So much has changed for Bensalem’s Robin Rehr over the past year.
In February 2023, she was diagnosed with Stage 3 colon cancer and, by that summer, was fighting for her life following a pulmonary embolism.
Now, not only is Rehr a survivor, she’s an inspiration.
On March 23, at South Philadelphia’s Live! Casino & Hotel, Rehr shared her story and modeled fashion as part of Get Your Rear in Gear’s annual Runway for a Cure & Booty Ball for Colon Cancer Awareness.
“It was awesome,” Rehr told The Times. “It was a great event. It was nice to be able to share your story with other people who may have never had a colonoscopy or may have never even thought about it. But just to bring awareness, from where I’ve been and from where I am today. It’s been a long journey, and I just don’t want anyone to have to go through this if it can be avoided.”
Get Your Rear in Gear was founded in 2009 by Maria Grasso after both her father and grandfather lost their colon cancer battles. Through its previous annual initiative, a run/walk, and current fashion show, the organization has raised a little over $3 million to date for colon cancer research, in addition to health inequities surrounding race and spreading awareness that the disease is 90 percent curable if caught early enough.
“I was really struggling with my dad’s loss. He was only 67,” said Grasso. “So I decided that I wanted to try and give back. I was looking for something in the tristate area and there really wasn’t much around colon cancer. So I decided to start my own event. It makes me feel like my dad’s life wasn’t in vain.”
At the Booty Ball, which was emceed by 95.7 Ben FM’s Kristen Herrmann and featured dinner, auctions, dessert and dancing, Rehr and five other colon cancer fighters — Denita Renee Wright Watson, Oxford; Ruth Vera Vinals, originally from Barcelona, Spain and now of Philadelphia; Don Brobst, Philadelphia; Willie Gresham, Philadelphia; and Dave Broughton, Blackwood, New Jersey — modeled fashions designed by Live! Casino’s wardrobe manager Susie Benitez, who crafted each piece by hand.
Upon being asked to participate, Rehr was at first hesitant. She now needs a walker to get around, and didn’t want to be an “embarrassment” to anybody. Yet she eventually agreed and is proud of herself for doing so. Rehr hopes her attendance at the ball serves as proof that, even after a diagnosis, life goes on.
“It’s just a new journey that you’re on,” she said. “People heal from this and the journey is just beginning at that point. It’s a different journey, but it’s been a good one.”
Rehr began to fear that something was wrong in October 2022. She always suffered from hemorrhoids, but her body was telling her that this was a bigger problem. In February 2023, she had a colonoscopy (her last one was three years prior), and a tumor was found. An appointment was immediately made at Penn, where the tumor, as well as 37 cancerous lymph nodes, were removed. On April 6, Rehr’s birthday, she had a bowel resection, and in early June, began her first of 12 scheduled chemo treatments, which made her feel extremely sick.
After four rounds of treatment, toward the end of July, Rehr woke up in the middle of the night feeling like she was having a heart attack. Her husband Ernie quickly called 911 and Rehr was transported to the hospital, where it was discovered that she didn’t have a heart attack, but rather a pulmonary embolism. A blood clot had to be removed from her lung, but things didn’t go as planned. During the procedure, Rehr began coughing and spewing blood from her mouth, and the doctors were forced to put her on life support for the next eight days.
“They were doing everything that they could to keep me alive at that point,” she said.
A total of 30 days were spent at the hospital and rehab, with Rehr having some lasting effects, such as a raspy voice due to her vocal chords being paralyzed during intubation.
“I just want to share my story and make sure that nobody goes through this,” she explained. “If you’re aware that blood clots can happen up to a year after surgery, you’re more likely to say, ‘Well, how about a blood thinner? How about this? How about that?’ I was never put on a blood thinner, no fault of my doctors. I was just never a risk until that all happened. They’re not sure if it was the surgery or chemo, but both can cause blood clots.”
Upon surviving this ordeal, Rehr denied more chemo treatments, just in case that was what caused the blood clot. Currently, scans and blood work show that there are no live cancer cells in her body.
Rehr credits her medical team, as well as her faith, for helping her get to where she’s at today.
“I listened to a lot of praise and worship in the hospital. I prayed a lot,” said Rehr, a regular attendee at Christian Life Church. “And I think that’s what kept me out of those really dark times that people go through. Were there rough days? Yeah, there were rough days. Were there days that I was sad? There were days that I was sad. But it didn’t last.”
A truly special moment for Rehr came shortly after her cancer diagnosis, when she and Ernie were in attendance at the K-LOVE Awards, which recognizes Christian music artists annually in Nashville. Thanks to Ernie’s efforts, Rehr met her favorite DJ Lauree and was prayed over by Katy Nichole, artist of one of her favorite songs “I Speak the Name of Jesus Over You.” This experience, said Rehr, in addition to the love and support of her husband and daughter Shannon, helped her get through those four rounds of chemo.
At the Booty Ball, Rehr was honored to share her story with attendees, and also form a close bond with the other models, some of whom are still fighting their colon cancer battles. She considers them her second family.
Though Colon Cancer Awareness Month has come to an end, Rehr shared some words of advice: “It’s so important that people are aware that you don’t have to wait until you’re 45 to get a colonoscopy. If you feel that something’s not right, you need to go and get checked. It could be constipation, it could be hemorrhoids that you think you have, but everything’s different than it was before. It could be constant diarrhea. People have IBS, they have this and that, and they just write it off as that. You can’t blow these things off. You need to get checked.”
Rehr welcomes anybody to reach out to her via Facebook or email at shmom005@comcast.net.
Samantha Bambino can be reached at sbambino@newspapermediagroup.com
