Donation protected
Robert and Maggie Parrish are the most sweet and genuine people we have ever met and they have two adorable dogs named Patches and Benji! While we’ve only known them for a couple of months, we feel like we have been friends forever. What amazes us is that after meeting and talking to many residents in our building, every single person seems to know the Parrish's and have nothing but the utmost love and respect for them. Despite everything they are going through, they still arranged a socially distanced Halloween trail for the families in the complex. They also have plans to create a Christmas decorating contest even though Robert will be in the hospital the entire month of December to receive a stem cell transplant. They constantly try to spread joy for others and now they need our help.
It breaks our heart to share that two members of their household have cancer. In August of last year, Maggie had to have surgery to repair a torn gluteus minimus tendon in hopes of allowing her to walk pain free so she could continue to work. Then in March, just two days after shelter in place, Robert was admitted to the hospital where they discovered he has stage 4 PTLD Hodgkin's Lymphoma. This happened to be the same week that Maggie was getting her second surgery as she re-tore her repaired tendon due to a broken crutch. Naturally, they both have had to be off work -- Maggie (who works full time as a nurse for premature babies at Stanford Children's Hospital) with reduced income for a year while she recovered and Robert who only worked for 6 weeks until he was diagnosed with cancer. Over the past couple of months, Robert has had multiple admissions and complications. To make matters even worse, last week they found out that their dog Patches has cancer as well.
Unfortunately, this is merely another step in this family's difficult journey that began two weeks before they got married 11 years ago when they found out Robert would need a kidney transplant. Since that time, he has only been occasionally able to work. As one can imagine, this is taking an emotional and financial toll on the family. In all these years, the family has never asked for financial support, but it is all getting to be too much.
Please support this precious family by donating or sharing this page. These funds will help ease the burden of the medical expenses from all the treatments that both Robert and Patches have already had and will have to undergo in the foreseeable future. On top of all of this, due to COVID, Maggie's family from Canada is unable to come provide support, and since only one visitor is allowed at the hospital for the duration of the stay, Maggie is being pulled in all directions between work, visiting Robert, and caring for the dogs.
Maggie has shared their story of hardships over the last couple of years. Read below for the full story but be prepared as the struggle has been lengthy and unimaginable. No couple should have to experience the series of events they have had to:
In 2009, just two weeks before their marriage, Robert and Maggie were informed that Robert was suffering from kidney failure and would need a kidney transplant. It would take four years until he finally got the transplant he needed in 2013. Three months later, he developed an autoimmune disorder called ITP due to the transplant. His body was attacking his platelets making his blood unable to clot. The procedures to fix this eventually ended up leading to a diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes (he needed insulin), pneumonitis (which required home oxygen) and eventually needing his spleen removed. Ten days after his spleen was removed he was admitted to the hospital as his body had clotted off his hepatic, mesenteric, and splenic veins - he had no blood flow to his abdomen. At this point, the doctors asked Maggie if she would like to sign a DNR because they were concerned he was going to die. Maggie and Robert were not ready to give up. Thankfully, after eleven days in ICU care, he recovered.
Unfortunately, during his hospital stay, they discovered some issues with his airway, and a year later he had to have very complex oral surgery where they shortened his uvula, shaved his palate, and put a screw in his chin to pull his hyoid forward. A few days following this surgery, he went septic and unconscious in the car as Maggie was driving. As anyone could imagine, all of this made it near impossible for Robert to work. He would have issues where his blood pressure would drop and he would pass out. Every single time he would have a fever or an infection, he was admitted to the ER because of his compromised immune system due to the kidney transplant.
Then in August of 2019, Maggie had surgery to repair her torn gluteus minimus tendon. She was only supposed to be off work for three months, but her recovery was complicated by a fall the day of surgery when one of her two crutches broke. After several months of physical therapy, another MRI was taken that showed she had re-torn her repaired tendon and tore her previously normal medius tendon. Due to the immobility, Maggie also developed a rare abdominal obstruction called intussusception that required emergency abdominal surgery. Maggie ended up off work for a year with limited income. Robert started working briefly in mid-January 2020 but was constantly fatigued. He finally was able to see his doctor in March and two days after shelter in place he was admitted and began two weeks of testing.
