Medical Expenses For John Caligaris

Hi, my name is Lisa Gregory and I am Johns girlfriend, John and I met 11 years ago, we started off as friends. As time went by we realized we were attracted to each other and our friendship grew to a relationship. John has two kids: Tony who is 28, Management Partner of New York Life Insurance in Southern Colorado and Kelsey, 25, who is currently in school for an Occupational Therapy Degree. Both Tony and Kelsey love their Dad . John has two older brothers; Bob and Fred. Fred, his wife Janie and two kids, Natalie and Vinnie, also love their Uncle Johnny. I have two kids, Jeff and Tiffany who love and respect him very much, and three grandkids who call him Pa Pa John. John and his brothers own Domenic & Sons Paint and Body Shop here in Pueblo since 1974 and all three have contributed to this community in many ways! They continue to support and donate to various projects and programs at the East High School Campus including material and labor to restore the Cannon trailer, reader board signs for events, painting the field tractor for the baseball and softball fields, as well as the Cannon for East football and the Bell for Centennial football, just to name a few.  John is an East High School graduate of class of 1977. He has served as a member of the East High Alumni Foundation Board of Directors for a decade and has been Board Treasurer since 2003, until resigning just this year due to his medical condition. In this role he developed and implemented the East High School Athletic Hall of Fame, in 2006, serving as chairman. He helped raise funds to build the Alumni Heritage Hall and helped raised funds to purchase new uniforms for the football team.   John was inducted into the Golden Eagle Hall of Fame for his service in 2012. He has most recently been recognized as a Board Member Emeritus for his dedicated service to the Alumni Foundation. I tell you all this so you will know what a kind, caring, dedicated and hard working man he really is.

     Now John, his family and I need your help! Four years ago John starting losing dexterity in his left hand, which unfortunately, he is left handed. At that time he was told he had Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, he then received surgery to alleviate this and he soon realized this did not help. We were then told his symptoms were a result of something in his spine and next he had surgery on his cervical vertebrae, up near his neck.  Again this did not help, soon after John started having problems with his vision. After three years of many tests, doctor appointments, meetings and wasted much money spent, John has been diagnosed with a very rare and progressive Neurological Disease, called Corticobasal Syndrome. This disease affects his basal ganglia and cerebral cortex. There is also no known cure for this disease. CBD has affected John's daily living to where has no use of his left hand and cannot see anything to his left side, he has trouble with balance and walking on his own, poor coordination and trouble with his speech. This affects his eating, dressing, leisure, and work in his daily life. However, after watching Good Morning America one morning, we heard about Stem Cell Research and its many treatments that have helped many people with rare diseases.  After researching this, we came across an article about a doctor in Florida who is treating a lady that was diagnosed with this same rare disease. This ladies condition is improving and her quality of life has improved as well. I have spoken to her husband twice, as well as this specific doctor. We have had Johns doctor research this doctor and after his research, he feels this doctor is the #1 man in this field.  Since this research is not FDA approved, insurance will not cover the six week treatment that is needed. We are confident that this is our last hope to getting him better. We are hoping to go to Florida in September to start this six week treatment. So we are asking for all of you to give what you can to a man who has given so much in his life. Please help us save Johns life.

One more request, we ask that you kindly share this link anyway you can via, Facebook, Twitter, E-mail and word of mouth, to help us raise the funds needed for this treatment!

We appreciate all of your love, prayers and support during this time! Thank you!