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Highlights
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 Matthew Wild and Theresa Whitlock-Wild
After dating for only a few months, Marine Corps Veteran Matthew Wild and Theresa Whitlock-Wild experienced the unimaginable: Matthew’s hands became weaker, his arms began to twitch, and his body would tremor. Marines are tough, but no one is prepared to learn that they have Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) or Lou Gehrig’s disease, which is a cruel neurodegenerative disease
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that progressively robs you of your ability to use your hands, walk, talk, swallow and eventually breathe. A disease that currently has no cure.
Every couple wants to find a love that endures despite setbacks, grows stronger in adversity and adapts when life changes. Even though they didn’t realize it at the time, this is exactly the love Matthew and Theresa found when they found out he had ALS.
Theresa – already working as a full-time student and raising three kids on her own – fearlessly supported Matthew after his diagnosis. Despite hours of treatment, mountains of paperwork, and the endless parade of caregivers and construction crews in their home, Theresa fought for the love of her life. Fortunately, Theresa and Matthew were not alone. They were referred to the Seattle VA Medical Center (VAMC), where they immediately had access to a multidisciplinary team of experts.
“A key component to making ALS a livable disease is multidisciplinary care,” said Theresa. “Through at-home nursing care, telehealth support, skills training and more, the Seattle team is always there for us. The level of support and coverage we get at VA is phenomenal.”
Not all couples are this fortunate.
For Veterans using VA, these services are part of the benefits earned through their military service. However, civilians with ALS often can’t afford or access the same level of care available through VA. To prolong quality of life with ALS, patients need power wheelchairs, wheelchair-accessible transportation, respirator equipment, extensive home remodeling, nursing assistance, specialist training and much more. For the average civilian, the spiraling costs often limit the quality of care and life.
Recognizing this disparity, Matthew and Theresa founded a non-profit organization called Matt's Place Foundation to help ALS families make home improvements, purchase medical equipment and receive training and care.
“While all Veterans have lived a life of service to the community, Matt and Theresa have taken their service to another level by continuing to give back, even in a potentially devastating diagnosis. Their actions are humbling and inspiring,” said Dr. Ileana Howard, Outpatient Medical Director of Rehabilitation Care Services, VA Puget Sound Healthcare System.
In 2017, the foundation built the first “ALS smart home,” where families in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, live rent-free for the duration of their battle against ALS. The foundation recently completed its second home in Spokane, Washington, and hopes the state-of-the-art design can be replicated and used to help others across the ALS community.
The last eight years have proven that Matthew and Theresa’s love is unstoppable. No matter what ALS throws at them, they refuse to quit. In fact, their uncrushable spirit is taking the fight even further. Theresa is currently working with Washington State University's Steve Gleason Institute for Neuroscience and has helped open an adaptive technology center. The technology center supports developing resources to improve function and quality of life for persons with disabilities, such as adaptive gaming, home automation, eye gaze, voice cloning and an Idrive wheelchair.
“A diagnosis is not a prognosis,” says Theresa. "Matthew and I are fighting to bring the same level of care to all ALS families by providing hope and housing and one day lobby for better resources and care for all families.” ALS hasn’t stopped Matthew and Theresa. And if they have anything to say about it, ALS won’t stop other couples either.
What is ALS?
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a rare disease characterized by rapidly progressive weakness in the limbs and muscles used for breathing, speech and swallowing. Fifty percent of patients die within 3 years of diagnosis and 95 percent within 5 years—mainly from respiratory failure. Despite several promising new medications approved to treat ALS, there is no cure. ALS is often referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease after the Yankees baseball legend Henry Louis Gehrig, who developed the disease while in the public spotlight. For unknown reasons, those who have served in the military are more likely to develop ALS than those who have not.
VA Milestones:
- The Veteran Health Administration serves nearly 4,000 Veterans with ALS nationwide. In 2008, VA began recognizing ALS as a presumptively compensable illness for all Veterans with 90 days or more of continuous active service in the military.
- In 2014, Robert Ruff, the former National Program Director of Neurology for VA, helped publish the first VA handbook with care guidelines for ALS.
- In August 2021, the VA passed the ALS directive outlining requirements and accountability measures for all VA facilities to provide ALS care. This directive ensures that every VA facility assigns an ALS coordinator to help guide Veterans to resources and support for ongoing care.
