A Stair Lift for Robert the Great

Five years ago on December 16, 2010, Bob and Kasie Hart received some devastating news about their son, Robert. Below is a post from Robert the Great's Facebook page Robert the Great, written by his mother:

Five years ago this day and in the early morning of the 17th our lives were changed forever. Although Robert was the one diagnosed with cancer, it has affected our entire family and every aspect of our lives. Five years ago. FIVE YEARS. My child has been fighting cancer nonstop for 1825 days. I relive the day he was diagnosed over and over in my head like it was yesterday. I know every single second of that day and I remember I basically collapsed as I spoke of his diagnoses for the first time to Robert's teacher (Ashley Rhye).

Then when Robert relapsed, another day I’ll never forget. Let’s just say when the oncologist personally calls you at home, it’s not good news. It's kind of ironic that as I write this we are sitting at the very hospital he was diagnosed. Today happens to be a clinic day for Robert. They are pumping more toxic chemo into his tiny body. Chemo that is decades old and way behind in medical advancements and chemo that carries with it so many side effects that will follow him forever. Today/tomorrow are difficult days. I can't believe it's been five years.

Watching your child go through these horrendous outdated treatments is like nothing I could ever explain, it’s unbearable. I’d give anything to take it from him, I'd give anything to take it from all these kids sitting here today. It has been a hard five years, but we continue to find happiness amongst the struggle. Joy inside the sadness. Laughter on top of the pain. Hope within the devastation. Don't get me wrong we have our moments of awfulness and tears, but we can't live there. We can't stay in that dark place, so we choose to find the good in each day. There’s a song called Hold On Hope and I must tell you the day I heard that song was a very dark day for me. We were actually in the hospital and our sweet friend Lake was in the ICU, I remember reading about this band my cousin is in and thought “hey that’s cool, I’ll take a listen”. I heard this song and fell to a puddle on the floor. I listen to it frequently and share it often. We continue to Hope that Robert will ultimately be healed and cancer free. We don’t get excited about the summer 2016 because we know how quickly things can change. There hasn’t been much good news amongst our Cancer friends and our community has suffered devastating losses this year. Yet we still hold on to HOPE. We hope that Robert will outlive us. We hope that he will walk without pain again. We hope that he will be a father someday. We hope for so many things that are out of our control. All we have is hope, so that’s what we will continue to hold on to. Thank you all for your constant love and prayers. Our God is a good God and we continue to be blessed in so many ways. 

So, you may be wondering, "Why the lift?" Last month, the Hart family got some disappointing news. Robert's knee pain hadn't been getting any better, even with physical therapy. ...At his mom, Kasie's request, the orthopedic doctor did a repeat MRI of his lower body. The results came back that Robert has full blown AVN.
Avascular Necrosis of the Knee.

What is avascular necrosis?

Avascular necrosis, also known as osteonecrosis, is a condition that results when blood flow to the bone is reduced or stopped, resulting in the death of cells in the bone tissue. This can ultimately cause weakening and collapse of the bone. As a result of the collapse, the normal contour of the knee joint may become irregular, leading to further destruction of the joint. The pain and loss of motion from avascular necrosis can be corrected by total knee replacement or partial knee replacement, depending on the extent of bony collapse. In the knee, there are two types of osteonecrosis: spontaneous osteonecrosis of the knee (SPONK) and secondary osteonecrosis.

This has happened due to prolonged use of steroids. An uncommon side effect. The ortho Doctor would like to perform a surgery on his knees to help the healing process but they aren't sure yet if oncology will approve it. But because of the location of his AVN he has been instructed to not bear any weight on his knees except to go to the bathroom for fear of further damage and more extensive surgery. He is now wheelchair bound 100%. This presents many challenges (his bedroom is upstairs for instance). He currently is army crawling up the steps to his bedroom, hince the need for a lift! But they are doing their best to adjust. He will be like this for about a year until his legs can get better and even then will require lots of PT to help strengthen his muscles. While they are happy this isn't something worse (like more cancer) they are unbelievably heartbroken for Robert. Seeing the wheelchair ramp to the front door just takes your breath away. He'd give anything to be a normal kid again and this just set him back. On the plus side, he's pretty happy he no longer has to clean his room or take the trash out.

Any amount you can give would be greatly appreciated! Merry Christmas and God bless!