Komishe Kan: ‘Loved and Cared Deeply for His Fellow Humans’

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Komishe Tsing Anderson Kan died on November 11, 2022 at the age of 44, when he chose to end his life after many years of battling Lyme Disease.  

Komishe was born at home on May 30, 1978, in Oakland, California on a sunny spring day.  When he was a year and half old, he and his family moved to a 47 acre parcel on Elk Ridge Road in Briceland.  He grew up as a typical hill kid, roaming through the woods, playing with his friends, and going to Skyfish School, where his parents were his teachers.  When he was 10, his knee swelled up and Dr. Bill Hunter diagnosed it as Lyme Disease, a relatively new disease at the time.  He was treated with antibiotics and was apparently cured. At the age of 12 he discovered motorcycles and started a life-long love affair with them.

After leaving high school he continued his love of the outdoors, hunting for wild pigs, deer, and turkeys; kayaking in class 4 rivers; fishing the ocean and rivers; bicycling, snowboarding; and taking long motorcycle trips.  

In 2013 he moved to Hawaii where he enjoyed many physical activities, including riding his bicycle up 5 miles on a nearby mountain road.  In 2015 he realized it was taking him longer and longer to recover from these rides.  After extensive diagnostic tests, he returned to the mainland in 2016 to pursue medical treatment for Lyme Disease.  He spent 6 months in Florida and got some relief from his fatigue and brain fog, his major symptoms, but it didn’t last.  He went to Ensenada 3 times for stem cell therapy.  Again, he got some relief but it didn’t last either.  He went to numerous doctors and finally found one in Santa Rosa who was very helpful.  He was very disappointed when she moved to the Midwest and he was not able to find another doctor of the same caliber again.

On November 7, 2022, he had a phone appointment with another doctor who prescribed yet again the same medications and supplements he had tried so many times before.  In his farewell letter he expressed his frustration and surrender, stating “to be cut off from family, friends, love, respect, care and any other human feelings are just symptoms and pain caused by tick-born infections”.  “Everyone tried to help me as much as possible…I wish I could have been stronger.”

He made many, many friends along his path, from South Carolina to Hawaii, sharing his compassion, spirituality and creative artistry (especially in the kitchen), doing on-line gaming, playing paint-ball, buying and selling motorcycles, fixing small engines, welding intricate sculptures, collecting guns, and commiserating with other Lyme victims about all the things they used to be able to do and could no longer manage.  Throughout his battle with Lyme, Komishe was also able to positively affect the lives of many through his involvement in AA. This was an excellent place for him to share the compassion he had for others, which was such a big part of who he was. Komishe loved and cared deeply for his fellow humans giving of himself generously as a major part of his legacy.

Komishe is survived by his father Forrest; his mother Chestine; his brother Jomra and wife Rosie and his nieces Jayla and Zuma; his girlfriend Nicole Cortolano: his aunt Dena and cousins Alex and Ella, his cousin Erik, his uncle Russell and wife Patti, and his 2 grandmothers, Marge and Ebba. There will be a Memorial gathering at Beginnings on May 27.