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Campbell City Schools community helps staff member with liver disease
CAMPBELL
It’s been a tough 10 months for Robert and Justine Truslow of Lowellville.
The couple knew Robert had liver problems for more than a year, but it wasn’t until January when his liver disease became serious enough for him to cut back on work as a Campbell schools technology administrator.
“He wasn’t able to be upright for long periods of time,” Justine said.
Justine said doctors at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center diagnosed him with complete cirrhosis in May, along with liver cancer. She said the illness came as a shock to family members, as Truslow is not an alcoholic, and the disease does not run in his family.
She said Truslow was put on a waiting list for a liver transplant at the end of July. Answering the phone makes Justine’s heart jump a little, she said.
“Whenever I hear the phone ring, I hope it’s us getting that call from the [UPMC] hospital, saying he can get the liver transplant he needs.”
Waiting through Robert’s illness has taken a toll on his family’s time, energy and money. Justine said the hospital visits the past year, along with an actual transplant, will cost upward of $600,000, which she said is a serious financial burden on the family of four.
“We’ve cut back on a lot already and are burning through our savings,” she said. “We’re down to my income as a fourth-grade teacher at Campbell City Schools since Robert’s benefits from the school ran out in September.”
Jackie Giuriceo, Campbell resident and a cousin of Justine’s, said after hearing about the family’s financial struggles, she decided to plan a spaghetti dinner Nov. 2 at the St. Maron Church Hall in Youngstown to raise money. She said she hopes to raise between $6,000 and $7,000 for the Truslow family from the event.
Many workers in the Campbell school district’s tech department said they plan to come out and support Truslow at the dinner. Chris Nicolaou, a tech aide at the school and senior at Youngstown State University, said he has known Truslow since his freshman year in high school.
“I was pretty close to Robert,” Nicolaou said. “I would call him, and he would come to fix my computers. He’s a vibrant guy who would always help people with things like that, no hesitation.”
Nicolaou said he and several other people in the technology department at Campbell plan to support the Truslow family at the spaghetti dinner.
Giuriceo said many family members and people at the school have helped and supported in planning the spaghetti dinner. She said she hopes to see many from Campbell and the surrounding neighborhoods come to the event.