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A
Story of Hope, Courage and Love
Nearly
three years ago Phillip Robey was given less than six months
to live; this tragic prognosis followed surgery for bowel
cancer.
Naturally
this came as a shock for both Phillip and his wife, Roslyn,
who ten years previously had undergone a mastectomy for breast
cancer. Ignoring the advice that all Phillip could do was
to "go home and die", Roslyn, immediately organised
an appointment for him to see her cancer specialist in Sydney.
Instead
of a prognosis of less than six months to live, the specialist
started Phillip on a course of chemotherapy and suggested
that he could anticipate living at least another 18 months.
Since
then, this courageous and determined couple have had to endure
tiring five hour bi-monthly road or train trips to Sydney,
for Phillip’s condition to be monitored. However, for
the past six months, these trips have been increased to every
four weeks for further chemotherapy treatment, which includes
a week in hospital each time.
Unfortunately,
Phillip found the journey almost unbearable, as he feels just
about every bump in the road and, on top of that, on the return
journey he is also experiencing very unpleasant side effects
from the treatment itself.
"I
had started to dread the next trip but then we heard about
Angel Flight from the wife of another man at the hospital
who was also having chemotherapy." Phillip said.
Roslyn
too has been longing for some relief from the stress of the
long drive to Sydney.
"Coming
home has always been the worst as Phillip is usually in quite
a bad way and we have a very old car which doesn't help his
condition," she said.
"When
driving, I do my best to drive on the part of the road that
has the least number of bumps in it, and that’s not always
easy to do on the Hume Highway. But, we’ve been fighting
this together, and if you’re a fighter you can go a long
way and Angel Flight is helping us to keep on fighting."
"It
made an enormous difference to both of us and I am absolutely
amazed how they were able and willing to organise all of this
for me, it’s terrific. Way back in 1976 I actually started
a flying course but was unable to complete it. It was then
that I developed a real love for being up there in the clouds.
That was the last time I flew in a light aircraft, so Angel
flights are a real treat for me."
This
story appearing in the
Cootamundra
Herald 03/11/04.
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