Melbourne cancer patient to meet Adam Sandler

Gaige Robbins had a message for Adam Sandler, his favorite actor, and it looks like it was received.

According to the Robbins family, Sandler called up Gaige, who is being treated for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, Tuesday evening at Health First's Holmes Regional Medical Center in Melbourne.

A week ago, the 19-year-old Melbourne man went through his latest chemo treatment at Holmes. In less than two years since his diagnosis, he underwent nine chemo treatments and more than 30 radiation treatments, too.

"He got real sick because of the chemo, so he's not able to talk too well right now," his father Shane Robbins said Tuesday. "So when Adam called today, you could just see the pain in (Gaige's) face, his eyes watering up, trying to talk to Adam."

Shane discussed his son's status with the comedian, who's currently filming in Georgia. Sandler then invited the family to a meet-and-greet on set.

"Gaige wishes he was feeling better so he could jump up and down," Shane said. "He had a huge smile on his face, he was very happy."

About 30 seconds after Shane and Sandler said goodbye, the phone rang again. According to Shane, it was Sandler, who wanted to say goodbye to Gaige.

"That, to me, impressed me greatly," he said. "I know he's very busy doing superstar things, but for him to say that and mean it was truly just an incredibly feeling."

The Robbins plan to meet Sandler next week in Georgia. Afterward, they'll travel to MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston to see "what trials we can get him into," Shane said. "Everybody's rootin' for him," he said of his son, adding they receive handfuls of postcards daily from places as far as Ireland, Italy, Holland and Paris.

In spite of the disease, the Eau Gallie High grad — and his family — have kept a positive attitude, determined to laugh along the way as they fight cancer.

"I just love to laugh," Gaige told FLORIDA TODAY last week. "It's such a simple thing, and a lot of people overlook it. I'm surrounded by people who make me laugh and make me happy, so why not share that with them since they're sharing it with me?"

Thanks to social media, his story has gone global. He has fans in Tokyo and Canada. A lot of the posts on his "Support Gaige Robbins" Facebook page feature perfect strangers from across the country wearing black T-shirts that say: "Gaige. I wear lime green."

To support Gaige Robbins, visit his Facebook fan page online.

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or jsangalang@floridatoday.com.

Twitter: @byjensangalang

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Message to Adam Sandler

Gaige Robbins, 19, of Melbourne, who's being treated for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, had a message for celebrity Adam Sandler, whom he plans to meet next week: "Keep making movies, keep being awesome because you're doing a great job. If I had the opportunity to meet Adam Sandler, I would tell him, 'Thank you for being such a great actor and for sharing so many laughs with so many people. It helps to keep us going.'"