Corinne Vien

When Jake and I decided to create this podcast, he raised a concern about his voice. Despite the miraculous accomplishments he's made in speech therapy, this new voice is something he's still getting used to. It's slower, wobbly at times, and he occasionally loses control over the volume.

When Jake and I decided to create this podcast, he raised a concern about his voice. Despite the miraculous accomplishments he's made in speech therapy, this new voice is something he's still getting used to. It's slower, wobbly at times, and he occasionally loses control over the volume.

Jake shifts uncomfortably when hearing recordings of his current voice, but smiles proudly when showing me a clip from before his diagnosis. This clip is from a video he had posted on his YouTube channel called The Many Voices of Jake. There are a few sound effects, but in the start of the video, you're able to catch a snippet of his old voice.

Jake shifts uncomfortably when hearing recordings of his current voice, but smiles proudly when showing me a clip from before his diagnosis. This clip is from a video he had posted on his YouTube channel called The Many Voices of Jake. There are a few sound effects, but in the start of the video, you're able to catch a snippet of his old voice.

In the hospital, an emergency MRI is ordered. Jake assumes he will get to go home in the morning, so to make it through the evening, he calls his dad to bring him a pack of Marlboro Reds, his cigarette of choice.

In the hospital, an emergency MRI is ordered. Jake assumes he will get to go home in the morning, so to make it through the evening, he calls his dad to bring him a pack of Marlboro Reds, his cigarette of choice.

Hearing that Jake had assumed life would continue as usual, that he'd go back to work the next day and resume his regular drug use, I asked him how he'd been able to keep a job, how he could have lived a high-functioning life up until this point.

Hearing that Jake had assumed life would continue as usual, that he'd go back to work the next day and resume his regular drug use, I asked him how he'd been able to keep a job, how he could have lived a high-functioning life up until this point.

This hidden world of high-functioning heroin users amazed me. I had family members whose lives were ruined from the drug and classmates who lost their lives to it. And so I always thought of it as this thing that debilitated people and then killed them.

This hidden world of high-functioning heroin users amazed me. I had family members whose lives were ruined from the drug and classmates who lost their lives to it. And so I always thought of it as this thing that debilitated people and then killed them.

Learning that Jake and many others in his circle could function on heroin and present themselves in the world just like me or you was brand new information for me. Did people really not know something was wrong? For Jake, this lifestyle was something he would never partake in again. And he was about to learn why. Early the next morning, Jake wakes to multiple doctors in his room.

Learning that Jake and many others in his circle could function on heroin and present themselves in the world just like me or you was brand new information for me. Did people really not know something was wrong? For Jake, this lifestyle was something he would never partake in again. And he was about to learn why. Early the next morning, Jake wakes to multiple doctors in his room.

One sits on the bed next to him. Jake remembers the somber expressions across each of their faces. The doctor seated next to him, placing a comforting hand on his knee.

One sits on the bed next to him. Jake remembers the somber expressions across each of their faces. The doctor seated next to him, placing a comforting hand on his knee.

Toxic leukoencephalopathy is a very rare disease that causes progressive damage to the white matter of the brain. Drug abuse through inhalation and extravenous injection can both lead to this disease. But it's not just heroin that causes it. Alcohol, cocaine, ecstasy, chemotherapeutic drugs, and even environmental toxins can lead to this diagnosis. For Jake, it was heroin. Inhalation of heroin.

Toxic leukoencephalopathy is a very rare disease that causes progressive damage to the white matter of the brain. Drug abuse through inhalation and extravenous injection can both lead to this disease. But it's not just heroin that causes it. Alcohol, cocaine, ecstasy, chemotherapeutic drugs, and even environmental toxins can lead to this diagnosis. For Jake, it was heroin. Inhalation of heroin.

The disease is complicated, and the research on it is sometimes conflicting. Some researchers believe that heroin-induced leukoencephalopathy may be caused by a contaminant in heroin, a bad stash. But others disagree.

The disease is complicated, and the research on it is sometimes conflicting. Some researchers believe that heroin-induced leukoencephalopathy may be caused by a contaminant in heroin, a bad stash. But others disagree.

Here in the hospital with doctors surrounding him, Jake is told that for his particular diagnosis, acute toxic progressive leukoencephalopathy, only a few people have survived past diagnosis. And no one has ever survived after entering stage four of the disease. The odds are stacked against him. He is given six months to live.

Here in the hospital with doctors surrounding him, Jake is told that for his particular diagnosis, acute toxic progressive leukoencephalopathy, only a few people have survived past diagnosis. And no one has ever survived after entering stage four of the disease. The odds are stacked against him. He is given six months to live.