Help Rockin' Robbie B Walk Again!
Hi, my name is Ashley Burgos-Marroquin and I am going to tell you all about my best friend, my dad, and the last nine months of his new journey. On November 27th, his life and our lives changed drastically. My dad was admitted to Clara Maass Hospital at 2 am with an oxygen level of 40%, normal is 98%. We were told he had COVID-19 and he needed increase oxygen support. He was transferred to the intensive care unit. His condition quickly decline and after five days on 100% oxygen he needed to be placed on a ventilator. They had to put him in a medically induced coma. At this time the COVID virus was completely causing havoc on his body. He went into ARDS (adult respiratory distress syndrome) which is a complete scaring of his lung tissues. His vital organs were not getting the oxygen they needed. Because he had COVID-19, the hospital was not allowing any visitors and it was very difficult to get in contact with the medical professionals to receive any information regarding his prognosis. This was an extremely difficult time for my family. My mom, LuAnn, fought night and day to make sure he received the appropriate care and proper treatment to make sure he would come back home to his family. After she researched all the possible COVID treatments and with the help of my cousins Tara and Dave that work in the medical field, she came to the realization that he needed to be transferred to a hospital that offered experimental COVID treatment and she knew it needed to happen QUICKLY. She had him transferred to Beth Israel in Newark New Jersey. There he was admitted to their intensive COVID unit. He received treatment only offered in a few NJ hospitals. Each day there were small improvements little glimmers of hope but each day also brought us waves of emotion, from fear to sadness to hope! We never gave up! My mother NEVER gave up she tirelessly made phone calls each day to his many providers to get updates on his progress. She learned all the medical jargon and researched things she did not fully understand. Although he remained in a medical induced coma the doctors and nurses were able to determine that he was breathing more on his own and was able to begin weaning off the ventilator. Unfortunately, COVID causes clotting and thickening of a persons blood, because of this my Dad suffered a stroke that affected his left side causing him to lose mobility on that side. The stroke went unnoticed initially because he was sedated. After several days of weaning off of the sedation, he finally woke up! We were able to FaceTime with him and make sure he did not feel alone. 
My dad spent ten weeks in the hospital and was transferred to Kessler Rehabilitation in West Orange on February 5th (his birthday) where he would begin his journey to recovery. He spent 45 days in Kessler where he received Physical Therapy, Speech Therapy and Occupational Therapy daily. 
Eventually, he was able to have one visitor a day at 4pm and that one visitor every single day for 45 days was my mom. She made sure to bring him dinner, something that he would eat, she would shave him, clean him, talk to him, keep him motivated and most of all just physically be there during the most trying times for him mentally and emotionally. He always reminds her that she is the reason he is still with us.On March 31st, he finally came home, after 125 days away from his family. Although life looked very different we could not wait to finally have him home. 
When he came home we got to celebrate Christmas together!
Today, August 21st, my dad is paralyzed on his left side. There is no movement in his left arm YET but we are seeing movement in his left leg which is so motivating and promising! My dad goes to Physical Therapy as an outpatient five days a week and Occupational Therapy as an outpatient two days a week. He is wheelchair bound so he is picked up by Essex County Transportation services to take him to his therapies. He is working so hard in therapy towards recovery and to be able to run around with his new grandson Levi!
This is his new reality, the man that ran his own businesses for 30 years, the man that worked on his cars, the man that would give you the shirt off his back and would help anyone at anytime now needs the help. On behalf of my dad and our family I ask that you help, in any way you can, even if it is not financially just please, say a prayer for him. The power of prayer has gotten us this far, please continue to pray for him. Unfortunately, his life is forever altered and even though he is home he continues to work hard on his recovery. He needs total care with his ADL’s (activities of daily living). We have a good system we each take turns caring for him we get him up ready, make him his meals and keep his spirits up. He will have aides starting in September since my sisters are going back to school and my mom works a full time job. As you can imagine all of these therapies, the outside help, medical bills, rented hospital equipment (wheelchair, hospital bed, ramp, etc.) comes at a steep cost. My hope is that this go fund me can lessen the stress my parents feel everyday. My mom works a full time job, alway puts her family first and will do anything to ensure he has the best care and continues to work on his recovery. Our dream is for him to one day walk again, we believe it will happen, we have to believe. He has come so far. Thank you for reading this, for sharing his story, for praying and for any donation. We appreciate it more than you can imagine. Thank you ♥️
