Go Fund Me

For Robert

Update

Robert’s first appointment is set for May 25th, this is the start to all the testing that will be done before the transplant takes place. All the test are going to take about 2-3 weeks for going back and forth on the ferries. Your donations will greatly help with the ever rising costs of ferry travel and gas to Fred Hutch and we both thank you from the depths of our hearts.

Hello,

As many of you know Robert Ortega, aka the King of Pane, was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma (plasma cancer)at the end of 2022. He was taken to the hospital on December 10th with dibilitating back pain that had caused him to lose consciousness a few times, he would spend 7 days there having many tests done to see why. Doctors found that Robert had 7 vertebrae with multiple compound fractures from his T-6 down to his L-5, the worst having a 70% height loss in the T-12 along with disc dehydration from his lumbar L-2 through L-5 causing more pressure on his spinal cord. Robert started chemotherapy along with immunotherapy right out of the hospital and within a couple of months showed signs of improvement. His oncologist has said that his cancer cell count has gone down which means he can start going in to be tested for a bone marrow transplant (or stem cell transplant), with all the testing and possible hospitalizations it can take 2-3 months of us living in the city because we need to be no more than 30 minutes from the UW hospital in case there are complications. Our insurance will cover the cost of housing if it is available and if its not 1 friend has offered his home to us and another has offered his condo should we need it for any length of time.  

Robert is a window cleaner and has been a labourer of some sort his entire life, also a very active fellow who was constantly riding his bike over driving somewhere if he could. He has not been able to work since mid November, our savings is running out and my income cannot support us the way we need. With Robert being the main bread winner in our family we are finding ourselves needing help with at least some of the medical expenses. With Robert’s pending bone marrow transplant I will be unable to work for for a minimum of one month upward to two months because he will need around the clock care in case of complications. I have my hands full trying to take care of Robert along with all of the household chores while also trying to make sure I don’t overextend myself. If you can find it in your heart, we would greatly appreciate it.