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Help Rob fight ALL

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Robs story.

Last year was an adventurous year for me. I was finally on the life track I've been working towards and have dreamed about. In the summer I worked in the San Juan Islands in Washington State as a sea kayak tour guide. I got to paddle for a living and see Orca in the wild up close. Once the summer season ended I took off to Iceland to pursue another dream of getting my second photo book published. It's still in the works but I spent 5 weeks backpacking and photographing the northern lights over glaciers and waterfalls. The current volcanic activity didn't allow me to get close enough to get my dream shot of lava glow with the miraculous dancing lights above. I plan on going back for those shots so I can finish the book. Once that segment was over I took off to Hawaii on my second seasonal job as a photographer in Maui. My favorite part of my job was leading photo safari whale watch trips as I got to teach camera skills and humpback whale activity predictions for better action photos. It's a dream job for me. Working seasonal jobs like this would allow me to bounce between two paradises working two amazing jobs that bring me such fulfillment. When the whale and winter season ended in May I was scheduled to head back to Washington to spend the summer kayaking again. I guess its possible to be living life so much that life needs to make you put the brakes on a bit. I started getting sick and had a mysterious cough that I couldn't shake. I made it back to SJI and worked a couple shifts but I didn't feel healthy. My pulse would race to terrifying levels and I couldn't get warm. Sometimes I would sleep on the dock in the sun between shifts. After a dental appointment I ended up getting gingivitis which baffled the dentist. Then I got a slice in the gums behind my molars from a silly potato chip. Over night that cut sent me through the most miserable experience I could imagine. I became feverish and had what felt like death sweats. A massive puss patch formed in the back of my mouth and my jaw locked shut. I thought I was dying. I had no energy. I couldn't talk. I was living in a cabin in the woods at the time and had to hitchhike into town. I went to the dentist and after he looked me over he personally drove me to the ER. I waited 2 hours in a sleepy sweaty puddle on the floor. The ladies kept peering over the counter to make sure I was still breathing. After getting a blood test and prescribed antibiotics the sent me around town to get the medicine. It was about a 2 mile walk. With my fever and in my condition I didn't make it there. I ended up taking about a 30 min rest on a bench and was awaken by a nurse from the hospital. Her shift was over and she was on her way home but she noticed me. The hospital had been trying to get a hold of me for over an hour. My phone had been dead all day. Go me. She drove me back and I was greeted by a crew in gowns, masks, and gloves. The set me in a wheelchair and took me to a filtered air room. The doctor came in to explain my test results, but took my phone to get it charged first saying it was crucial that got done. He said there was a 98% chance I had leukemia. I was relieved and glad that finally I knew what was wrong and I could move forward from there. I threw him off with that reaction but he continued and said that wasn't the worst news. The really bad news was that this infected puss patch was in fact a fungus and it was quickly progressing towards my brain. In a few days I would be dead if I didn't get it immediately taken care of. That's when he said there was a helicopter on the way and in 40 mins they would be here to take me to Seattle. My kayak season was over and it had barely started. I had to tell my boss and friends on the island and we had about 20 mins together before I took the most expensive flight of my life. I landed after a nice sunset flight and was whisked off to the hospital where they pumped all kinds of fluids in me, jabbed me with countless needles, shoot millions of x-rays through me, and put me through test after test after test all night. It was grueling. The next morning they took me to surgery and cut the fungus out, cleaning my gums away right to the bone. (After many cultures and tests it turned out just to be a bacterial infection, not a brain consuming fungi they thought it was.) I began to feel alive again. Alive and happy. Chemo was started on my third day and the eradication of leukemia began. My family lives in Pittsburgh, they flew out to see me there and they pushed for me to be brought back to Pittsburgh, so the first chemo break I had we flew back to PGH and I continue treatment here. Yesterday I got word that I'm in remission, no leukemia left. On to maintenence chemo to keep it away. It's not the kind of adventure I had in mind, it's made me miss two fun seasons of work so far, but it's a different kind of adventure and one I'll be glad I can say I successfully made it through with positivity. Cancer free.

Despite being cancer free Rob has to be admitted into the hospital every other week for treatments. As anyone who has had to stay in a hospital knows the medical bills really start piling up. Our hope is that with help we can get Rob back on his feet and back to publishing his book.


Check if some of Robs photography on Facebook at VicariouslyOwen

Organizer and beneficiary

Stacy Lennox
Organizer
Oakmont, PA
R Owen Palmer
Beneficiary

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