Matt Currey’s Multiple Sclerosis Treatment

Dear friends and community,

We're here with an update about our dear, sweet Matty, as well as to ask for help. In late February, Matt woke up with double vision, accompanied by a rapid heartbeat and numbness on the left side of his body. We've had several doctor's appointments, ER visits, and most recently a series of MRIs that found lesions on his brain stem and spinal cord. This has led to a likely diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis, an auto-immune disease in which the immune system attacks the central nervous system, often leading to impaired mobility, vision, and speech.

Matty is an avid lover of nature and recently dedicated his life to conservation work; starting an ecological restoration business in our home of the San Juan Islands, hoping to give back to the place that has done so much for him. I've watched my husband grow and change into an absolutely incredible person while learning from this land; growing stronger in body and more tender in heart each day. As hard and inconvenient as it can be to live on an island, our lives have truly been changed for the better in the 4 years since we moved here. Honestly, we don't know how we could make it through this massive hurdle without the loving community that has embraced us. I also run my own small business with Matty's help, a bakeshop at the local farmer's market, and the market family has really made Orcas Island home for us.

MS is a devastating diagnosis for all who have it and for us it is particularly challenging. Adding on to the expense and difficulty of navigating our healthcare system, we also have to deal with the headaches and costs of frequent trips off island. As two small business owners, we face the tough reality of not qualifying for short term disability or unemployment, a huge blow financially with the understanding that Matty might not be able to work anytime soon, and I now face the challenge of being the sole provider for our family while we face insurmountable financial hurdles. Until Matt can get back to work we face the uncertainty of not knowing how we will pay rent and other daily expenses on one income, let alone all of the medical bills for his specialty treatment. Neither of our families are able to offer major funds, and this is where we turn to our friends and community.

We are so grateful for all of the support and love we've received since sharing a small piece of what we're facing. It has almost been overwhelming at times- neither of us have ever received love like this, and don't quite know how to accept it. Every little bit helps. And as we're here again- every little bit helps. Even ten dollars helps. We're hopeful that with treatment Matty will be able to regain a life closer to what he experienced pre-diagnosis, but there's no guarantee. Still, this is the rest of our lives and we're not really sure how we're going to make it work, but for now we humbly accept anything that you're able to share while we navigate this new, uncertain reality.

Thank you for your support,

Brea and Matt Currey