Fundraiser for Bobby Antidormi

Hi. My name is Sue Miller and for those of you that know me know of Bobby and Lisa Antidormi. They may not be blood relatives but they ARE my family. I've heard it said that family is not defined by last names or blood alone, but rather a commitment and love for one another. It means showing up for one another when it matters most. It means having one another's backs and never giving up. If you know Bobby and Lisa then you know they live by these words and show up for all those in their lives no matter what might be happening in their own lives. Their commitment to those they love is bar none.

 

Through the years, so many of you have been alongside Bobby as he faced numerous health issues. Most notably his battle with childhood diabetes, which left him on dialysis for 4 long years, 6 days a week. I heard him say so many times during that battle how he had worked all his life to support his family and now he was helpless. While he silently suffered at home, not being able to work or enjoy life like many people his age, Lisa worked, at times 3 jobs, to keep their family of 5 afloat. Those 4 years were not easy on anyone. It was a period of time filled with uncertainty and devastating blows that came each time he received a phone call from the transplant team from Yale notifying him that they had had a kidney and to get to the hospital. The thought of "this could be it, this could be the one, this might all end tonight" was more than once replaced with the words of "we’re so very sorry but unfortunately the kidney wasn't as healthy as we hoped or the kidney didn't meet all of the markers needed for a successful transplant." However, in 2015, a living donor did come forward who would be, to everyones surprise, a perfect match ending Bobby's long battle with End Stage Kidney Disease.

 

Within 8 months, Bobby goes back to work, not taking a single day for granted. He was even able to check off the #1 item on his bucket list, South Dakota and Sturgis. Harley’s, Lisa on the back of his bike, and mountains was everything he could ever hope for and more.

 

 

 

 

 

After 4 years of good health, a return to normalcy and welcoming their 2 grandsons to the family, life once again had its own plan for Bobby.

 

At the end of 2019, Bobby starts stumbling and falling at work and then his speech begins to slur slightly. Family and friends start to ask if he had a stroke. Just as they were setting up medical appointments to be seen, Covid hits and CT is locked down. Months go by, his speech gets worse and he begins using a cane to stabilize himself. As restrictions begin to lift in CT, Bobby finally gets seen and tests are taken with the results confirming that he has had multiple undetected mini strokes. He immediately begins physical and occupational therapy and instead of getting better he gets worse. He can no longer use the cane and needs a walker, can't climb stairs or walk very far and needs a portable wheelchair to get around, all the while going through a battery of tests and seeing multiple doctors. In May of this year, the diagnosis is something that they never could have dreamed of and they are told that Bobby has ALS, Lou Greig Disease and it's very aggressive and advanced.

 

In shock, and trying to wrap their minds around what they just heard, they hold each other tight like they have done for the past 30 years. Bobby is now confined to a wheelchair, his voice is rapidly fading away and he can't recognize the man he once was. This past week Lisa made the hard choice, and the only choice, to take FML (family medical leave) from her job as a paraprofessional with the Waterbury school system. Lisa will now be home with Bobby so not to miss one more minute of whatever precious time Bobby has left.

 

Everyone has been asking how can they help, what can they do for the both of them and this is how you can help. Help lift some of the financial burdens off of Lisa's shoulders so that she doesn't have to be worry so much about how the bills will get paid. Together they do their best to make each day, a good day. They surround themselves with family and friends, lots of food and laughter, and those 2 grandsons. There are moments of tears, but mostly tears of reminding themselves of how very fortunate they are to have found each other and to have shared such a love and life together. Please give what you can, even if it is love and prayers. With a full heart, thank you.

 

ALS is a progressive nervous system disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, causing loss of muscle control. Eventually, ALS affects control of the muscles needed to move, speak, eat and breathe. There is no cure for this fatal disease.