Anthony 's Fight

Anthony’s Fight

Kind, positive, honest, and helpful: these are only a few of the words used by Anthony Arghami’s classmates. This Honor Roll student is known as a good friend and always has a positive outlook. Respectful: this word, used by girls his age, says so much about this 10th grade student from Harmony School of Political Science and Communication in Austin Texas.

Anthony is a well-known student within the school. No matter what grade, if you ask students if they know Anthony, the response is always yes. Though our K-12 campus is approximately 1,050 students in size, we are one large family. Our high school has approximately 50 9th graders, 40 10th graders, 30 11th graders and 19 seniors. In other words, this group is very tight-knit. When something happens, it truly affects our entire school. Anthony participates actively within the school community, and often volunteers before and after school. Outstanding athlete who has been on the soccer team since 7th grade, as well as a member of (CRLP), College Readiness and Leadership Program. Anthony is a lively conversationalist, with a large selection of stories and jokes always at the ready for staff and friends.

Life was normal for this 16-year-old; filled with excitement about 10th grade. On August 20, 2015, he had a seizure which sent him to the emergency room. He was sent home to wait for an appointment with the neurologist. Anthony returned to school on August 31, 2015 with a diagnosis of Epilepsy. With strict orders from the Neurologist, things were going well. He was adjusting very well, considering the major life changes with which a teenager often struggles. He had his permit to drive, but this was placed on hold (and we all know how vital that is for our children’s independence). He was also told that a buddy system must be in place at all times. This meant Anthony was not allowed to go anywhere without someone by his side until the doctor thought he was on a therapeutic dose of seizure medication. His life changed, but Anthony continued to smile and maintain an optimistic attitude—he never complained.

On September 15, 2015, his world changed again. Anthony started having additional seizures and was admitted to Dell Children’s Hospital and the doctors started running a variety of tests one of which was a lumbar puncture that was sent to the Mayo Clinic for testing. Two days later the preliminary results came back from the Mayo Clinic. The initial diagnosis of Epilepsy was incorrect. Mayo Clinic confirmed Anthony tested positive for a very rare disease called Anti-NMDA Receptor Encephalitis. This form of Encephalitis was only discovered in 2007 and is fairly unknown to the medical community. Anti-NMDA Receptor Encephalitis is a disease occurring when antibodies produced by the body’s own immune system attack NMDA receptors in the brain. NMDA receptors are proteins that control electrical impulses in the brain. Their functions are critical for judgement, perception of reality, human interaction, the formation and retrieval of memory, and the control of unconscious activities (such as breathing, swallowing, etc), also known as autonomic functions. Anthony has been in the hospital since September 15, 2015, with the majority of that spent in ICU. Anthony will spend at the minimum 4 more weeks in the hospital to continue the last option of treatment available. Doctors are not able to give a release date due to the uncertainty of this disease. It can take years to recover from this. Please help us win this fight. Visit the web site to completely understand this cruel disease that Anthony is fighting. www.antinmdafoundation.org


When you walk in the doors of the HSPS lobby, a bulletin board reads: “When you enter this loving school, consider yourself one of the special members of an extraordinary family.” Anthony’s fight is just beginning. Like any loving family, let’s get in the ring with him and join his fight.
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