March 23, 2022 at 10:34 p.m.
Fundraiser set for couple battling Lyme disease, exposure to mold
Fundraiser set for couple battling Lyme disease, exposure to mold
The parish is hosting a Board Game Buffet fundraiser for Angela and Patrick Russo, two devout Catholics in need of a new home after the couple discovered their current apartment was riddled with toxic mold. Both Angela and Patrick, who were previously diagnosed with chronic Lyme disease, are struggling to respond properly to treatment from living in a toxic environment.
“The hope is to get them out and to a place that's away from the mold so they can get treatment, so they can respond better to them,” said Emily Szelest, friend of the couple and an organizer of the event.
“Angela and Patrick, they’ve been through a lot,” she added. “I think because they’ve been through so much they’re aware when others are going through something. I know Angela tries to reach out and be there for people who might not feel like they have people supporting them, and I think that’s one of the qualities that God shows his reflection through her and her experiences.”
The evening will include board games, like Caton, Monopoly and Clue, an appetizer buffet catered by Cana Any Occasion, gift baskets and a night of fun fellowship. Guests are welcome to attend vigil mass at Sacred Heart Church beforehand.
“We want this to be something that’s not all about us,” Angela said. “This way they get the fellowship and some good food and that they’re thanked even for their attendance with something.”
The Russos have been facing an uphill battle since 2014. It wasn’t long after moving to their new apartment in Schenectady that the couple started to become increasingly sick. A graduate student at the time studying Clinical Social Work at SUNY Albany, Angela spent a lot of time in the house. The more time she spent indoors, the sicker she became.
“I just wish I had understood what was going on,” Angela said. “I was never really well, but the intensity was something I was unfamiliar with.”
Mild sickness was something Angela always struggled with, but this “intensity was something I was unfamiliar with,” she said. She started having trouble, eating, sleeping, and eventually walking, and was plagued with neurological pain, inflammation, and cognitive dysfunction.
Two years and countless doctor visits and tests later, Angela and Patrick were diagnosed with chronic Lyme Disease with over ten other tick-borne diseases. It explained why Angela was always facing mild illness in the past, and even if it couldn’t explain why her symptoms got worse, it was a start.
Angela dropped her master's program to focus full-time on healing. Between oral antibiotics and herbal remedies, most of their treatments are all out-of-pocket costs and average around $20-30,000 a year.
Then things got worse: Patrick started spending time at home after going back for his Master’s in 2016. A few years later COVID-19 hit and Patrick’s job became fully remote, and he too started getting debilitatingly sick, battling constant migraines, vomiting, and fatigue.
The Russo’s went to doctors searching for answers when someone suggested testing their apartment for mold. The couple ordered an ERMI test, which analyzes dust samples for mold. The results came back with four types of toxic mold in the apartment at levels 4-5 times higher than the safe limit.
The fallout of the mold results kept coming: the Russo’s learned that essentially everything in the apartment, from clothes to couches to photos, were contaminated from the mold. They started hunting for a new place to move, how to replace all their furniture all while throwing away priceless pieces of their lives, from wedding photo albums to a bible Patrick has owned since he was a kid. Everything has to be trashed or remediated, Angela said, to avoid contaminating their new place.
Still, despite roadblock after roadblock, the Russo’s are able to keep their heads above water thanks to their faith: “It’s our sanity,” said Angela.
Through it all, both Angela and Patrick sought out ways to help others even during their hardest times. Angela enlisted to become a peer mentor for the Global Lyme Alliance, helping others battling Lyme to feel heard and advocate for themselves to doctors and families. During the pandemic, the couple also started Capital Region Catholic, an online community for fellowship, faith, and connection that they felt was needed during a time of intense isolation, and still continues today.
“When your life gives you no joy from your body or your day-to-day circumstances, the joy that you find comes from bringing the joy of the Lord into the community,” Angela said, “and there’s nothing more satisfying than that.”
After receiving their mold results, the couple started a petition on Change.org to create more comprehensive mold laws that protect tenants in New York, noting that it wasn’t enough “just to get ourselves out,” Angela said. “It’s important to ensure this doesn’t happen to others.”
In 2018, the couple joined a Lyme disease support group at the Stram Center in Delmar where the couple was seeking treatment. One meeting, they met Dylan Schmaling. At the time, Schmaling was 23 years old and just figuring out his new illness. He attended a group meeting with his dad where Schmaling started talking with the Russos.
“I think God intervened there,” Schmaling recalled. “They were helping me out.”
The Russo’s became good friends with Schmaling. They met weekly to cook dinner and play board games. It started off as someone Schmaling could confide in about Lyme, but eventually he started asking questions about God. The Russos helped Schmaling to dive deeper into his faith and eventually commit fully to Christ.
“They’ve made a huge impact on me,” Schmaling said. “Having them and learning more about God, it’s been a huge piece of what’s been able to keep me strong.”
After learning about the mold in their apartment, Schmaling and other friends of the Russos started putting together the board game fundraiser. Angela’s cousin started a GoFundMe for the couple, which has already raised over $10,000 of their $50,000 goal, to cover costs for disposal of contaminated belongings, first and last month rent for a new home, and ongoing out-of-pocket costs for treatment.
Added Angela: “It’s one of those moments when you have to close your eyes to what you’re seeing in your life and let God be your foundation.”
Tickets for the Board Game Buffet fundraiser at $20 at the door. For more information about the fundraiser, contact Sacred Heart Church at (518) 274-1363. For more information about Angela and Patrick’s battle and how to help, visit their Facebook page, “Toxic Mold Rescue for Patrick & Angela Russo,” which includes a link to their GoFundMe.
To sign the petition for more protective laws against mold toxicity, visit change.org and search “Protect NY state Tenants with Comprehensive Mold Laws.”
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