It was during this hospital stay that they discovered he has stage 4 PTLD Hodgkin's Lymphoma, a rare complication that can develop in people who are taking treatment to dampen their immune system after an organ transplant. Because his cancer is so rare, the treatment was not immediately clear. It took his doctors time to consult other specialists in the field and he began chemotherapy treatment a month later. This just happened to be the same week Maggie had her second surgery to repair her tendons. She had to begin six weeks of bedrest while Robert began chemo. Robert has no family and Maggie's family all live in Canada, so due to COVID, no family was able to come and help. Unfortunately, Robert did not respond to the first type of chemo, so they had to start him on a more aggressive treatment plan. He was supposed to do four cycles but after each cycle his symptoms got worse and worse. After the third cycle, his kidney was failing, and he was so sick that the doctor said if they gave him more of that chemo it would kill him. The plan then was to give him a mild chemo to keep the cancer cells from growing until they could do a stem cell transplant on December 1st.
In September, Maggie went back to work, but unfortunately, over the course of September and October Robert had multiple admissions and complications. They initially thought his kidney function would recover since they were not giving him any more of that chemo, but it did not recover. They did a kidney biopsy last week which showed that he is not rejecting the kidney but that 60% of his kidney tubules are damaged and he is now in kidney failure again. Over the last couple weeks he has been having fevers. They initially thought it was a reaction to the chemo as they could not find a cause, but they are now concerned that he has something called CMV Colitis. He has also been having a lot of pain to his lower body. He is currently admitted because they do not know why he is having fevers and why he has so much pain.
The fight is nowhere near over because when Robert can finally stop having fevers and other issues, he will be admitted for a full month to receive a stem cell transplant. During the transplant, Robert will get more of the really bad chemo that almost killed him, and there is a strong possibility that he will lose all his kidney function and end up on dialysis for the rest of his life. Then once he makes it through the transplant, he will need radiation and chemotherapy for another year.
The expenses have added up over the years and between the unpaid medical expenses (for example, Robert’s one medication to decrease his calcium after he was first diagnosed was not covered by insurance and cost almost $700), the veterinary bills for Patches’ cancer, Maggie being off for a year, and Robert being unable to work, the medical bills have been accumulating. So they need all the help they can get.
Please help them and show them the love, kindness and generosity they so desperately need and give so freely. It is hard to imagine that they would be unable to treat their dog Patches, who is such a wonderful emotional support, merely because they cannot afford to do the surgery (which would cure him). These funds will help ease the burden of the medical expenses from all the treatments that both Robert and Patches have already had and will have to undergo in the near future.
It breaks our heart to share that two members of their household have cancer. In August of last year, Maggie had to have surgery to repair a torn gluteus minimus tendon in hopes of allowing her to walk pain free so she could continue to work. Then in March, just two days after shelter in place, Robert was admitted to the hospital where they discovered he has stage 4 PTLD Hodgkin's Lymphoma. This happened to be the same week that Maggie was getting her second surgery as she re-tore her repaired tendon due to a broken crutch. Naturally, they both have had to be off work -- Maggie (who works full time as a nurse for premature babies at Stanford Children's Hospital) with reduced income for a year while she recovered and Robert who only worked for 6 weeks until he was diagnosed with cancer. Over the past couple of months, Robert has had multiple admissions and complications. To make matters even worse, last week they found out that their dog Patches has cancer as well.
Unfortunately, this is merely another step in this family's difficult journey that began two weeks before they got married 11 years ago when they found out Robert would need a kidney transplant. Since that time, he has only been occasionally able to work. As one can imagine, this is taking an emotional and financial toll on the family. In all these years, the family has never asked for financial support, but it is all getting to be too much.
Please support this precious family by donating or sharing this page. These funds will help ease the burden of the medical expenses from all the treatments that both Robert and Patches have already had and will have to undergo in the foreseeable future. On top of all of this, due to COVID, Maggie's family from Canada is unable to come provide support, and since only one visitor is allowed at the hospital for the duration of the stay, Maggie is being pulled in all directions between work, visiting Robert, and caring for the dogs.
