Support Gabe's Journey to Regain Speech

I am honored to be Gabe’s mother. In 1986, my husband and I were thrilled to be expecting our first baby. After a difficult labor, multiple unsuccessful forceps attempts, and ultimately a C-section, it was clear he had endured significant distress. He cried with a high-pitched squeal, had no gag reflex, at one day old, an MRI revealed he had sustained two large subdural hematomas—one so severe it pushed his brain past midline.

In his first month of life, he underwent 4 brain surgeries. It seems his skull was fractured by the forceps at birth and part of the lining of his brain was torn requiring a synthetic dura. At three months old, he had surgery to reconstruct the defects in his skull.

Gabe’s neurosurgeon warned us at that time that seizures could develop, particularly around puberty, and they did. Despite this, Gabe lived life to the fullest—wrestling, snowboarding, traveling, and embracing adventure. He was hardworking, holding multiple jobs, even detailing cars at 5 AM before high school classes.

He built a successful real estate business across multiple states and found the love of his life, marrying on March 22, 2022. Together, they enjoyed traveling and seeking thrilling experiences!

In May 2021, Gabe started having small but concerning symptoms —difficulty brushing his teeth and writing. Initially dismissed as stress by a hospital in Pennsylvania, when in fact he was experiencing symptoms of a TIA. The symptoms eventually subsided, and Gabe got on with his life. Then in January 2023, Gabe starting experiencing periods of dizziness and drops in blood pressure and in October of that year, he was diagnosed with Orthostatic Hypertension. He again suffered a right frontal brain bleed (1cm). Four months later, in February 2024, I received a call no parent should ever get—Gabe was in the hospital with a Hemorrhagic Stroke, we did not know whether he would survive. The stroke involved a massive 7 cm bleed in his left frontal lobe, affecting his speech.

When he finally woke Gabe had aphasia and apraxia, full right sided facial droop along with his right arm being flaccid and weakness in his legs. He spent the month of February 2024 in UoU, while our family frantically tried to learn all we could about how to help him regain his speech, the use of his arms and walk again.

Everyone that knows Gabe knows he is a talker. He can talk to anyone about anything. We often joke he could sell ice to an Eskimo. At this time, Gabe focused on regaining his ability to speak starting with basic sounds like "oh", "ah" and "mmm". He had started over from ground zero teaching his throat, tongue, and lips how to move again. His natural charisma remained—he could relate to anyone, from CEOs to strangers on the street. In September 2024, Gabe began experiencing tonic-clonic seizures, struggling to find a medication that didn’t cause severe side effects.

Then, in October, another brain bleed occurred. Determined to improve his speech, he enrolled in an intensive speech therapy program in Chicago, only to suffer another bleed while there.

We were all ecstatic when an appointment at John Hopkins seemed to be our lucky break-he finally had a diagnosis – RCVS (Reversable Cerebral Vascular Syndrome) AND we had a treatment plan now. Unfortunately, it turned out that this diagnosis was incorrect as he continued with additional microbleeds.

After months of waiting for an appointment, we finally got answers at the Mayo Clinic—Gabe was diagnosed with Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy (CAA), a progressive, incurable disease. We are working on getting Gabe a 2nd opinion. We were able to get him an appointment at Massachusetts General Hospital’s Greenburg Lab, a leading center for CAA research in September of 2025, with the hopes of an earlier date. Meanwhile, he clings to his faith in God and continues his speech therapy. This disease is usually associated with the elderly and Alzheimer’s but is also thought to affect younger people with traumatic brain injuries. Gabe had his initial stroke at age 37, he is now just 38 years old!

Gabe’s life has been turned upside down. Gabe and his wife lost their business and soon their home. His love for fitness is now restricted to light weights and low repetitions—no more adrenaline-fueled adventures. Perhaps most devastating, he was advised against any intimate relations with his wife of 3 years. He is a newlywed!! Although this has been extremely hard for him, he remains focused on regaining his speech. He is currently enrolled in a six-week program in Jacksonville, Florida which starts in March, followed by another in Montana in May.

Financially, things are dire. Insurance covers only two speech therapy sessions per week, and Social Security lost its initial disability application, delaying aid for months.

They have been to seven hospitals—University of Utah, Lakeview, Temple, U of P, Jefferson, Johns Hopkins, and Chicago—each visit adding to their medical debt.

Gabe needs funding for intensive speech therapy to reclaim his voice, his independence, and his future. We are humbly asking for support and your ability to share to help Gabe continue to progress and give back to others as he always has!