On September 11, 2022, our family was hit with unexpected and devasting news. The head of our household, the father to our four girls, was diagnosed with ALL Leukemia, or acute lymphoblastic leukemia. His type of cancer, ALL, is common in children but rare in adults.

Robert had been sick with upper respiratory symptoms for a few weeks before going to the emergency room. He then started to have severe pain in his right hip or upper leg area and pressure in his chest. It had become hard for him to walk, so he stopped driving and attending the twin's activities. It wasn't until that Sunday, I finally had enough of seeing him suffer, that I asked him to get seen immediately. That same evening the ER doctor told him his bloodwork showed blast cells pinpointing leukemia. His symptoms were an indication of that.

They admitted him into the hospital and the next day the doctors already had a plan before we even knew about it. They immediately ordered the bone marrow biopsy and started him on medications. By the end of the week, he had been ambulated to another hospital in their oncology unit where he has since started on chemo and blood transfussions. Rob has finished his first phase called induction chemotherapy. It wiped his good and bad cells out, making him vulnerable to infections and diseases. He was able to briefly return home to relax for a couple weeks and spend time with our family until the next phase.

The next phase is called consolidation chemotherapy which takes approximatly 6-9 months. It consists of aggressive and a different chemotherapy than before and transfussions while being in and out of the hospital.

HIS ONCOLOGIST SAYS THIS IS A 3 YEAR PROCESS WITH ALL THE PHASES. YES, 3 YEARS OF CHEMOTHERAPY!

None of this is easy. It is extremely hard financially on all of our family. Rob is not able to work at this time. The bills are starting to add up. We have reached out to the leukemia and lymphoma society and have been given many links to resources but many of those are not available in our area at this time or funding is closed. We have had to make accomodations for Robs car payment, our electricity and water and many other bills in general that help run our home. I am back to work having exhausted most of my PTO in order to be with him this last month. But I have to continue working to maintain our house as best possible. Our girls require a lot of our time with their activities and a parent has to be there due to one of our twins heart condition. Somehow, I still find a way to be with Rob or the kids. 

Rob and I never imagined we would be having to ask for help on a platform such as this. This is extremely difficult for him as he is normally a private person especially on social media! He worries so much for me and our girls. Rob was doing so well and he loves the company he works for. He was looking forward to football season and watching his beloved Dallas Cowboys play. He couldn't wait to BBQ out back and just sit there with our dog Louis for hours watching football or boxing and guy movies since he has nothing but girls! But he mostly values time with his daughters especially going to church and premier movie nights at the theater taking up almost a whole row! 

Leukemia has stolen all of that from our family. It breaks my heart to see him get tired so easily or hear him say that his body hurts. It kills me to see our girls sad and worried faces. I will continue to help Robert in his battle with leukemia along with so many others rooting for him. Please continue to keep him and our family in your thoughts and prayers.

Thank you for reading this. Any funds received will go towards medical bills, expenses to maintain our home and gas for the constant coming and going to the hospital. Thank you so much, we appreciate your love and support ❤ ♥

♡Christi