Andrea Allegro's medical campaign
Donation protected
Andrea Allegro has been the one constant in my life since I was EIGHT years old...Besides my family, she has ALWAYS been there. She is an amazing human being and I love her like a sister. Her family is everything to her. Her father Paul and Mother Lynn have been a huge influence on my life. I met Andrea at ST. Liborius grade school in Steger Illinois. We had an amazing class and the roots are deep. It was a great place to grow up....Most of us went to Marian Catholic or the other Public highschools around the south side of Chicago.
Andrea's father Paul, was diagnosed with an imaginable disease called Huntington's Disease about 10 years ago. His sister Ann Marie (Who also has HD) and Paul are both receiving hospice care, and his brother Nick passed away from Huntingtons Disease 3 years ago. I had to research it and here is what I have found:
Huntington's disease (HD) is an inherited disease that attacks nerve cells gradually over time.
The disease happens when a faulty gene makes an abnormal version of the huntingtin protein.
Early symptoms may include mood swings, clumsiness, and unusual behavior.
During the later stages of the disease, choking becomes a major concern.
There is currently no cure, but medications may help relieve symptoms.
Signs and symptoms are most likely to appear between the ages of 30 and 50 years, but they can occur at any age. They tend to worsen over 10 to 20 years.
Eventually the Huntington's disease or its complications are fatal.
******According to the Huntington's Disease Society of America (HDSA), the symptoms of HD can feel like having amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Parkinson's and Alzheimer's all in one.
The key symptoms include:
personality changes, mood swings, and depression
problems with memory and judgment
unsteady walk and uncontrollable movements
difficulty speaking and swallowing, and weight loss
How signs and symptoms evolve can vary between individuals. In some people, depression occurs before motor skills are affected. Mood swings and unusual behavior are common early signs.
HD is known as an autosomal dominant disorder. This means that only one copy of the faulty gene, inherited from either the mother or the father, is necessary to produce the disease.
A person with the gene has one good copy of the gene and one faulty copy of the gene. Any offspring will inherit either the good copy or the faulty one. The child who inherits the good copy will not develop HD. The child who inherits a faulty copy will.
Each child has a 50 percent chance of inheriting the faulty gene. If they inherit the faulty gene, each of their children will have a 50 percent chance of inheriting it. HD can affect several generations.
A person who does not inherit the faulty gene will not develop HD and cannot pass it on to their children. A child who inherits the faulty gene will develop HD if they reach the age when symptoms are due to emerge.
Around 10 percent of cases of HD start before the age of 20 years. This is known as juvenile HD (JHD).
The symptoms are different, and can include leg stiffness, tremors, and regression in learning.
Between 30 and 50 percent of people with JHD have seizures.
Andrea has recently been diagnosed with this deadly disease. She desperately needs our help. She has two sons and her work schedule has been cut down as she cannot drive at night and just cannot handle the hours. This, I imagine, is only going to get worse.
A tough divorce has also played a huge part to her financial well being. She needs financial help to cover her mortgage and monthly bills.
Stress can make the symptoms of this disease worse and financial issues can stress anyone out. I would like to help alleviate this.
It is MY IDEA to try to help renovate her home to bring her master bedroom and bathroom to the first floor. It is going to be difficult for her to get up and down the stairs. Once we can get funds built up to cover some of her expenses, we can move towards this dream. My husband Greg and our partner Jim Hayes are I am willing to do all of the General contracting and design work through our company. We'll be donating our time and resources on this, and all the work we complete will be done with no overhead or profit. This is our contribution to Andrea and her children as they face a long road. The disease is debilitating....emotionally, mentally, and physically. This family is going to face challenges that most of us can't begin to fathom, as Huntington is well known as a devastating disease. But those challenges will absolutely be impossible if these changes to their home don't happen. And we need your help paying our subcontractors for their portion of the project. To be clear, we're donating all of our time, resources on this, and we'll not take a single dime to cover our overhead. We're doing this for one reason....so that the extremely difficult journey Andrea and her children are facing are at the very least, manageable.
There's some light at the end of the tunnel - Andrea has qualified for some trials and is very excited about the prospects of them. She is so so so strong and was more concerned about me when we talked than she was herself...(SO ANDREA)....She is leaning on her amazing family and is presently spending time with her father as his condition has continued to deteriorate and is not doing well.
