Kevin Matthews Diagnosed With Multiple Sclerosis

By Karl Klockars in News on Dec 8, 2008 8:10PM

Even though he calls Grand Rapids and WLAV his professional home now, Kevin Matthews is still a Chicago guy at heart. So the remaining Kevheads in the audience (of which we know there are some, based on when we've posted on him in the past) will be saddened to hear he's been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, the auto-immune disease which causes nerve cells to degrade and basically stop communicating with each other effectively.

From the Grand Rapids Press:

Matthews, 52, returned to the airwaves this morning after taking time off the past two weeks to undergo tests in Chicago for "muscle aches and difficulties" experienced the past several weeks, according to a statement from his longtime friend and spokeswoman Ginny Seyferth.

"I dodged a huge atom bomb," Matthews insisted while revealing the diagnosis on the air this morning. He said doctors determined it wasn't a brain tumor but MS. "It happens. It's the card you're dealt with. I can live with this."

Seyferth noted Matthews "has worked with several physicians but is now linked up with Rush (University Medical Center) in Chicago. Through an MRI and a number of spinal and other scan tests, the physicians found a small mass about the size of a quarter in the area near the brain and some scarring, also called lesions. This is what moved them to processing the tests toward an MS diagnosis."

No word on whether Jim Shorts will also be affected by the disease. Devon, the Brother from another Planet, is believed immune.