These milestones enabled VA to develop an ALS system of care that effectively addresses a patient’s needs, achieving levels of satisfaction that often exceed that of the private sector.
Join Matthew and Theresa’s Fight
May is ALS awareness month, and June 2nd is now recognized as Lou Gehrig’s Day by Major League Baseball to raise awareness of the disease. Join the fight and help us crush ALS.
If you are a Veteran with ALS, visit the National ALS Registry on the CDC website to sign up and help researchers gather information for the fight against ALS.
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Neurology is the branch of medicine dealing with disorders of the nervous system, i.e., the brain and spinal cord and the nerves outside these areas. General neurologists diagnose and treat any condition affecting the nervous system, while subspecialists focus on specific areas of neurology.
VA’s Neurology Program employs a network of over 1,000 neurologists striving to improve the health and well-being of Veterans with neurologic disorders. In addition to general neurologists, we offer several subspecialty programs.
We also have four types of Neurology Centers of Excellence (COEs):
- Parkinson’s Disease Research, Education, and Clinical Centers
- Multiple Sclerosis COEs
- Epilepsy COEs
- Headache COEs
VA’s Neurology Program also has Tele-programs bringing subspecialty expertise to Veterans no matter where they live. These programs include VA’s National Tele-Neurology Program, Telestroke Program and Tele-EEG/Tele-Epilepsy Program.
Please see additional stories below for information about multiple sclerosis, stroke, and Parkinson’s disease.
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Anthony Moro’s journey as a Marine began in 2006 when he served with the Third and Fourth Force Recon, fought in Sangin Valley in Afghanistan in 2011 — considered one of the most intense campaigns of the war — and served in the South Pacific and northern Europe.
But his service to this country was cut short when he woke up one day and couldn’t see. “My eyes just started going blurry, like I was underwater,” he said. “By the end of the second day, it was like someone had sprayed a fire extinguisher (in front of me).” He went to an eye doctor, who immediately sent him to a hospital, where he spent a week in the intensive care unit and was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). After his diagnosis, Anthony was forced to retire from the military.
Soon depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) set in, not from combat but from his diagnosis. He returned to Wisconsin with plans of going to college and playing football. But the MS was relentless, continuing to affect his vision and paralyzing his right leg. He spent about a year “feeling sorry” for himself. Then he went to a wedding attended by many of his Marine buddies, and their tough love helped him change his mindset.
Moro hit the gym and soon designed his own exercise regimen in which he tried “every kind of kettlebell training there was.” He later enrolled at Concordia University, earning a bachelor’s degree in Exercise Physiology and making the football team, playing alongside his brother. He then went on to work as the personal head trainer for the Milwaukee Bucks dance team, which led to similar stints with the Navy SEALs, Air Force, Chicago Bears and the Blackhawks. He even opened his own gym and earned his master’s degree.
“I’m trying to figure out the whole puzzle,” he said. “My first desire was to be an athlete. But then I had to figure out how I can be an athlete with MS.”
Anthony continues to defy the odds by summiting mountains across the world. He recently climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest point in Africa, and then flew to Japan a week later and summited Mount Fuji. Anthony is now preparing to summit Aconcagua in the Andes, the highest mountain in South America. That would give him two of the “Seven Summits” — the highest mountain on each continent. Moro plans to conquer them all.
And his team at the Milwaukee VA supports him every step of the way. “I support all of his goals,” Milwaukee VA neurologist Dr. Sam Hooshmand said. “Our whole team wants to ensure we keep people living with MS as healthy as possible so that they achieve their goals. Folks like Anthony can inspire others living with MS. I’m excited to see what his next adventure is.”
To read more about Anthony’s inspiring journey, visit Conquering Mountains and MS.
Help us Conquer MS!
VA encourages all Veterans who are conquering MS, like Anthony Moro – as well as their caregivers, family members and health care professionals – to help raise awareness this March. Visit the VA MS Centers of Excellence website to learn how to get involved and make a difference.
Learn More About MS
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an unpredictable chronic disease affecting the central nervous system (CNS), namely the brain, spinal cord and vision pathways. In MS, the immune system attacks and damages the myelin sheath (a protective layer of insulation) that surrounds nerve fibers in the CNS and the nerve fibers themselves, creating lesions.
