Robert Henry Foster
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Both hands were numb when he woke up one morning. His diagnosis turned out to be very rare.
Robert Henry Foster was born April 14, 1943 in Pasadena, California. He moved to Longview in 1990 where he worked for Longview R.V. where he met his wife Janice whom he married in 1991.
No moss grew under Foster’s feet until his marriage as from age 11 to age 21 he did yardwork, magazine sales, Safeway box boy, McGoo’s Pizza, In-N-Out Burger, and six different shoe stores. Thankfully his good wife was able to rein him in a little.
In 2007 Foster woke up with numb hands. Eight days later he was paralyzed from the waist down and had a difficult time eating. For 10 days the medical profession tried to find what was wrong. Finally it was found that he had contracted two very serious diseases which put him in critical condition. It’s rare to have to battle West Nile Virus and Guillain-Barre’. The latter is an autoimmune disease that attacks the peripheral nervous system. The former disease affects the central nervous system. The health department interviewed him because of the rarity.
His physician gave Foster a shot that cost $65,000 besides his six weeks of rehabilitation. They had no insurance at the time to cover either, so both were written off.
Following rehabilitation he still had to use a walker and to this day, he can’t smile due to the long term effects of nerve damage from the Guillain-Barre’.
The second time Foster flirted with death happed in 2013 at Fort Stevens. He had a difficult time breathing. Taken to Providence Hospital they found he was suffering from CHF and A-fib. After surviving that, his pituitary gland quit working and his legs lost their function. His doctor sent him to a specialist who gave him Cortisol which the body naturally produces in the pituitary gland. The specialist said he would likely have died in one to three days.
“The Lord met me at Vacation Bible School when I was five years old, and I made a total commitment in 1970.” From 1970 to 1984 Foster was a youth counselor at a group home in Orange County, California. He also did a radio show in Santa Maria, California from 1980 to 1983. He and his wife Janice have been very involved in their church for the whole of their married life and they work together delivering Nickel newspapers. He also volunteers at the Winlock Senior Center.
Since Foster’s marriage in July of 1991 he has become a Father, grandfather and learned to ride a horse in less than 15 months. Up until that time he was single for 48 years and says with a smile in his voice, “the only reason I got married is that I caught my wife Janice in a weak moment.”
When one looks at Fosters way of life after having survived many of life’s trials and tests, one can be reminded of the old saying; “You can become one of God’s gems ... if you can stand the polishing.”
