Todd McArthy Family Medical Relief

Todd McArthy fell ill in June of this year and is dealing with a very serious chemical imbalance in his brain.  This causes confusion, memory loss, zero short term memory, and many other symptoms resembling a horrible dementia. 

He has been in and out of the hospital for weeks at a time since this rapid onset attacked his brain and deprived him and his family.  It has been a long struggle as some days he couldn’t remember all of the years, and some days he forgot he even had a family.  He is doing much better from those months of memory loss, but still has further to go to get back to “normal” or even a “new normal.”

Since there has not been an actual diagnosis because they were unable to determine a cause, doctors have been experimenting with various treatments and protocols based on symptoms he is presenting.  He has not responded to pharmaceutical remedies, and has spent extensive time at the neurology unit at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis, which is an hour away from home.  He recently spent 22 days at Barnes in September/October, 19 days in July/August, as well as 8 days in the beginning of June at a local hospital.  This doesn’t include the many day trips in between for doctor visits.

While he is responding to the current treatments he has a long way to go before we know for sure. He has limited memories of time from June through the present and does not remember the funeral or the wake of his brother, Mike. He has regained most of his long-term memories prior to June but has no short term memory at this time (a side effect of the treatment that should hopefully correct itself within 6 months of completing current treatments).   

Todd is the sole provider for his family, and unfortunately, he is unable to return to the job and field of work he has enjoyed for almost 3 decades.  His wife, Allie, is attempting to return to the workforce to step in and provide, but the 3 times a week 2 hour round trip hospital/doctor visits, as well as caring for their 2 school age daughters, is proving to be a challenge in this search. 

For Allie to return to work full time to support the family, or stay by the side of Todd to fight through the experimental remedies in hopes they will return him to normal, is not a decision any of us would want ourselves or our spouses to be faced with.  They have now exhausted all of their savings and the day-to-day bills are piling up and I’m certain the medical bills will be insurmountable. 

With the stress Allie is under in not only dealing with the uncertainty of finding a cure, the sleepless nights and hospital visits, but now the responsibility to step into the lead provider role, I reach out to all family, alumni and friends (“framily) for help. 

There are no donations considered too small, and we all know Todd and his family will be eternally grateful for anything we can do to help.  If you liken it to having the chance to bring them a meal, take them out for a meal (other than hospital food), or pay for their hospital parking, I’m sure none of us would turn down that opportunity. 

For those of you with faith, please keep Todd and his family in your prayers.  Thank you all for your generous support of our lifelong friend and his family.