MS lesions disrupt nerve signals that communicate a desired action to, from, or within the brain and the spinal cord or from various parts of the body. For example, lesions in the brain stem can cause eye movement abnormalities that result in double vision, a facial droop, facial pain, slurred speech, or imbalance, while lesions in a visual pathway can decrease visual acuity.
Spinal cord lesions can cause weakness, numbness, or bladder and bowel problems. Brain lesions can cause all these symptoms, as well as trouble with thinking, memory and mood. Fatigue and pain are also common symptoms of MS, with lesions in any location. Because each person has lesions in different places, each person’s experience of MS is unique.
Nearly one million people in the U.S. have MS, with around 20,000 Veterans receiving their MS care through VA each year. Please reach out to your healthcare provider if you have MS or think you may have MS. Fortunately, today, there are more than 20 FDA-approved MS disease-modifying therapies that reduce the frequency of MS relapses and may delay the accumulation of disability from MS. There are also many medications and therapies that help reduce MS symptoms. VA provides these medications and services and many other resources, to help Veterans with MS live their best lives.
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When you’re having a stroke, time is brain! When a blood clot disrupts blood flow to the brain, fast treatment can reverse a stroke’s effects and reduce long-term disability. Delaying stroke treatment by just one-hour ages the brain 10 years. Many strokes can be treated with a “clot-busting” medication if administered within the first few hours. Patients may also need a procedure to physically remove the clot for larger, more severe strokes. Since both treatments are most effective when given as soon as possible, having a stroke neurologist readily available is vital; however, emergency access to a stroke neurologist can be limited. VA’s National Telestroke Program (NTSP) solves this problem by using mobile video technology to bring a neurologist to a patient’s bedside anywhere in the country within minutes, filling a tremendous gap in acute stroke care for America’s Veterans.
Approximately 4,500 Veterans are admitted to VA hospitals with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) yearly. When a Veteran with acute stroke symptoms presents at a participating VA facility, the neurologist connects with the Veteran and their local on-site care team, and together they weigh risks and benefits to decide the best treatment. NTSP began providing services in 2017, primarily in rural VA medical centers, and has since expanded to serve Veterans nationwide.
Since its inception, NTSP has:
- provided emergency acute stroke services at 63 VA medical centers
- completed more than 4,000 Telestroke consultations
- treated more than 1,100 Veterans with “clot-busting” medication to improve stroke recovery
Are you at Risk for a Stroke?
The greatest risk for stroke is high blood pressure. As such, the best way to reduce your risk is by lowering your blood pressure. Work with your doctor to understand the best blood pressure goal for you. Other stroke risk factors include diabetes, smoking and physical inactivity. Those with atrial fibrillation are also at risk, especially when they have other stroke risk factors.
B.E.F.A.S.T to Spot a Stroke!
Recognizing stroke symptoms and acting fast saves lives. Stroke is the 5th leading cause of death, so know the signs! Use the acronym B.E.F.A.S.T to remember the warning signs and to know what to do if you or someone near you is experiencing stroke symptoms:
B – Balance: Sudden loss of balance
E – Eyes Problem: Sudden loss of vision or double vision
F – Face: Sudden facial droop
A – Arm Weakness: Sudden weakness in one arm or leg
S – Speech: Sudden slurred speech or difficulty speaking
T – Time: Call 9-1-1 immediately to have the best chance for treatment and recovery
Watch this video to learn more: BEFAST
Stroke Awareness Month: May is National Stroke Awareness Month. Visit the VA website to learn more about risk factors and prevention tips!
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In the summer of 2014, at age 66, it came as a shock that I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease (PD), a progressive neurological disorder with no cure. One million Americans live with Parkinson’s, and I believe many more have it and don’t know it.
PD causes motor symptoms like tremors and stiffness and many non-motor problems like sleep disturbance, anxiety, constipation, pain, depression, loss of focus and many other woes. And it almost always gets worse over time.
I had experienced several of these signs and symptoms for more than 20 years, but none of my caregivers pieced it together. I was in reasonably good shape and ran several marathons, including Boston twice, so I wrote off the stiffness in my legs as not doing enough stretching. I told myself that rest was part of getting older. But my daughter, a nurse, noticed my tremor and made me get it checked out.
