About the People Who Give
In Time of Progress, Patient and Husband Give Back
Roberta (Bobbe) Browning and her husband, Lee Broadbent, recently made the extraordinary decision to include PHA in their estate plan. “We’ve gotten so much help and wanted to give back and try to help others by working toward a cure, or at least better treatments,” said Bobbe. As a result, the last time they revised their trust documents, Bobbe and Lee decided to include PHA as one of their remainder beneficiaries.
In her journey with PH, Bobbe found a strong support network that centers around love and support from her husband, who comes to all of her medical appointments and takes notes and from two support groups in their area. Bobbe says that “the value of the support groups is not only what I get, but what I give. It feels really good to help someone else with where they’re at in the process.”
Bobbe was diagnosed in 2001 with PH secondary to her scleroderma. She and Lee were very scared. They went on the internet and found that the only treatments on the market at that time were Flolan and Remodulin, life extending, but life altering therapies. Not wanting to be on an intravenous therapy, Bobbe enrolled in a Tracleer study, but stopped the drug shortly thereafter when it affected her liver. Unable to get into a Sildenafil study, she was prescribed Viagra off label.
To this day, Bobbe remains on Sildenafil and nighttime oxygen. She is doing well, and is able to exercise several times a week. She had to learn to pace herself, but being retired, she can take a nap when she needs to. Due to her oxygen requirements, she finds international travel difficult, but is still able to visit Hawaii twice per year. She said, “I feel very lucky that I was diagnosed when I was. So much has developed since then, it’s a time of progress.”
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