My brother, Robert is someone who is always there for others, whether it be for family or for friends who are like family or strangers. Now he and his family need not only your prayers for his physical hardship but assistance in the big financial burden that comes with this. So as I celebrate my milestone birthday, there is not a more meaningful gift to me but to ask you to stand with my brother.

Here is his story as told by his wife, Angi Aiello:

On January 10, 2025, Rob went for his annual physical. His doctor sent him for routine labs and made a follow up appointment in a couple of weeks. Later that evening around 8pm, he kept receiving a phone call from a local unknown number. It was the after-hours care clinic asking him which ER was the closest to his home as he needed to get a blood transfusion immediately. His lab results came back, and his hemoglobin (red blood cells) were dangerously low. It was life threatening, and he needed to get to an ER ASAP.

And his medical journey began. He was admitted to the hospital. Nothing was explaining where the bleeding was coming from. After 4 units of blood was transfused and follow-up appointments for a Hematologist and was then scheduled for a Bone Marrow Biopsy.

After what felt like months, the results of the Bone Marrow Biopsy came back. He was diagnosed with Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS) with multi-lineage, a rare form of blood cancer. Basically, his bone marrow is not producing healthy blood cells. Rob is classified as high-risk. Between all 3 of his blood levels (red, white and platelets) being drastically low, he also has a gene mutation (TP53) that does not respond well to conventional treatment. He is very young to have this diagnosis, so his oncologist is pushing aggressively with his treatment plan.

He is currently undergoing chemotherapy in preparation of a Stem Cell/Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT), which he hopes will occur early/late Fall of 2025.