Robert M Shaver IDCD/PM Inova Health System Fairfax/ Fair Oaks Hospitals January 22, 2009 To Whom It May Concern: Allow me to introduce myself; I am Rob Shaver an employee of Inova Health System’s Hospitals, where I am in charge of new Construction and Remodeling of facilities throughout the Fairfax and Fair Oaks hospitals. I am a cancer survivor and a spinal injury survivor from duties with the Department of Defense. I have served my country with the United States Marines as a 0311-0321 Recon Special Ops operator. I am made of History, Grit, and American Apple Pie, Red, white and Blue, where I have fought in operations from Bosnia, Somalia in October 1993 and later in life Iraq OIF as a GS-15 Security Contractor. I was diagnosed with cancer when I was 27 yrs old now 35 yrs old, when my right thigh sustained a bump for over a period of 4 yrs before any biopsy was performed. During that time and medically discharged from the Marines from injuries sustained to blood infections and gang green to my right lower leg I developed a concern that this was something wrong. I at the time was a General Contractor self employed framing homes for a living with little to no Health Insurance. I used the VA as much as I could as a 30% Disabled Vet to get help. What did not happen was help from the start as the growth was considered a skin sist that was lanced many times but no correction to status. After 4 years and many times the sist was injured either at work as a carpenter or racing NORBA Mountain bikes races as a Semi-Pro rider I noticed the growth to be getting larger. One day I decided to go back to the VA Hospital and had a young thirty something Doctor Request to perform a biopsy and run a Pathology report on it. Well a day later I was seated and told I was going to loose my leg at the hip due to the high malignancy cancer I have carried for some time. The Doctor worked for days to find other solutions, but keeping in mind the cancer