Hi all, whether you know her as Heather, Ms. Z, or just plain ol’ Z, or maybe you don’t know her but her story is inspiring to you, we sincerely thank you for stopping by this page to show her some love and support.

Where she has been

Heather’s journey began late fall/early winter of 2019 with a routine visit to the doctor to have a prescription refilled. A call from the doctor revealed some abnormalities in her blood work. Sure, she had been a little tired, but as a single mom to a 15 year old daughter and as someone who had just completed a half marathon; who wouldn’t be a little tired, right?

What followed was months of doctor’s visits and testing, and then the diagnosis…Chronic Lymphatic Leukemia…stage 4. Armed with her faith in God and her fierce determination, Heather began the biggest battle of her life. From trying to battle leukemia in a pandemic, to what was supposed to be a routine procedure but almost dying and having heart damage from going into hypovolemic shock, to battling covid and winning after the doctors told her she wouldn’t survive if she got covid, to being rejected from participating in clinical trials after the chemo treatment didn’t work, to receiving special permission to use the clinical trial drugs but having to pay for the treatment, to receiving news that spots had shown up on her spine and brain after her latest body scan and the prognosis that she had a year to live, to receiving the news that the spot in her brain was not a clump of leukocyte cells but actually a metastatic tumor, you would think it would be enough to make anyone decide to quit life. But not Heather. She has continued to work as a counselor and community liaison for homeless students at an elementary school. She continues to volunteer at church and the community, including coordination of food drops to the homeless and those in dire situations after losing work during the pandemic. And she continues to raise her amazing daughter as a single mom, because as a single mom, there is never a day off.

Leukemia rash

Where she is now

On Tuesday, August 10, 2021, Heather went into the hospital for surgery to remove the metastatic tumor from her brain. This surgery had not been done in our area so another experienced surgeon came in to oversee and teach local doctors how to perform the procedure. They first had to determine if they could remove the tumor and once they determined they could, they would use gamma rays. Heather described it as, “Superhero Gamma Ray Destroy it" because she loves superheroes, especially Wonder Woman. Even though gamma rays reference the Hulk, she would most definitely rather be compared to Wonder Woman. And as we witnessed all the battles Heather had fought for the past 2 years, we began to call her our very own Wonder Woman. Because she is the fiercest warrior we know. The surgery took over 4 hours to complete and at one point, when Heather experienced a complication during the procedure, we received the following note from her doctor.

“During recent medal complications, the medical team’s music selection continued to auto switch to a selection called Rebel Heart despite being changed back. A nurse shared it’s by a worship artist Lauren Daigle. As her treating physician this patient asked that I update her daughter if something significant happens. Knowing my patients' faith this may be significant to her daughter, friends, or family - there was a moment of calm in the room as we paused momentarily to listen silently to the song.”

Friends and family continued to pray over Heather and her daughter; we prayed for the doctors, and the nurses who would care for her over the next couple of days. Heather leads a “life group” at church so the group created a prayer schedule so that throughout the day someone would be praying for her every minute. As we waited, we prayed. Minutes stretched into hours before we got the news that the doctors were 100% successful and that the metastatic brain mass had been eliminated!

Heather is currently in the recovery phase. Swelling did occur in the treatment area as well as in the Broca’s Area. The Broca’s area is the language center of the brain. She is experiencing some speech difficulties, but has shown tremendous progress!

The neurological assessment also indicated weakness on the left side in both extremities. This has affected her ability to walk on the left side and a weakened grip in strength tests.

She has speech and physical therapy multiple times a week. She will also have to consult with her oncology team about her next steps. The metastatic tumor was just part of the big picture. She still has to fight leukemia! Heather will be out of work, while she recovers. We have set a goal of $100,000 to help with expenses. Any funds donated will go to help with the following:

· Mortgage

· Car payment

· Utilities

· Groceries

· Medical bills

As Heather’s friends, we are organizing this fundraiser to help her. For those of us that know her, this is just the tip of the iceberg of her story. This woman has an amazing story to tell, from personal tragedies, to personal triumphs, to her amazing redemption from Rebel Heart to her personal and close walk with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. She needs to win this battle so she can share her story with you all! She iis just beginning her blog, but you can follow her here: https://heatherzampy.wixsite.com/searchingforjesus/blog 

The nurse's notes summed her up perfectly: she has a good sense of humor, a strong faith, and is “spirited” or strong willed. We just call her our spicy Wonder Woman Z!

#WWZ #WonderWomanZ

Thank you for your time and support!

Heather Collea and Teresa Edge