FOX 21/27 – WFXR Roanoke/WWCW Lynchburg News, WeatherRobynn Jaymes Update

Pancreatitis is not exactly a common household word.

Unfortunately, if it has affected your life you know how serious it can be - at times, even fatal.

It's the very disease Star Country morning D.J. Robynn Jaymes has been battling since mid-October.

As more time passes that she is not on air, community support for Robynn has grown.

What had become at one time a fight for her life now has added stress and community concern that her own radio station has done nothing to support her.

Tonight, we sit down with Robynn and with her employer to give them both a chance to respond to the rising concerns.

People are constantly asking about Robynn and how she's doing.

Individual Star Country listeners have been putting together their own fundraisers to help with her medical bills.

"Having pancreatitis has made me feel so isolated," Jaymes says. "I'm going through such an odd condition where I can't eat anything."

The nine-year veteran of Star Country has lost 60 pounds in little more than three months.

As she fights the biggest battle of her life, doctors tell her it's imperative to avoid stress.

However, an added stress has entered Jaymes's life: concerns began to surface in such places as Facebook, that her employer, Wheeler Broadcasting, has not shown her support.

Leonard Wheeler, Owner and General Manager of Wheeler Broadcasting says, "It's critical to me that we are there to protect and support. I feel that way about Robynn. I feel that way about all our staff members.We don't take on other personal causes, so should we be taking on our own, when it's our own people? That's not diminishing the need on Robynn's end either, but it's the reason the station hasn't been doing a fundraiser."

"It certainly went a different direction than I thought it was going to," Jaymes says. "I had asked people not to petition the radio station on my behalf for fundraisers. I did not want to be in the position to compromise the company and say, 'Oh hey, I know this is what we normally do, you usually do these large scale efforts but step aside and take care of me.'"

Robynn and Wheeler tell us they have discussed an agreement which involves Robynn receiving 80% of her pay, while Wheeler covers her health insurance as they do for all employees.

The agreement also includes bringing the Star Country morning team back together.

"I think the station could have done a better job of having her presence on air, just that connection, that touch-point more frequently," Wheeler says.

It's hard to say when Robynn will be back on the radio on a daily basis, but its clear that it's a day both Robynn and her employer look forward to.