Before my diagnosis, I was really slowing down. I had shifted from an active retirement as an environmental activist, tree steward and gardener – with lots of traveling, hiking and exercise – to a couch potato. By the summer of my diagnosis, I had slowed down like my battery needed charging, which it did. I was spending hours just sitting. My wife has since told me that she was very worried about the changes in my behavior.
I knew of the VA benefits for disabled Veterans, having coordinated my dad’s care. He was an army officer, serving from WWII thru Vietnam. I also served in Vietnam in the 25th Infantry. It turns out that the neurotoxin Agent Orange, which we both were exposed to in Vietnam, is a presumptive cause of PD for Veterans who served there. I found out that I was eligible for VA benefits.
I went to the VA Medical Center in Richmond, Virginia, to a specialty center for PD called the PADRECC, which stands for the Parkinson’s Disease Research, Education, and Care Center. Working with the PADRECC changed the trajectory of my life. I immediately felt welcomed, experienced the comradeship of fellow vets and received personalized care. I felt that these practitioners cared about me as a person and not just another patient they needed to work on.
Additionally, I benefited from a clinic designed for Veterans with chronic pain. They have practitioners who employ non-traditional and holistic approaches such as acupuncture, biofeedback, meditation, Tai Chi and even music therapy (e.g., drumming). This has made a huge difference to me in managing my anxiety, pain and insomnia.
I have been in about 15 clinical trials to help find new treatments for this awful disease. It gives me a real shot in the arm when I meet the front-line researchers racing to find a cure or at least a treatment to slow the progression.
All the efforts, exercise, trials, nutrition, meditation and attitude have paid off. I am active and feel much better than before I was diagnosed. My life is going well. I now have one more reason to help find a cure. My two daughters’ mother has just been diagnosed with PD. We also know that my daughters’ grandmother had Lewy Body Dementia, a form of PD. Each of my daughters has exhibited a few of the Prodromal symptoms of PD, so now I want to find this cure more than ever.
I am grateful to my support team: my wife and care partner, my daughters (who, as nurses, are learning about PD to help their patients), VA providers, my private doctors, fellow Vets and my support groups.
Many Hands, Many Hearts: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Care at VA
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease in the U.S., and over 110,000 Veterans are receiving integrated PD care at VA. In 2001, VA created six specialized centers known as the Parkinson’s Disease Research, Education & Clinical Centers (PADRECCs) to provide comprehensive patient care for every aspect of this disease’s progression. Depending on the Veteran’s needs, the PADRECCs can make referrals for physical, occupational, and speech therapy, as well as pharmacy, psychiatry, social work and other specialty services to ensure complete therapeutic care.
The PADRECCs also use a multidisciplinary care approach to evaluate patients considering Deep Brain Stimulation Surgery (DBS) to ensure the appropriate patient selection and surgical approach, provide patient education and expectation setting, as well as post-operative treatment planning.
All treatment team providers work together to ensure the patient receives the highest quality care throughout the disease trajectory.
If you are a Veteran with Parkinson’s, care for one, or think you may have Parkinson’s disease, reach out to your VA Primary Care Provider or Neurologist to request a consult at your nearest PADRECC or Consortium Center.
Help Spread Awareness About PD!
April is PD Awareness Month. Please join the Veteran’s Health Administration in celebrating PD Awareness Month and save the date for these upcoming events:
Richmond PADRECC-Technology & Innovation Exhibition (in-person event) Date/Time: April 14th, 2023 | 10 am-12 pm EST
Location: Central Virginia Health Care System-Multipurpose Room
To register, contact: Jessica.Kaplan2@va.gov
Parkinson’s Disease 101
Date/Time: April 20th, 2023, 10 am-12 pm PST | 1 pm-3 pm EST
To register, contact: VHAPHIPADRECCTEAM@DVAGOV.onmicrosoft.com
Additional Resources for Veterans with PD
VA partners with the Parkinson’s Foundation to improve the health, well-being and quality of life for Veterans living with PD. Visit the Parkinson’s Foundation Dedicated Veterans Webpage Veterans & Parkinson's | Parkinson's Foundation for key resources available through the Parkinson’s Foundation and VA to help Veterans and their loved ones live better with PD.
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