Please God, help this family through this trying time. And help us reach enough good people who are willing to reach into their hearts and their resources to help us solve this initial goal.
Will you help us?
Andrea's father Paul, was diagnosed with an imaginable disease called Huntington's Disease about 10 years ago. His sister Ann Marie (Who also has HD) and Paul are both receiving hospice care, and his brother Nick passed away from Huntingtons Disease 3 years ago. I had to research it and here is what I have found:
Huntington's disease (HD) is an inherited disease that attacks nerve cells gradually over time.
The disease happens when a faulty gene makes an abnormal version of the huntingtin protein.
Early symptoms may include mood swings, clumsiness, and unusual behavior.
During the later stages of the disease, choking becomes a major concern.
There is currently no cure, but medications may help relieve symptoms.
Signs and symptoms are most likely to appear between the ages of 30 and 50 years, but they can occur at any age. They tend to worsen over 10 to 20 years.
Eventually the Huntington's disease or its complications are fatal.
******According to the Huntington's Disease Society of America (HDSA), the symptoms of HD can feel like having amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Parkinson's and Alzheimer's all in one.
The key symptoms include:
personality changes, mood swings, and depression
problems with memory and judgment
unsteady walk and uncontrollable movements
difficulty speaking and swallowing, and weight loss
How signs and symptoms evolve can vary between individuals. In some people, depression occurs before motor skills are affected. Mood swings and unusual behavior are common early signs.
HD is known as an autosomal dominant disorder. This means that only one copy of the faulty gene, inherited from either the mother or the father, is necessary to produce the disease.
A person with the gene has one good copy of the gene and one faulty copy of the gene. Any offspring will inherit either the good copy or the faulty one. The child who inherits the good copy will not develop HD. The child who inherits a faulty copy will.
Each child has a 50 percent chance of inheriting the faulty gene. If they inherit the faulty gene, each of their children will have a 50 percent chance of inheriting it. HD can affect several generations.
A person who does not inherit the faulty gene will not develop HD and cannot pass it on to their children. A child who inherits the faulty gene will develop HD if they reach the age when symptoms are due to emerge.
Around 10 percent of cases of HD start before the age of 20 years. This is known as juvenile HD (JHD).
The symptoms are different, and can include leg stiffness, tremors, and regression in learning.
Between 30 and 50 percent of people with JHD have seizures.
Andrea has recently been diagnosed with this deadly disease. She desperately needs our help. She has two sons and her work schedule has been cut down as she cannot drive at night and just cannot handle the hours. This, I imagine, is only going to get worse.
A tough divorce has also played a huge part to her financial well being. She needs financial help to cover her mortgage and monthly bills.
Stress can make the symptoms of this disease worse and financial issues can stress anyone out. I would like to help alleviate this.
It is MY IDEA to try to help renovate her home to bring her master bedroom and bathroom to the first floor. It is going to be difficult for her to get up and down the stairs. Once we can get funds built up to cover some of her expenses, we can move towards this dream. My husband Greg and our partner Jim Hayes are I am willing to do all of the General contracting and design work through our company. We'll be donating our time and resources on this, and all the work we complete will be done with no overhead or profit. This is our contribution to Andrea and her children as they face a long road. The disease is debilitating....emotionally, mentally, and physically. This family is going to face challenges that most of us can't begin to fathom, as Huntington is well known as a devastating disease. But those challenges will absolutely be impossible if these changes to their home don't happen. And we need your help paying our subcontractors for their portion of the project. To be clear, we're donating all of our time, resources on this, and we'll not take a single dime to cover our overhead. We're doing this for one reason....so that the extremely difficult journey Andrea and her children are facing are at the very least, manageable.
There's some light at the end of the tunnel - Andrea has qualified for some trials and is very excited about the prospects of them. She is so so so strong and was more concerned about me when we talked than she was herself...(SO ANDREA)....She is leaning on her amazing family and is presently spending time with her father as his condition has continued to deteriorate and is not doing well.
Please God, help this family through this trying time. And help us reach enough good people who are willing to reach into their hearts and their resources to help us solve this initial goal.
Will you help us?
Organizer and beneficiary
Bridget Supple-Mote
Organizer
Bloomington, IL
Tony or Kristen Allegro
Beneficiary
