Matt Carrillo

Through no fault of his own, my fiancé Matt Carrillo inhaled the spores of certain fungi, that resulted in a diagnosis of Valley Fever in February of 2021. We have no idea where and when the infection occurred.

Unfortunately, Valley Fever quickly progressed into fungal (Cocci) Meningitis, a non-contagious type of meningitis that attacks the central nervous system.

Because of this condition, he had to be confined in ICU for nearly 42 days through the spring of 2021. He was treated and now had to take an anti-fungal medicine for his entire life.

At some point after his initial discharge, the VP shunt inside his head malfunctioned. He had an emergency neurosurgery in Jan of 2022 to fix the problem.

Once again, he became ill when the fungi became resistant to the antibiotic. Matt was rushed by ambulance to the emergency. He was then re-admitted into ICU just days before Thanksgiving of 2022, and was confined for 18 days. He was discharged in December of 2022.

However, on Jan. 25, 2023, he showed symptoms of hydrocephalus. He was rushed to emergency and was admitted once again into ICU. His neurosurgeon saw a mass of scar tissue on the base of his brain that was impeding the flow of his cerebral spinal fluid (CSF), causing hydrocephalus in his brain. The neurosurgeon recently performed a 9-hr major brain surgery to scrape off the scar tissue. He will have another brain surgery in a few days to install a VP shunt inside his head to automatically drain the excess CSF from his brain.

As you can imagine, after four hospitalizations, Matt has missed many days of work, and though he has a good health insurance, his out-of-pocket costs continue to accumulate.

His parents have paid for a majority of his medical bills from his prior hospitalizations. However, Matt’s mom, Elizabeth Carrillo is herself battling stage 4 breast cancer, undergoing chemo and radiation treatments, and is also faced with her own medical expenses. Matt did not want to burden his parents any further, so I decided to set up this fundraiser to help Matt focus on his healing and recovery instead of worrying about his medical bills. He is still in ICU, currently intubated and comfortably sedated, getting ready for his next neurosurgery.

Any amount you donate will be much appreciated by Matt. Thank you in advance for your generous help. God bless you!