ONE YEAR AGO TODAY…
Rob laid in the ICU recovering from spinal fusion surgery after breaking his neck at the C4, C5, and C6 levels the day before. He could move his shoulders and arms slightly and nothing more. Over the last 12 months, Rob has endured more physical and emotional pain then any of us could ever begin to imagine. The battles he overcomes on a daily basis are just too numerous to mention in this post. Thankfully though Rob is a survivor. He has surpassed his doctors’ expectations and is fighting his way back from one of the most debilitating injuries that one can suffer. He was originally told by his treatment team that his chances of walking again were “slim�, but given the steps he took on the parallel bars last Friday; it seems Rob could not have survived this last year without the�he is proving them wrong support of our wonderful family and friends. Thank you all for everything that you have done to support Rob and myself over this last year. Thank you for cleaning our house, shopping for groceries, caring for our animals, doing our laundry, ripping up our carpet and raking our leaves. Thank you for visiting us, leaving messages on the care pages, sending us cards, flowers, letters and packages and answering our tearful phone calls. Thank you for carrying Rob into restaurants he would otherwise be unable to enter. Thank you for raising the funds needed to give Rob a fighting chance at recovery and for supporting our every move. Thank you for your prayers, your thoughts and for believing in us wholeheartedly.

YESTERDAY…
We celebrated Rob’s life by reenacting the events that led to his life altering injury. We boated to the Rusty Rudder, Rob sang “Welcome to Jamrock� with the Island Boyz, we popped some champagne at the site of his accident and laid in the water that changed his life forever. We thanked God for Rob’s survival, for his patience and for his strength. We also begged him for his life back.

TODAY…
We returned to our home where we will spend the next two weeks finalizing our plans to relocate to California for 6 months so that Rob can continue his treatment. We also found out our 4 months of housing has turned into 2…

TOMORROW…
We will continue the fight!

Hello-
Just wanted to let you know that Rob’s HO test (heterotopic ossification) was NEGATIVE!!!! We just found out a few days ago(I think they had the results for awhile but didn’t call us because they were negative and we had so much going on with Project Walk we actually forgot about it). We just returned from attending a wedding (congratulations again Pam and Chris)! Rob tolerated the ride nicely and was able to get in and out of the car without the slide board by doing a standing pivot transfer. He was also able to stand up from the passenger seat by balancing himself on the door in order to take breaks. He even did a couple of squats while standing!!! We are still planning our trip to CA and it looks like we have found housing for 4 months (YIPPIE!) There is still a ton of preparation to do though. Wanted to let everyone know that I have sent out thank you letters for Run for Robbie 2006. Thank you to Erica, Aunt Diane, Nanny and Patti for helping with all the labeling, printing, stuffing, etc. We sent out about 400 letters! Unfortunately, some of letters were returned because of inadequate addresses. I would like to resend the letters but need your help in order to do so as I do not have an alternative contact. SO.....I’m going to list the names of the donors whose letters were returned and if any of you have the correct address please email me at mandyheller@yahoo.com. Please send updated addresses prior to August 30th as once I leave for CA I will no longer have access to my letterhead or printer. Thank you in advance. Here’s the list of address I need:
Mike Hickey, Paul Brinkhaus, Catherine Littlehale, Crystal Collier, Michael and Janette Witschel, Jason and Julie Fusaro, William Snyder, Daniel Parent, Chris Godwin, and Adam Jackson