Colon Cancer Stage 4 Fundraiser

Things were slowly starting to turn around for the better in my family. My youngest son Caleb  was in a terrible dirt bike accident back in 2013, which left him with a brain injury resulting in a very slow recovery process.  My oldest son Devin had to abruptly stop working his two jobs about the same time as Caleb's accident because the side effects of his Pituitary Gland Disorder was starting to heavily increase in pain. During this time, my middle and only daughter Shaleese, took time off of college at New Mexico State University to come home, take up a job and help pay the medical bills that were continuing to come through the mail.  Slowly but surely and with the help of my loving family and friends, we were able to make a few plate lunch fundraisers to help pay the bills for my two sons. During the course of the next two years, their health started to get better, medical bills were stopping and my daughter had made plans to move back to the mainland in the summer of 2016 to resume to the life she was living before those events occured. The beginning of 2016 started off with a 5 year colonoscopy check up. I cancelled it. The flu was circling everyone in town, and I ended up catching it. I couldn't afford to stay out of work for too long so I came back the following schedule. I have been employed at the Hilton Waikoloa Village Hotel for 28 years. My years of service paid off immensely well when I became the Laundry Attendant Supervisor. Everything was great!  During my shift on my first day back at work, I felt a very sharp pain on the right side of my abdomen. The pain was unimaginable. Not knowing what was the cause,  I decided to stop working and forcefully drive myself to the ER (located 35 minutes away).  After running a few lab tests, the doctors told me they discovered a large mass in my liver. That led them into running more tests on me which resulted in finding a mass in my colon also. After I rescheduled my colonoscopy appointment and went to it, my doctor broke the news to me. It was confirmed that I was diagnosed with Liver and Stage 4 Colon Cancer.  News that no one would want to hear. At that moment in time, I felt a sense of fear running through my body as fast as the tears were coming down my face. What will happen to me? What am I going to do? Are you sure its me? How will I tell my family? The questions were never ending.  But... The news may have frightened me, but my determination to win this battle was far from over. I am the daughter of a strong woman who fought and won her battle with Breast Cancer in 2015. And I am a witness to my father with his daily battle with Diabetes.  My journey with chemotherapy treatment started in August 2016 and since then, I have completed 28 sessions. The side effects have taken a heavy toll on my body.  Every night since treatment started, I needed  my feet massaged. My face broke out in rashes, the color on my body changed, my hair fell out, and I constantly felt tired and sick. My weight was fluxuating, my diet was changing and every time I finished a round of chemo, something different broke out on my body.  I had an opportunity to travel to the MD Anderson Treatment Center in Houston, Texas  to perform surgery on my liver earlier this year in February. I went through a series of different lab tests with multiple doctors to prepare me for my operation in Texas.  After settling in at the Treatment Center, the experts at MD Anderson decided not to perform the surgery. My liver was too weak at the time and they did not want to risk operating on it. I would not have made it through the surgery.  It felt as if it was one thing after another. And here I was - in a completely different state, far from home, trying to accept the news I would take back with me to Hawai'i.   I came back home and immediately started a higher dosage of chemotherapy.  This is where I stand now.  I am currently scheduled for 4 more chemotherapy treatments before my trip back to the MD Anderson Treatment Center this coming November. The Lord has guided me through this process, giving me strength, courage and inspiration to fight this battle and over come all the obstacles I face everyday. Exodus 23:25