Photo By Spc. Samuel Signor | U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Alberto Alvarez prepares to fire an air rifle during shooting...... read more read more
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FALLS CHURCH, Va.- Going to the Warrior Games as a member of Team Army is one final ultimate battle Sgt. 1st Class Alberto Alvarez is looking forward to. “I think it's pretty cool, like a culmination of my career, and I’m thinking, all right, I get to go out with one last big bang and hopefully I'll bring the team some medals!”
Alvarez has seen his share of battles in his 25-year Army career as an infantryman. But one of the biggest battles he is facing and will for the rest of his life is a rare condition called Moyamoya disease.
“Only .01% of the world’s population gets this disease. It all started with headaches I’d been having for years. Then, in late 2022, I started having numbness on my left side. My primary care physician sent me to get an MRI of my brain. That’s how I learned I have this very rare condition.”
This became Alvarez’s new battle. There is no cure for Moyamoya disease, and he needed to know how to combat the disorder that affects his brain's blood vessels, which can cause headaches, seizures, strokes, vision problems, and weakness. “I ended up at the Soldier Recovery Unit begrudgingly as my wife and my Sergeant Major at my other unit decided that it would be in my best interest. I've been at the Fort Carson SRU since April of last year.
Now, Alvarez embraces his recovery care team as he works toward management of this condition. “My nurse case manager, Maria, is phenomenal! If I ever have an issue getting an MRI or other tests, she is on top of it, and usually by the end of the day, the problem is resolved. They hire the best of the best in civilian staff, and I have nothing but very good things to say about them and how supportive they are to me.”
That support includes occupational and physical therapy, along with an introduction to the world of adaptive sports, which Alvarez says makes all the difference in the world. “ I think the adaptive sports are therapeutic and give a Soldier a sense of purpose. You don't know where everybody's at; they could be in a very dark place. Being able to interact with fellow Soldiers, who may have similar injuries or have similar circumstances, I think it’s huge just to be able to talk to your peers and you're doing it in a team-type atmosphere.”
The married father of three will compete for Team Army in air rifle, field, powerlifting, seated volleyball, swimming, and track. “My kids think it's pretty cool; they didn’t even know Warrior Games existed.”
Thankful for the care he is receiving at the SRU, Alvarez is proud of his progress. I'm doing better. I do have some residual effects, like some left side numbness, and my speech will sometimes wander, trying to find words is a little on the difficult side, but I am learning to manage my condition.”
He's training hard to bring home those medals he spoke about, but he says going to the Warrior Games isn’t just about the medals. “I think the camaraderie will be the highlight, and just the fact that you're competing on a higher level. We are all supposed to be the best our service has to offer, and being able to compete against the best of the other services, I think that's pretty cool too.”
| Date Taken: | 05.30.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 06.02.2025 12:52 |
| Story ID: | 499274 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 18 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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