Stricken with cancer, family holds book sale to pay bills

The only thing that could pull Craig and Robin Battrick away from their Corvallis home of 30 years was the dream of a quiet Midwest farm, a few cows and an orchard. When Robin retired from Hewlett-Packard, and Craig received a layoff notice from HP shortly afterward, they decided it was finally time to pursue that dream.

The Battricks' three children, Joseph, Christopher and Samantha, were all grown, so in 2006 the two high-school sweethearts pulled up roots and traded their 10 acres on Highway 99W for 50 acres in Coffey, Mo., about two hours from Kansas City.

"Robin is a country girl," Craig said. "She wanted the elbow room."

Craig got a job at Sprint-Nextel in Kansas City, and maintained an apartment during the week for work, while Robin lived on the farm. Their dreams were going according to plan, until Craig noticed something odd about Robin one day while they were shopping for building supplies at Home Depot.

Robin appeared to be weaving down the aisle, and her speech was a little slurred. When Craig asked her if she was feeling all right, she admitted that she'd been having trouble writing. Her symptoms sounded just like a former co-worker's had been when she'd had a stroke, but since it was the beginning of the weekend, they decided to put off a trip to the doctor until Monday.

But Craig and Robin's daughter-in-law, Ariel Battrick, is a nurse in Corvallis, and when she heard about Robin's symptoms, she demanded that they take Robin into an ER immediately. So Craig and Robin ended up in St. Joseph's Medical Center, where a battery of tests turned up four lesions in Robin's brain.

The next day, a craniotomy and removal of one of the objects revealed that Robin had melanoma tumors in her brain. Robin had previously had two normal-looking moles frozen off, and doctors now believe that although they hadn't looked cancerous, they likely contained melanoma cells which entered her body and spread.

Melanoma can travel through the blood and lymphatic systems, where it settles on soft tissue interfaces such as the lungs and brain. In Robin's case, the first to appear and cause issues were brain tumors, but that was only the beginning.

A pea-sized tumor in her pelvic region ballooned to the size of a softball in four weeks, causing her intense pain; the tumor had to be removed. Two tiny tumors on her occipital lobe are causing partial sight loss, but removing them would do even more damage. And now, "Little tumors are

appearing all over the

place," Craig said.

There is little to no chance that chemotherapy will extend her life by more than a month, and doctors say it would significantly decrease her quality of life. And at the rate the tumors are appearing, doctors expect that within the next three months, a "serious event" such as a stroke or pulmonary embolism, will end her life.

"When the doctor gave us that diagnosis, it made sense to go back to the farm and stay together as long as possible," Craig said.

The Battricks are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, something which has sustained Craig and Robin throughout these difficult nine months since her first diagnosis. Because LDS doctrine emphasizes eternal life and families staying together forever, Robin and Craig believe their temple marriage will extend far beyond their mortal lives.

"We're still husband and wife, and we will be together again," Craig said. "That kind of knowledge keeps us going."

He's decided to use the Family Medical Leave Act to take the next three months off work and stay with Robin until the end. But as Robin's medical care has eaten up their savings, and he will receive no income during the next three months, Craig has been trying to find a way to make the situation financially viable.

Back in the early 1990s in Corvallis, Craig had a small publishing business, and after the project fizzled, he found himself lugging thousands of unsold books around with him.

"I wasn't as good a marketer as I was a book publisher," he said. But with all these unsold volumes piled up, he thought that perhaps they might be the answer to some prayers.

Three titles are available for sale. The first is a Jan Roberts-Dominguez recipe book called "Sandwich Cuisine Oregon Style," which features one of her early watercolors on the cover. It sells for $20, including shipping.

The second is "Pearl S. Buck, Good Earth Mother," the hardback official biography. It contains the most extensive catalog of Buck's writing ever printed. It retails at $18.95.

The third is a relatively little-known book called "Dreamer in Five Lands," by OSU professor Faith Norris, which tells the story of her mother, Joan Grigsby, the first woman to translate 11th century Korean love poetry into English. Craig is willing to pair it with the Buck book for a total price of $29.95.

If Craig can sell these books, he can comfortably afford to take care of Robin for as long as she's here. Any money that's left over, Craig will put into a nonprofit, "Sharing, Inc.," that he created in Corvallis to help out an author with cerebral palsy.

Craig has already received a lot of responses to e-mails he's sent to friends and family around the country. He's also received interest from many strangers, something he feels is a response to the prayers that communities of faith have been sending out for the family.

"We don't have the words to express our gratitude," he said, "but if 'thank you' is enough, I want them to know I appreciate it."

AT A GLANCE

To purchase books from Craig Battrick, contact Craig at cjbattrick@gmail.com for an order form. The books are still in Oregon, and Craig's son Joseph, who lives in Albany, will ship out the books when he receives orders.