A Pint for a Pint

Robbie was released from hospital observation Thursday 8/8/24. He was anxious and excited to be free again. Robbie was hospitalized and confined to his room for a total of 25 consecutive days. Walking out of the hospital was exciting but once the adrenaline starts to wear off and reality sets in it has become difficult to navigate. Scary, unknown, eerie, and intimidating… Just being a human in general is intimidating, but to be human and to be overly conscious of your compromised immunity (especially after going through the nightmare known as COVID 19), it just feels different.

Besides weekly chemo treatments, constant lab draws, and sometimes hourly vital checks Robbie spent his days in the hospital snacking, streaming movies, and gaming it up! Robbie plsyed Fallout 4 on his Xbox, Mario Kart (racing with anyone who dared), & watched Bob’s Burgers. He also decided to watch the first complete Alien Trilogy because Sigourney Weaver is a bad ass in those films and Robbie has a special place for her in his heart because “There is no Dana. Only Zuul”.

Robbie has been adjusting to being home. He tries to keep up but he needs to be conscious of taking time to rest and try to enjoy being a dad. Our kids are happy to have their dad home. We can tell by the way they interact with him. Tears flow pretty easily these days for us.. the intensity of going through this a lot for anyone to handle .

The first set of lab results Robbie had after he was released from the hospital came back ok. Robbie will be following up with his hematologist oncologist next week to discuss the lab results and most likely set up the next bone marrow biopsy. These frequent labs and the bone marrow biopsy will determine Robbie’s continued course of care. Chemo is possible, but no chemo is also possible. The bone marrow biopsy results will determine if Robbie will require more treatment prior to a bone marrow transplant. His siblings will be tested first to determine if they are match. If they aren’t, we will reach out to see if anyone else would be willing to test to determine if they are a match for the transplant he will eventually need.

Robbie has been humbled by the kindness he’s been receiving from everyone, even strangers, during this time.