Meet Matt Carrillo, one of our 2023 Crawfish Boil recipients

Meet Matt Carrillo

Through no fault of his own, Matt Carrillo inhaled the spores of certain fungi that resulted in a diagnosis of Valley Fever in February of 2021. He has no idea where and when the infection occurred but he knows his life is now changed forever.

Matt and his fiancée Madison

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

Matt then spent a gruesome 42 days in the ICU intubated and in a light coma during the spring of 2021. During his 4 week stay he also had a ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt put in and now has a lifetime prescription for antifungal medicine to keep him alive.

At some point after his discharge, his shunt inside his head malfunctioned. Matt began acting weird and delirious, his loved ones knew something was wrong. He had an emergency neurosurgery in Jan of 2022 to remove his blocked shunt.

2022 was going to be Matt’s year. He was doing so well until November of 2022 when he became ill and was vomiting non stop. The fungi became resistant to the antibiotics he was taking. Matt was rushed by ambulance to the emergency room. He was then re-admitted into the ICU just days before Thanksgiving of 2022, and stayed for 18 days. During his stay he had multiple doses of antifungals via IV and was either asleep or awake and vomiting during his month stay. He was discharged in December of 2022 just in time for the holidays.

However, about one month later on Jan. 25, 2023, he showed symptoms of hydrocephalus. He was rushed to the emergency room and was admitted once again into the 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. Matt was intubated and sedated yet again. His neurosurgeon performed a 9-hr major brain surgery to scrape off the scar tissue and another to install a VP shunt inside his head to automatically drain the excess CSF from his brain.

After four hospitalizations, Matt has missed many days of work, and though he has good health insurance, his out-of-pocket costs continue to accumulate. Fortunately, 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, which isn’t the first time the family has dealt with cancer. During Matt’s most recent hospitalization, Elizabeth would go to her treatments and then sit with Matt all day in his room. 

Matt’s dad (a cancer survivor himself) is currently the sole provider of the family and Matt’s step in physical therapist until insurance will approve at home physical therapy. Matt is home with his parents recovering slowly but surely. He has a wonderful and newly engaged fiancee, Madison, that supports him while she is earning her Physician’s Assistant degree in Pomona. 

Matt has a long road to a full recovery and we can’t wait to support him every step of the way. We are so excited to announce Matt Carrillo as a recipient for our 6th Annual Crawfish Boil

Matt and his fiancée Madison during his January ‘23 hospital stay