Bob's Stem Cell Transplant Journey

We are fundraising for our father, Bob, who has been fighting Cancer for many years. His rare form of blood cancer Polycythemia Vera has progressed into Myelofibrosis, which is cancer of the bone marrow. This prevents his body from forming healthy stem cells. Unfortunately, there is no cure for MF, besides a stem cell transplant (formally called a bone marrow transplant). Bob has been getting a week of chemo every three weeks to help give him quality of life while fighting this battle. His prayers were answered in March when Penn Medicine found a bone marrow donor match through Be The Match. While this stem cell transplant is extremely risky for our father, it is his only shot at beating this and gives him a second chance at a healthy life. Bob wishes to someday be cured so he can continue being a part of his children, and his ultimate pride and joy, his grandchildren, Martin, Mylah, and Ronan's lives.

He will be admitted to Penn Medicine on Thursday, June 30th to begin the process of the transplant. He will receive his donor's cells on July 7th then will return home in mid-August. After the transplant, his new journey of a much different life will begin. He will be social distancing for about a year while his body recovers and accepts the new stem cells. He will be at high risk for infection so his lifestyle will be very different from what he is used to.

We are raising money to help care for our father during his recovery. Once discharged from the hospital, he will need in-home nurse care and assistance keeping his living space disinfected and clean through cleaning services and air purification systems, he will also have co-pays for numerous medications. If you are able, please donate to help ease the financial burden this will cause him. If you aren't able to donate, please consider joining the marrow registry to help save a life like my fathers; You can go to bethematch.org and request your kit.

We appreciate prayers of healing and good health for our father just as much as any financial contributions. THANK YOU from the bottoms of our hearts!

Love, Tina, Robert, Anthony and our families