Matthew Spicer Traumatic Brain Injury

The Spicer Family are dear friends of ours. Our family and many others care for them deeply, and when one friend needs help, we come and rally- today they need our help. Here is a little glimpse of what Matthew, their 3rd son, has been enduring the last year and half of his Traumatic Brain Injury.

During Matthew Spicer’s freshman year of high school year, he received a concussion during football. While he was receiving treatment for his 1st concussion, he received a 2nd concussion and then a 3rd concussion, never fully recovering before receiving the other two. Because of this, it has lead to permanent brain damage. The fragility of his head receiving anymore hits to it, whether by a friend throwing a frisbee his way, a basketball bouncing and hitting his head, sadly can lead to more damage. About a month ago he received a 4th concussion just by being at a family event hitting his head on a post on the deck. This has changed the sports-oriented kid, who can never play a sport again in his lifetime. Matthew also requires a private tutor to get through his schooling.

He was diagnosed with 7 specific vision diagnoses due to his Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI):

1. Paresis of accommodation bilateral

2. Spasm of accommodation bilateral

3. Deficient pursuit eye movements

4. Deficient saccadic eye movements

5. Post concussions syndrome

6. Convergence insufficiency

7. Diplopia

He was also diagnosed with other specific cognitive problems (but not limited to these 8) due to his TBI:

1. Right frontal lobe- emotional control release problems

2. Mid-corpus callosum- cognitive abnormalities

3. Right arcuate fasciculus- impacting flow of speech

4. Fornix- problems with new memory formation

5. Right uncinate fasciculus- visual based attention and recalling faces

6. Supra-callosal cingulum- potential for anxiety and depression

7. Parietal lobe in angular gyrus- problems with word findings and math calculation abilities

8. Low numbers in the hippocampal cingulum- problems with attention

Many of these diagnoses impact the way he is able to process and develop memory, along with cognitive fatigue, chronic headaches, sleep disturbance, sensitivity to light and noise, hindering eye coordination while reading and moving, cognitive decline, difficulty with comprehension, difficulty with attentiveness, etc.

Currently Matthew is going to specialists consisting of a Spatial Awareness Neurologist, Cognitive Rehabilitation Specialist, Vision Therapy, Physical Therapy, IV Infusion Therapy, and Transcranial Stimulation.

Although it’s important to take note of all the specific diagnoses, specialists, and medication he is taking to understand the complexity of Matthew’s TBI, it’s also important to understand the immense amount of care, commitment, and positivity his family has given throughout this journey. His dad, Chris is working 12 hour work days along with two other jobs. His mom, Leslie is DoorDashing anytime she can in-between taking Matthew to his appointments and preparing his extremely clean meals for his diet so that his brain doesn’t swell. Matthew’s diagnoses have been an up and downhill rollercoaster over the years, but currently the ride is at a low again. At the moment, Leslie and Matthew drive 4 hours each way from Tulsa to Dallas once a week for his specialists. They are required to stay 4 days per week for his appointments, resulting in payment of an Airbnb. This cost and commitment is an addition to the cost and commitment of Matthew’s medical care that insurance does not cover. His parents have graciously and humbly taken care of their son, but both Matthew and his family deserve more than the occasional prayer or “thinking of you” texts. They need community; they need support; they need help. They need deep and consistent prayer and help with paying the funds of Matthew’s medical care. Insurance covers a decent amount, but the out of pocket expenses that insurance does not cover is 50K per year. The goal amount is not nearly as much as they need; only a start.