Bad news about Bob Sweet (Sweetsound Electronics Mojo-Vibe)

[cubba65]

Bob Sweet, builder of the Mojo-Vibe (one of the finest Univibe clones ever built) and the owner of Sweetsound Electronics has contracted throat cancer and is currently undergoing treatment fo rit.

The worst part is that he doesn't have health insurance.
Having been either a professional musician and/or gear builder nearly his whole adult life, the cost of health insurance has always been prohibitive.

He has secured some financial assistance, but this leaves an enormous amount that he still has to lay out of pocket.
When you consider the incredibly high costs of cancer treatment,
the part he still has to pay is staggering.
I could not believe how much he still needs to raise.

Bob's an awesome dude, one of the BEST people I've never met! I mean we've spoken many times on the phone, but never met in person. I can tell you that he's a really generous person and extremely intelligent. He's passionate about music and thrives on building super-sturdy and super-cool sounding gear. He really cares about his family and friends, would give you the shirt off his back. Cares about his customers like they're family too and always delivers his finely tuned gear in a speedy and reliable way. Not too many boutique builders can claim this fact.

If you are interested in helping Bob beat the cancer,
the best way to contribute is to send support to Bob directly (via Paypal):

b0bsweet@bellsouth.net

That's right, the "o" in Bob is actually a ZERO and not a capital "o"

Here are a couple of threads about the situation on the Musictoyz forum and The Gear Page:

http://forums.musictoyz.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/8211023064/m/9521023064

http://forums.musictoyz.com/eve/forums/a/frm/f/8211023064

http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=346142

It's amazing how musicians bond together to help one of their own who is in a dire time of need.

Sorry to bring something like this to a gear forum, but it's all one can do to try and help someone who has always done good by the folks in the gear community.

Thank you,
Paul

646-431-7231

[Tav]

Paypalled right now, hope it will help.
Damn health insurances, health care should be FREE for everyone not only for a few that can afford it

[cubba65]

Paypalled right now, hope it will help.
Damn health insurances, health care should be FREE for everyone not only for a few that can afford it

Thousands of miles away in Italy and you still reach out!
That's really kind of you Tav.
Thank you for caring.


I agree with you on health-care, but that's another whole philosophical/political subject here in the US.
We sure do spend a lot on weapons tho'...

[Bob Sweet]

First off, let me say that I have kept a low profile because quite simply I cannot find the words that will relay the extent of my feelings of what the online community is doing for me. From manufacturers, dealers, rock stars, wanna be rocks stars, musicians to non-musicians and just plain old good folks from Norway to Singapore, Japan to Germany and everywhere in between and of course across the United States. My dilemma is….how do I thank so many for so much? Fact is there just aren’t the words.
Nothing can come remotely close to show my appreciation for what you all are doing. From simple prayers and “keep your chin up” notes and emails to donations and auctions, You people are absolutely awe inspiring. I just hope I can become worthy of your kindness and caring.

So here’s where I’m at right now. Tomorrow (Friday) I’ll be doing my 3rd Chemotherapy. I suspect Monday I will start Radiation therapy (39-40 treatments, 5 days a week). Chemo is once a week for about 8 hours. While these guys pull no punches and tell it like it is. I did get this out of my Oncologist, he said he was “cautiously optimistic”.
They have not found any other cancer anywhere else, so that is good. Although the type I have (Squamous cell carcinoma) is known to be a “secondary” type cancer it is on rare occasions the primary. The tumor has reacted positively to the Chemo so far and is in my left front neck.

And YES, I am still shipping and taking orders. I have to, or I’ll go nutz (and broke)! While I may be a little slower than normal everyone WILL get their orders in a timely a fashion as humanly possible. My wife Barbara has taken on a larger roll and has been an absolute angel during this. Without her I could not go through what is ahead of me. I consider myself VERY lucky to have her with me.
So if you don’t mind and after I get a schedule down, I’m eager to get back in as my obnoxious self on the forums.

Thank you SO much for showing your unbelievable kindness toward me, it will NEVER be forgotten.

Sincerely,

[Pacafeliz]

dude! great to hear from you, and even better that it's optimistic news! you'll see that it all will come out fine. you're in our prayers, too.

now i'm finanncially a bit on the low side, but once the baby's born etc. i hope i can gather some $ and get one of those vibes that everyone's talking 'bout.
keep the faith and keep getting better. be strong and rock on!
best wishes from south the border,

Pat.

[Tav]

Bob, when you'll be alright wealthwise I'll hope for a discount on one of your vibes... just kidding
Take care and sure everything will get on the right side.
Cheers from Italy.
Fred

[Bob Sweet]

So much has happened since I last left an update I almost don’t know where to begin. Most know about the back surgery, but most don’t know that after the first one I needed a 2nd one. They gave me what is called “Kyphoplasty”. It’s a procedure where they drill in on each side of the vertebrae and fill it with cement. So the L1 and L2 vertebrae were both fractured and set my treatments off for a month total. All this started back in March, and it was secondary to what got me in the hospital to begin with. I had crashed on my Chemo and my blood just couldn’t handle anymore. So for 10 days they worked on my blood in the hospital. Also last weekend I spent in the hospital because again, the Chemo caused me to crash again. I needed 3 units of blood and a whole bunch of other stuff that I know nothing about.
So as it stands right now, I am finished with my Chemo and Radiation treatments. The doctors are VERY happy with the results of my treatments, as the tumor is almost nonexistent now. They are convinced the cancer is in remission if not gone altogether.
When I see them in a month they’ll know more when they do a PET scan. They may want to do more treatment later, but as of now they are happy.
So hopefully over the next few months or weeks I can regain some of my strength and get myself back to work. I still have a lot of the Chemo in me still and the radiation is still doing it’s thing so I’m still weak, but it should get better everyday. It’s just a slow process that’s all.
As usual I want to thank the online community for the prayers, donations and just plain positive thoughts. Without your help I could not be going through all this.
So from the bottom of my heart a big THANK YOU!

[pckpat]

good for you,bob.after going through all that you definitely deserve some happy news.

[The Pup]

Great news.

[frankencat]

Anybody heard from Bob lately? How's he doing?

[cubba65]

Well the news isn't so good.
While it seems that the cancerous tumor in Bob's neck has been dramatically reduced,
the cancer has now spread to his bones.
Most notably, in his spine.

As some of you know, his back was nearly falling apart all the while he was undergoing chemotherapy.
He had to have at least one back surgery during the cancer ordeal,
just so he could function day-to-day.

Well maybe the cancer was the cause of his back problems all along, I really don't know.

So Bob's still heavy into the chemo, which is wreaking havoc on his health.
He's taking other drugs to somewhat numb the searing pain he feels in his spine.

The only upside is that this type of cancer, while not curable, is something you can potentially live with. It can be handled of sort, and kept in check.
That's a maybe, but it's better than the other option.

So let's all say our prayers, karma, blessings, send cards, support, etc... whatever you can folks, in Bob's direction.

He's still got a long way to go,
please think of him and send your love or caring in some way, shape or form.

He needs all the good vibes he can get!


Thanks so much,
Paul


---------------------

[The Pup]

R.I.P.

http://acapella.harmony-central.com/for ... ?t=2136465