Support Robert's Long Road to Recovery

Dear friends, family, and strangers. My name is Trish. I am the stepdaughter of Robert and daughter of Jaci Ryan. I'm reaching out on this platform to ask for help for my parents as they navigate Robert's difficult and long recovery.

In early November 2024, Robert started feeling weak and unusually tired, and was having trouble breathing. This resulted in a week-long hospital stay with multifocal pneumonia, from which he wasn't able to recover completely before he went into heart failure and was hospitalized again. During this stay, he was diagnosed with MDS, a blood cancer. He received several units of blood and platelets. If that's not scary enough, as we approach December, he continues to decline, getting weaker and still unable to recover completely.

On December 17th, we rushed Robert to the ER for what appeared to be a stroke. It wasn't a stroke! It was a thyroid storm, actually the worst case his endocrinologist has seen in her career. It has been confirmed the thyroid storm was caused by a previous heart medication Robert was on called amiodarone. The thyroid storm was extremely critical and almost shut down his entire body. During this time, he was intubated and sedated to keep his body calm as doctors frantically searched to find balance with his treatment. Every day was critical, taking 2 steps forward and 5 steps back. Every moment, my mom was by his side holding his hand. Even as his eyes rolled to the back of his head, hearing his wife's voice would bring his eyes back. It's nothing short of a miracle that he is still with us and still fighting.

Currently, as of today, 1/6/2024, Robert is still in ICU, now ventilator-dependent due to his diaphragm atrophying. To help wean him from the ventilator, a tracheotomy has been scheduled for later this week. Robert is facing a very long and costly rehab. He needs my mom by his side. They are in this together for better or worse. At this time, they are both still employed; unfortunately, they are both on unpaid leave/FMLA. The GoFundMe donations will help ease the financial burden from medical bills and rehabilitation while also allowing his wife to be by his side. I’d also like to add we know times are rough so if you cannot donate please share!!

Thank you for your help!