Maggie has shared their story of hardships over the last couple of years. Read below for the full story but be prepared as the struggle has been lengthy and unimaginable. No couple should have to experience the series of events they have had to:
In 2009, just two weeks before their marriage, Robert and Maggie were informed that Robert was suffering from kidney failure and would need a kidney transplant. It would take four years until he finally got the transplant he needed in 2013. Three months later, he developed an autoimmune disorder called ITP due to the transplant. His body was attacking his platelets making his blood unable to clot. The procedures to fix this eventually ended up leading to a diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes (he needed insulin), pneumonitis (which required home oxygen) and eventually needing his spleen removed. Ten days after his spleen was removed he was admitted to the hospital as his body had clotted off his hepatic, mesenteric, and splenic veins - he had no blood flow to his abdomen. At this point, the doctors asked Maggie if she would like to sign a DNR because they were concerned he was going to die. Maggie and Robert were not ready to give up. Thankfully, after eleven days in ICU care, he recovered.
Unfortunately, during his hospital stay, they discovered some issues with his airway, and a year later he had to have very complex oral surgery where they shortened his uvula, shaved his palate, and put a screw in his chin to pull his hyoid forward. A few days following this surgery, he went septic and unconscious in the car as Maggie was driving. As anyone could imagine, all of this made it near impossible for Robert to work. He would have issues where his blood pressure would drop and he would pass out. Every single time he would have a fever or an infection, he was admitted to the ER because of his compromised immune system due to the kidney transplant.
Then in August of 2019, Maggie had surgery to repair her torn gluteus minimus tendon. She was only supposed to be off work for three months, but her recovery was complicated by a fall the day of surgery when one of her two crutches broke. After several months of physical therapy, another MRI was taken that showed she had re-torn her repaired tendon and tore her previously normal medius tendon. Due to the immobility, Maggie also developed a rare abdominal obstruction called intussusception that required emergency abdominal surgery. Maggie ended up off work for a year with limited income. Robert started working briefly in mid-January 2020 but was constantly fatigued. He finally was able to see his doctor in March and two days after shelter in place he was admitted and began two weeks of testing.
It was during this hospital stay that they discovered he has stage 4 PTLD Hodgkin's Lymphoma, a rare complication that can develop in people who are taking treatment to dampen their immune system after an organ transplant. Because his cancer is so rare, the treatment was not immediately clear. It took his doctors time to consult other specialists in the field and he began chemotherapy treatment a month later. This just happened to be the same week Maggie had her second surgery to repair her tendons. She had to begin six weeks of bedrest while Robert began chemo. Robert has no family and Maggie's family all live in Canada, so due to COVID, no family was able to come and help. Unfortunately, Robert did not respond to the first type of chemo, so they had to start him on a more aggressive treatment plan. He was supposed to do four cycles but after each cycle his symptoms got worse and worse. After the third cycle, his kidney was failing, and he was so sick that the doctor said if they gave him more of that chemo it would kill him. The plan then was to give him a mild chemo to keep the cancer cells from growing until they could do a stem cell transplant on December 1st.
In September, Maggie went back to work, but unfortunately, over the course of September and October Robert had multiple admissions and complications. They initially thought his kidney function would recover since they were not giving him any more of that chemo, but it did not recover. They did a kidney biopsy last week which showed that he is not rejecting the kidney but that 60% of his kidney tubules are damaged and he is now in kidney failure again. Over the last couple weeks he has been having fevers. They initially thought it was a reaction to the chemo as they could not find a cause, but they are now concerned that he has something called CMV Colitis. He has also been having a lot of pain to his lower body. He is currently admitted because they do not know why he is having fevers and why he has so much pain.
The fight is nowhere near over because when Robert can finally stop having fevers and other issues, he will be admitted for a full month to receive a stem cell transplant. During the transplant, Robert will get more of the really bad chemo that almost killed him, and there is a strong possibility that he will lose all his kidney function and end up on dialysis for the rest of his life. Then once he makes it through the transplant, he will need radiation and chemotherapy for another year.
The expenses have added up over the years and between the unpaid medical expenses (for example, Robert’s one medication to decrease his calcium after he was first diagnosed was not covered by insurance and cost almost $700), the veterinary bills for Patches’ cancer, Maggie being off for a year, and Robert being unable to work, the medical bills have been accumulating. So they need all the help they can get.
Please help them and show them the love, kindness and generosity they so desperately need and give so freely. It is hard to imagine that they would be unable to treat their dog Patches, who is such a wonderful emotional support, merely because they cannot afford to do the surgery (which would cure him). These funds will help ease the burden of the medical expenses from all the treatments that both Robert and Patches have already had and will have to undergo in the near future.
Co-organizers (2)
Kirti Chintalapudi
Organizer
San Jose, CA
Maggie Parrish
Beneficiary
Arjun Thakar
Co-organizer