Help Colette Conquer Cancer!
Donation protected
In September of 2016, Colette was diagnosed with Stage 4 advanced Ovarian cancer.
For over a year prior to this, Colette had been going to her family doctor with stomach and bloating issues but it wasn't till Sept. 2016 when she walked out of her doctors office, again with just another presciption, that she knew she needed to do something else so she went straight from her doctors office right to a walk-in clinic. The doctor at the clinic (Dr. Chouinard), ordered a stat Ultrasound as she knew something was terribly wrong. A Cat Scan was also ordered. Colette had the results of that ultrasound the same day and it wasn't good. Thank GOD for that doctor at that walk-in clinic. NOW THAT'S A DOCTOR. I very much doubt that Colette would today be in this dire condition if this doctor would have been her family doctor.
Within days, Colette was seeing an oncologist at Health Sciences North and soon started on IV chemo drugs Carboplatin and Paclitaxel to hopefully reduce the tumors enough to eventually get a total hysterectomy. Her CA 125 tumor marker was 775 which is extremely high.
In December of 2016 though, Colette contracted C. difficile and was hospitalized. After that cleared up, she went back home but was re-admitted soon afterwards because of profuse vomitting. More tests and another Cat Scan was performed and it turned out that one of the tumors was blocking her small intestines. Not only did she have cancer but now she couldn't eat anything and the C. Diff returned. Luckily the C. difficile cleared up but they had to stop the chemo. Colette was losing weight and getting weak.
In the hospital, she eventually started to regain some strength and in late December, the doctors performed surgery to try and fix the blocking issue. This though was to no avail as there were too many tumors inside her and the cancer had spread even more than they thought. All they could do was to put in an ileostomy (where you attach an ostomi bag), to bypass the blockage so that Colette could eat again. She was told that she had only a couple of months left to live.
After many weeks, she returned home and started regaining some strength. In February she got strong enough to be able to restart her chemo treatments and this time her oncologist decided they would add a third chemo drug called Avastin to be as aggresive as possible in trying to shrink her tumors. This time Colette was determined to finish all three cycles of chemo that would last over the next few months. She was hospitalized a few times during her treatments but true to her word, she did not give up. Unfortunately though, the latest Cat Scan showed that the chemo didn't work as planned. Her CA 125 tumor had dropped to about 275 during the prior several months but now had risen once again and is now around 380. So this brings us to the present.
Colette is now out of conventional treatments options. The doctors are now saying there's nothing more they can do. She is now under the care of a palliative doctor.
We are now looking into alternative treatment options as our last hope. There are lots of these clinics in the states and abroad that offer different treatments.
This though is quite expensive!
Right now, we are looking into Issels Immuno-Oncology clinic in California but we have only started looking. The cost for their treatment plan at their center (also with 5 months of home care supplies) is about $50,000 US. They have had success with Stage 4 Ovarian cancer patients.
https://www.issels.com
There is another place in Tampa, Florida that we are looking into also that may be better suited for Colette and time will tell.
Colette has been through the toughest of times these past 8 months but you will NEVER hear her complain about her circumstance. Luckily she has an AMAZING husband who is truly a Godsend. Together, they have 3 kids and 5 grandchildren.
Colette possesses the softest heart you will ever find. She is also an emotional person but very strong as she has shown us. She loves to do arts and crafts and she is quite good at it. She accepts things as is, does not like to stir the pot and loves her kids and grandkids immensely. She would love nothing more than to be a part of their lives as they grow up and that's why she's fighting so hard. She IS a strong women but she sure can use some good news right about now!
This is a pic of Colette in good health...and this is where we are hoping to get her back to once again.
I cannot express how grateful our family is for all of your support and donations.
Please do share Colette's story. Every little bit helps.
Thank you so much!
Love,
Colette, Jim, Danny, Melissa, Adam and family.
For over a year prior to this, Colette had been going to her family doctor with stomach and bloating issues but it wasn't till Sept. 2016 when she walked out of her doctors office, again with just another presciption, that she knew she needed to do something else so she went straight from her doctors office right to a walk-in clinic. The doctor at the clinic (Dr. Chouinard), ordered a stat Ultrasound as she knew something was terribly wrong. A Cat Scan was also ordered. Colette had the results of that ultrasound the same day and it wasn't good. Thank GOD for that doctor at that walk-in clinic. NOW THAT'S A DOCTOR. I very much doubt that Colette would today be in this dire condition if this doctor would have been her family doctor.
Within days, Colette was seeing an oncologist at Health Sciences North and soon started on IV chemo drugs Carboplatin and Paclitaxel to hopefully reduce the tumors enough to eventually get a total hysterectomy. Her CA 125 tumor marker was 775 which is extremely high.
In December of 2016 though, Colette contracted C. difficile and was hospitalized. After that cleared up, she went back home but was re-admitted soon afterwards because of profuse vomitting. More tests and another Cat Scan was performed and it turned out that one of the tumors was blocking her small intestines. Not only did she have cancer but now she couldn't eat anything and the C. Diff returned. Luckily the C. difficile cleared up but they had to stop the chemo. Colette was losing weight and getting weak.
In the hospital, she eventually started to regain some strength and in late December, the doctors performed surgery to try and fix the blocking issue. This though was to no avail as there were too many tumors inside her and the cancer had spread even more than they thought. All they could do was to put in an ileostomy (where you attach an ostomi bag), to bypass the blockage so that Colette could eat again. She was told that she had only a couple of months left to live.
After many weeks, she returned home and started regaining some strength. In February she got strong enough to be able to restart her chemo treatments and this time her oncologist decided they would add a third chemo drug called Avastin to be as aggresive as possible in trying to shrink her tumors. This time Colette was determined to finish all three cycles of chemo that would last over the next few months. She was hospitalized a few times during her treatments but true to her word, she did not give up. Unfortunately though, the latest Cat Scan showed that the chemo didn't work as planned. Her CA 125 tumor had dropped to about 275 during the prior several months but now had risen once again and is now around 380. So this brings us to the present.
Colette is now out of conventional treatments options. The doctors are now saying there's nothing more they can do. She is now under the care of a palliative doctor.
We are now looking into alternative treatment options as our last hope. There are lots of these clinics in the states and abroad that offer different treatments.
This though is quite expensive!
Right now, we are looking into Issels Immuno-Oncology clinic in California but we have only started looking. The cost for their treatment plan at their center (also with 5 months of home care supplies) is about $50,000 US. They have had success with Stage 4 Ovarian cancer patients.
https://www.issels.com
There is another place in Tampa, Florida that we are looking into also that may be better suited for Colette and time will tell.
Colette has been through the toughest of times these past 8 months but you will NEVER hear her complain about her circumstance. Luckily she has an AMAZING husband who is truly a Godsend. Together, they have 3 kids and 5 grandchildren.
Colette possesses the softest heart you will ever find. She is also an emotional person but very strong as she has shown us. She loves to do arts and crafts and she is quite good at it. She accepts things as is, does not like to stir the pot and loves her kids and grandkids immensely. She would love nothing more than to be a part of their lives as they grow up and that's why she's fighting so hard. She IS a strong women but she sure can use some good news right about now!
This is a pic of Colette in good health...and this is where we are hoping to get her back to once again.
I cannot express how grateful our family is for all of your support and donations.
Please do share Colette's story. Every little bit helps.
Thank you so much!
Love,
Colette, Jim, Danny, Melissa, Adam and family.
Organizer and beneficiary
Germain Brunet
Organizer
Sudbury, ON
Colette Manfred
Beneficiary
