A first glance at Robyn Speer, a beautiful 16-year-old from Las
Vegas, would never convey the image of a cancer patient.
One month ago, she was completely healthy, excitedly making
plans for her junior prom. But pangs of fever, clammy,
uncontrollably shaking hands and chronic fatigue suddenly struck
her.
Surprisingly, she still made it to her prom on Wednesday, even
though she was in a hospital over 280 miles away.
The prom, which was held at the UCLA Mattel Children’s
Hospital, consisted of family members, friends and hospital
staff.
“This was the first time a prom had been planned for a
patient,” said Denise Matsuyama Lai, a child development
specialist at the UCLA Medical Center.
Plans to bring the prom to the hospital began Friday, after
staff members heard about Robyn’s disappointment over missing
her junior prom.
The special event was organized by Child Life/Child Development
and Social Work, which includes Betty Kim-Liu, Denise Matsuyama Lai
and Rachel Hunt. Plans included a manicurist for Robyn, as well as
a photographer and a DJ at her special prom.
During the surreal event, “A Black Tie Affair,”
Robyn courageously brought herself to her feet and even had the
strength to dance to a few songs. She eventually was overcome by
fatigue and pain from surgery two days before.
The effects of cancer began last month, but Robyn’s
mother, Cynthia Speer, initially encouraged her to continue to go
to school.
Cynthia became concerned when her daughter slept for two
consecutive days. When Robyn went to the hospital in Nevada on
April 14, the doctors identified a mass in her upper abdomen.
Robyn was transferred to the UCLA Medical Center on April 20.
Five days later, an irremovable tumor on Robyn’s liver was
confirmed during exploratory surgery by Dr. Ronald W. Busuttil, the
head of liver transplant in the department of surgery at the UCLA
David Geffen School of Medicine.
Robyn’s hospital room is far from barren. Stuffed animals,
baskets of candy, bouquets of roses, and most importantly, her
family’s presence, create a cheerful atmosphere.
Her parents and siblings are in Los Angeles with her, and she is
expecting more visitors to arrive, including great aunts and
cousins. Her long-distance boyfriend, DJ Gartland, is by her side
to brighten her spirits.
He vividly recounts his initial reaction to the news of his
girlfriend’s cancer: “I was crying and was so upset
that I threw up.” He describes Robyn as, “the greatest
woman in my life.”
He flew in on Wednesday from Colorado courtesy of Angel Flight
West, a volunteer organization which assists patients and their
families in the western United States with free air transportation
services to hospitals.
Other nonprofit organizations have come to Robyn’s aid by
helping her cope with the experience, including the Child
Life/Child Development and Social Work of the UCLA Mattel
Children’s Hospital, which helped make Robyn’s prom
possible.
This program intends to address the social, emotional and
developmental needs of hospitalized children. Additional services
include special-event coordination, such as holiday and birthday
parties and toy giveaways during the holiday season.
Robyn’s strength shines through as she calmly describes
her experience of dealing with hospitalization, coping with the
idea of cancer, and seeing her former roommate, who also had
cancer, die right before her eyes.
Robyn had become very close friends with her hospital roommate,
and was greatly affected by her death.
“I couldn’t even cry because of the pain that it
would cause,” she said.
She cannot laugh or cough either, and for a while, could not eat
anything.
Robyn’s experience has brought her family closer together
and changed her outlook on pain.
She describes the only imaginable pain worse than what she is
experiencing as “ripping off fingernails.”
She has a greater appreciation for life, her family and friends,
and even the small things, like coughing, “I cannot cough
right now because it hurts so much,” she said.
Despite the overwhelming pain caused by incisions in her stomach
muscles and diaphragm, Robyn remains positive and talkative,
keeping a smile on her face.
She is recovering from the exploratory procedure and is waiting
for another operation when a donor liver is available for
transplant.
She finds herself taken aback every time she tells her friends
the news, a common occurrence evident by the incessant ringing of
the hospital phone.
“Can you imagine saying, “˜Guess what, I have
cancer’ to someone? It’s weird,” she said.