Bob Palmer worked for LCSD, NSCSD
By Ashley M. Casey
Staff Writer
Into his mid-sixties, Bob Palmer was the picture of health. He biked 14 miles a day at Onondaga Lake Park and had run 15 marathons. But during the 2014 holiday season, Bob’s wife, Floris, noticed something was off about her normally hale and hearty husband.
“I really noticed it in retrospect at Christmas and Thanksgiving; he didn’t go back for second helpings, which was very un-Bob-like,” Floris recalled. “He lost 30 pounds and he was thin to begin with.”
In less than a year, Bob Palmer, a beloved school psychologist who worked in the Liverpool and North Syracuse school districts, had died from a rare blood disorder called amyloidosis.
Now, Bob’s family is honoring him with a race at his favorite place to raise money through the Amyloidosis Foundation. “Fit to Be Tied” — the name is a nod to Bob’s penchant for bold neckwear — takes place May 22 at Onondaga Lake Park.
The diagnosis
In late April 2015, Bob consulted his doctor about the mysterious weight loss. He was referred to a nephrologist, who warned the Palmers, “There’s some funny protein in your urine and your blood work — but I don’t want you to look it up online.”
More tests confirmed that Bob had light chain amyloidosis (AL), the most common form of the rare blood disorder. The plasma cells in an amyloidosis sufferer’s bone marrow produce abnormal antibodies that fold themselves incorrectly and build up along the nerves, organs and tissues.
Biopsies showed that these proteins had built up in Bob’s kidneys and bone marrow. In July of last year, the Palmers embarked on a trip to Boston, home of their son Kevin and of one of the country’s premier amyloidosis treatment centers at Boston University School of Medicine.
“They said he was a really good candidate for the type of treatment that works against amyloidosis,” Floris said. “He accepted everything with incredible grace. Every indignity, he’d say [to the doctor], ‘Well, what’s the game plan, Coach?’”
At Boston Medical Center, doctors were impressed with Bob’s overall fitness and his low blood pressure. He underwent a stem cell transplant and chemotherapy.
Between treatments, he and Floris stayed at the AstraZeneca Hope Lodge Center. Hope Lodge normally houses out-of-town cancer patients and their families, but the Amyloidosis Center and Boston Medical Center have an agreement with the lodge for their own patients to stay there.
While he suffered terrible neuropathy, Bob strove to maintain his daily biking regimen.
“It was the only time I could keep up with him,” Floris said.
His daughter, Megan Luton, knitted him a cap in Syracuse University’s orange and blue to keep warm after the chemo caused his hair to fall out.
“He was a big Orange fan,” Floris said.
Floris remembers Bob as a wonderful husband, father, grandfather and friend.
“He was a very giving person. If you said you had a problem, he’d give everything to try to fix it,” she said.
Floris said Bob’s former co-workers had fond memories as well. He retired from Liverpool about 10 years ago, but people with whom he’d worked at North Syracuse schools more than 30 years prior paid their respects at Bob’s calling hours.
“He’s missed, and I know he’s missed by people who worked with him,” Floris said.
‘A great idea’
Despite the initial positive outlook, it became clear that while the stem cell transplant was successful, the chemo had failed. The former marathoner and cyclist began to use a cane, then a walker, then a wheelchair, all within weeks.
“He just deteriorated,” Floris said.
The Palmers gathered around Bob at Boston Medical Center. He requested to be cremated in his knitted SU cap and the blue suit he’d worn to Kevin’s wedding. The family brought up the idea of a race to honor Bob after his passing and to raise money for amyloidosis research.
“My daughter said to him the last day, ‘Dad, what do you think about a race?’” Floris said. “He said, ‘That’s a great idea.’”
Bob died Oct. 30, 2015, just before he was scheduled to begin a new course of treatment. He was unable to donate his organs because of his illness, but a clinical autopsy was conducted to learn more about how amyloidosis affected his body.
“Bob wanted to be in the clinical trials. He wanted people to learn from his experience,” Floris said.
Bob’s family worked with the Amyloidosis Foundation to develop “Fit to Be Tied,” a 5K run and 3K walk that will raise money for the Amyloidosis Center at Boston University School of Medicine and Boston Medical Center.
The Amyloidosis Foundation will supply T-shirts and bracelets, while local businesses — including Megan and Brian Luton’s Stones Throw Farm — have signed on as sponsors. Regal Cinemas, Fleet Feet and Subway are donating prizes to be raffled off. Medals will be awarded to the top three male runners and the top three female runners.
In honor of Bob’s penchant for crazy ties, runners and walkers are welcome to wear their own wild ties for a contest.
“Because Bob Palmer loved wearing crazy ties to school to make the kids laugh, we want to invite you to come run wearing a tie… the more outlandish or creative, the better,” the Palmers wrote on Fit to Be Tied’s website.
Fit to Be Tied takes place Sunday, May 22, at the Willow Bay area of Onondaga Lake Park. The 5K run begins at 9 a.m. and the 3K walk begins at 9:15 a.m. Ties will be judged at 8:45 a.m. with winners announced after the race.
To register, visit fittobetied.org. The race fee is $25. Pick up your packet between 7:30 and 8:45 a.m. at the Sawmill Pavilion.
