Help Susanne Kick Cancer's Ass!

An open letter to the friends and family of Susanne Tolbert.

I met Susanne Tolbert more than 6 years ago. We were both driving for Lyft. With countless hours of conversations while being in the queue at the airport, it didn't take long for me to determine this woman would be a friend for the rest of my life. I had no idea just how important she would become in my world, or how much I would come to respect her. We aren't two women that look like we go together: me, the frumpy, soccer grandma, and her the tattooed, free-spirit spitfire (though Susanne is a mom and grandma too). But here we are, all these years later, and you can bet I'd gladly go to battle with her at my side.

And a battle is where we find ourselves today, except it's not my battle, it's Susanne's. And she needs all our help. Thoughts and prayers are good, send those along by all means, but they will not be enough. Not this time.

INVASIVE WELL-DIFFERENTIATED KERATINIZING SQUAMOUS CELL CARCINOMA

Seven words that have upended Susanne's life in one afternoon. I'm going to attempt to give you a layman's explanation of what this means, but it's impossible to do that without getting a little graphic: so forewarned.

Essentially, this is cancer in her jaw and possibly (but hopefully not) areas around the neck. Sometime around the first part of July, Susanne will go into surgery, and it will be extensive. They will remove part of her jawbone, all the teeth on one side, and all the lymph nodes from her neck. Next, they will take bone, typically from the leg, and graph it in to become her new jaw.

She will be in a medically induced coma for 24-72 hours, then in intensive care for a few days, then in a regular hospital room for about a week. That's if everything goes perfectly.

Susanne will have a tracheotomy and be on a feeding tube for a while before she can begin a strictly liquid diet. She will begin radiation therapy right away. Then, depending on biopsy results from the lymph nodes, possible begin chemotherapy. Once her mouth has healed a bit, the plastic surgeon will begin creating implanted dentures for her.

That's a lot to take in, I know. It's scary. It's hard to fathom... and you and I aren't the ones facing it.

Everyone wants to know how they can help. In a word: money. You can be assured that everyone who is local to Colorado Springs will do whatever we can physically do to make sure Susanne has what she needs to fight this battle: rides, companionship, shoulders to cry on, and ears to listen. But what Susanne will need most is peace of mind so she can focus on healing and the one way we can help her with that is with funds.

It's tourist season, and the time of year when Susanne makes the lion's share of her annual income as a Jeep Guide for Mountain Jeep Tours, LLC. Susanne will not be able to work for months - and that's if everything goes as planned. That means months and months with no income to pay the bills and we're not even discussing the medical costs.

Any amount will help. The $10, $20, $50 donations add up and will make a huge difference in helping Susanne face this battle. So please, give what you can and SHARE THIS WITH EVERYONE! The need for your help and generosity cannot be overstated.

With my deepest sincerity and thanks,

Lisa K. Wildman