I have a book with all ticket numbers, names and phone numbers of all checks I received. Could you e mail me at
juniorbaiter@yahoo.com. I want to make sure your check was received and your stub went out. Thanks, Jim
Here's a story that ran in today's paper about this little boy and what his family is going through:
Dad's Day Tourney To Help Pay Boy's Medical Bills
Tanner Hrobak
http://tcpalm.com/tcp/news_columnist...765725,00.html
June 11, 2006
The Hrobak family's nightmare began only a few weeks ago. Now it grips their every minute.
In April, Tanner Hrobak (pronounced "roe back"), 8, began vomiting in the mornings. Every day his sickness became progressively more violent.
Eventually, a pediatrician concluded there were neurological reasons for the vomiting. Tanner underwent a CAT scan and three hours later was rushed to Palms West Hospital in Loxahatchee. A pediatric neurologist there confirmed he had a brain tumor.
Three weeks later, surgeons removed the cancerous tumor, a medullablastoma the size of a golf ball, from Tanner's skull. Although doctors said they'd been able to get the whole growth, it had become entangled around his cranial nerves and had caused a stroke-like condition that has left Tanner's right eye turned inward and has "frozen" the right side of his body.
Tanner and Debbie have spent the past 2 1/2 weeks driving from their Port St. Lucie home to St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach. Tanner undergoes intensive radiation and chemotherapy treatments to make sure the cancer is eradicated. His weight has dropped to around 50 pounds and his light brown hair has fallen out.
It's a grueling and horribly expensive regimen that has left Tanner and his family exhausted. Yet Tanner never complains, Bruce says. "He's real positive. He keeps on trying."
While his wife makes the daily trek to St. Mary's, Bruce holds down the fort at his Billy Bones bait-and-tackle store on Port St. Lucie Boulevard.
Bruce bought the business only weeks before Tanner's illness, but in many ways it's been the camaraderie of the fishing community on the Treasure Coast that's helped Bruce keep it together emotionally.
Friends and acquaintances from as far away as Boca Raton have rallied together to plan a fishing tournament and pig roast for Father's Day at Sandsprit Park in Port Salerno. All the money raised will go toward Tanner's medical bills, which are mounting daily.
Even though the surgery was covered by health insurance, the family must still pick up the 20 percent deductible. At up to $3,000 per radiation treatment, and $1,000 for chemotherapy, that soon adds up. Tanner is on his 18th day of radiation out of a monthlong stint.
Tournament organizer Jim Serra of Stuart met Bruce and Tanner through the Treasure Coast Rod Benders fishing club. The club's Internet bulletin board has garnered incredible support for the family, Serra says.
"When we found out about this, we were devastated," Serra said. "Bruce is a guy with a heart of gold. He's always the first to dig into his pocket with a 50 (dollar bill) or a rod and reel if anyone's in trouble. 'Let's start something going,' he'll say."
Tanner is all boy, his dad says. He loves fishing, spending time on the family boat and helping Bruce restore a vintage BOSS 302 Mustang that'll one day be his own.
Serra is "96 percent sure" Tanner will be at the Father's Day bash if he's well enough.
That would be the best Father's Day gift Bruce Hrobak could ever wish for.
Associate Editor Anthony Westbury may be reached at (772) 409-1320 or at
anthony.westbury@scripps.com. Catch his take on local news 9 a.m. Mondays on WIRA 1400 AM.
FINANCIAL HELP
To help pay Tanner's medical bills, visit
www.tcrodbenders.com and click on "Tanner's fund." Contributors can make donations via PayPal.
SOMEONE'S GOING TO THE KEYS FOR A WEEK FOR $20 
