Family Ties

Robin graduated magna cum laude from high school and is now studying at UH Mānoa; Julie, Robin and Ranger—who was Robin’s bone marrow donor. (photos courtesy Kapi‘olani (photos courtesy Hawai‘i Pacific Health).

Recent high school graduate and cancer survivor Robin Ribac spent most of her teenaged years visiting Kapi‘olani Medical Center for Women & Children as she battled cancer. She admitted in a 2017 interview that when she received her first diagnosis a year earlier, her mind was on other things.

“I was more worried about school and my grades,” was her response. Soon, her days were spent at Kapi‘olani, as she underwent chemotherapy treatments. Then, came the news that her brother, Ranger, was a bone marrow donor match for Robin.

“We were very ecstatic, yet not surprised,” Robin recalls of the moment the family found out about the match. She says mom Julie was certain that Ranger would be a match, “sort of like a ‘mom superpower.’ Overall, we’re just grateful to have found a 100 percent match.”

Leading up to the transplant, Robin had to be isolated in a sterile room for roughly 50 days. “I was only allowed two visitors at a time, I couldn’t have any fresh vegetables or fruits and the biggest rule of them all [was that] I could not leave,” she says.

“Generally, the transplant was no different than another blood transfusion; it was just bigger,” Robin explains.

For mom Julie, the transplant looms large in her memory. “It was such a stressful day having two of them in the hospital at the same time, but the transplant went well,” she recalls. “There were so many things happening that I wasn’t able to be there to see the transplant as I was with Ranger in the recovery room.”

Once the transplant was over, it was back to isolation for Robin. She admits to being bored and lonely but notes that there were some perks. “I was the very first patient to try out this virtual reality system, as well as this new Wii setup that was just donated to the hospital at the time,” she notes. “The room itself was actually a lot bigger than most too, with a beautiful view of the trees in which parrots would fly to when the sun would set and rise.”

Thanks to Ranger being a perfect match for Robin, and the fact that she was doing well in recovery, Robin was allowed to go home earlier than expected. She still had some restrictions—including no chores (“which, honestly, wasn’t that bad,” she says).

Robin notes that two programs helped her cope with her time in treatment. One is the Beads of Courage program that gives the patient a bead for every medical accomplishment they achieve from a poke to test blood to an overnight hospital stay or surgery. “To me, the beads are a reminder of what I have been through, and the hope that I needed to get through such an uncertain time.

The other program is Kapi‘olani Prom. Robin had missed her school dances, so this event lifted her spirits. So much so that she attended again the next year, this time with friends she’d met at the hospital. “For once, I felt ‘normal’ because I related to the people I was with.” The prom is like any other school prom, just in a safer environment for the attendees.

Today, both Robin and Ranger are happy and healthy. Robin, who graduated from high school, planned to attend University of Nevada Reno, but the pandemic postponed that for now. “She will be attending UH for now to study child life and get into a career sort of similar to the playroom at Kapi‘olani,” Julie says. She adds that Ranger is staying active as well. “[He’s] gotten into Kenpo, baseball and keikikane hula.”

“Kapi‘olani is so important to us and the community because all her treatments were done near home,” Julie says. “The nurses there and staff were great ... they became friends.”

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