 This may be the most important thing I’ve ever asked you to do.”