Rob’s Story

Rob was diagnosed April 5, 2017. I was 8 weeks pregnant with our daughter, Alexandra. The tumor was large enough that he was put into treatment immediately. The next 5 months included massive doses of chemotherapy & surgical removal of the mass behind his left knee. Following the birth of Alex, we started 7 weeks of methotrexate. As Rob was in the hospital for nearly 7 weeks straight, I was home doing my best to care for a newborn and 2 year old. We were finally done with treatment in December, just before Christmas.

2018 seemed to be our new start. Rob gained his weight back, his hair and most of his strength. However, once we just got going into our new normal, his 3 month scan in October, showed a small mass in his left lung. Shocked and terrified and after a second opinion, we went a head with the lobectomy just after Thanksgiving. Between the 2nd diagnosis and surgery, Rob started seeing a Homeopathic Oncologist. He adopted a cancer keto diet, only eating raw veggies, clean poultry and organic plant based fats. He lost 45 pounds in 30 days. The surgery was successful, but he suffered a few complications, including a collapsed lung. After the all clear from his surgeon and oncologist, we prayed that this was the end of this awful journey. To ensure we were doing everything we could, we visited MD Anderson in Houston and spoke to a leading Sarcoma Oncologist. He told us we should have done more chemo before surgery and he would hear from us in 6 months. He unfortunately was right.

Six months into 2019, a scan revealed a golf ball sized mass in Rob’s other lung. We started the last approved chemotherapy soon after. This stuff was nasty and caused multiple chemo fevers and hospital visits, however it did not cause the big side effect, hallucinations.. thank god. After each session I would ask him if he was seeing things... like giant spiders on the walls. We always laughed. We cut out the second lung tumor that September. We continued with an oral chemotherapy after surgery for the next 6 months. His hair started coming back, this time dark and curly. He hated it, but we were thankful to have him.

2020 started normal. He went back to work in commercial real estate and I continued to work as I always did. Then COVID hit. Then the stomach aches started. In March at the beginning of quarantine, I took Rob to the ER for severe pain. They identified the pain as pancreatitis, but through the CT found something else, two 5cm tumors in his liver. Osteosarcoma isn’t supposed to go to the guts... it normally stays in bones and travels to the lungs. We’ve lived it and thought we were past it. But the unthinkable happened. At this point there was no other treatment options. We tried Iphosfamide chemo again, but this time he had the hallucinations. His doctor stopped that treatment. We got him signed up for a clinical trial, but had to wait 30 days to start. I believe in that 30days, with no medicine in his system, the cancer took hold to a point of no return. We started the trial meds in April. His pain was excruciating. He couldn’t eat because of the pancreatitis, but needed nutrition. He was on opioids for the pain, but that caused massive digestive issues. At this point I started to see a change in him and his spirit. We decided to be safe, we should get a family trust established. On May 25th the pain had been so bad, Rob was sweating profusely. With not a ton of nutrients or fluids, he collapsed in my arms.

I called an ambulance. I sat outside the hospital for 3 hours talking to nurses via the phone (I wasn’t allowed in due to COVID). The next day his oncologist called me asking to come up to the hospital. She would call Rob and I. Holding his hand, she told us he was terminal. The tumor had taken over his gut and he was out of treatment options. He had weeks. WEEKS. He and I both held each other and cried. We fought so hard. He did everything he could have. We have babies. It just wasn’t fair. May 27th was Rob’s birthday, he turned 36. He died 22 days later. Before passing he visited his beloved Autzen Stadium, touched the ocean, held his babies and did his best to tell his many friends and loved ones, good-bye. He wrote us letters, we purchased sweet 16 & wedding gifts for the kids. He & I had the really hard conversations and the ones filled with ever-lasting love. Then he was gone, finally rid of that horrible pain. He was at peace.

2020 started normal. He went back to work in commercial real estate and I continued to work as I always did. Then COVID hit. Then the stomach aches started. In March at the beginning of quarantine, I took Rob to the ER for severe pain. They identified the pain as pancreatitis, but through the CT found something else - 2 5cm tumors in his liver. Osteosarcoma isn’t supposed to go to the guts... it normally stays in bones and travels to the lungs. We’ve lived it and thought we were past it. But the unthinkable happened. At this point there was no other treatment options. We tried Iphosfamide chemo again, but this time he had the hallucinations. His doctor stopped that treatment. We got him signed up for a clinical trial, but had to wait 30 days to start. I believe in that 30days, with no medicine in his system, the cancer took hold to a point of no return. We started the trial meds in April. His pain was excruciating. He couldn’t eat because of the pancreatitis, but needed nutrition. He was on opioids (which he hated) that did little for the pain, but caused massive digestive issues. At this point I started to see a change in him and his spirit. We decided to be safe, we should get a family trust established. On May 25th the pain had been so bad, Rob was sweating profusely. With not a ton of nutrients or fluids, he collapsed in my arms.

Rob was no average person. He was one of the best people I ever met. He was a wonderful son, brother, husband, father & friend. He loved whole-heartedly. He truly wanted the best for people. He wasn’t afraid of a new challenge or hard work, in fact he welcomed it. When he was terminal I promised I would keep his memory alive - with his kids & the world. He has a memorial bench at his beloved University of Oregon, Autzen stadium. And I started a foundation in his name. Join me in honoring Rob, fighting this disease and helping all those fighting, have a Good Day.