Monica Colella's Kickin' Cancer Fund!
Donation protected
It is with a heavy heart, but grateful heart that I start this GoFund Me page for my sister, Monica Colella. Monica is one of the hardest working, most giving individuals I know. I’m not just saying that because she’s my sister! At 43 years young she has worked since the age of 16 and even furthered her education while caring for her young family and working a full-time job. She loves to help others and was even a surrogate so a family could be blessed with their own child 9 years ago. She gives back by volunteering her time as the President of PowHer Networking Group, was previous President & Co-Founder of Foster the CURE and up until this recent cancer update she had served as a CASA with the juvenile court system. You get the picture, she’s pretty amazing!
Unfortunately, Monica was diagnosed with Stage 4 Squamous Cell Carcinoma Anal Cancer in September 2019; at the time of that first scan she also had a spot on her pelvic bone. She had two rounds of a 96 hour chemo cocktail in the hospital in October and November 2019 along with 30 rounds of radiation. The radiation burns were so severe she had to delay treatment to give her skin time to heal before finishing that last week of radiation. She then had a PET scan and ultrasound in February 2020 which showed the cancer had metastasized to her liver. Because of this latest development, Monica will need to be on chemo indefinitely. She started this new round on March 5, 2020 and will have chemo one day per week for three weeks with the fourth week off and then repeat. We will continue to do all we can to fight this cancer and are looking into alternative treatment options to coincide with the chemo as well. Now that our parents have both passed, we find ourselves being a small, but mighty family who will do everything we can to fight this cancer to make sure Monica has the best quality of life and many more years to spend with her beautiful family. Monica has been married to Matt for 16 years and they have three kiddos – Issaiah who just graduated from ISU last spring, Foster who is a freshman and Mia who is a 7th grader.
To add to the stress of this type of diagnosis, Monica was recently terminated from her job as her boss sited “too many missed work days” as the reason. For those of you who know Monica well know that she worked on days she shouldn’t have and she pushed herself harder than she ever should have for a boss who then discarded her in the most difficult time of her life. They are now living on Matt’s income alone; Monica has applied for unemployment and plans to apply for disability, but in the meantime you can imagine the bills are piling up. We are hoping that this GoFund Me account will help her family with their living expenses until everything is lined up with disability. It took a lot to convince Monica to allow this page to be started; it isn’t easy to put yourself out there like this, but we have the most amazing family and friends who have been asking how they can help. This is just one way you can help; if you’re unable to donate to this account, please add Monica and our family to your prayer chains. Praying for her and all of us is the ultimate gift! We are so grateful for each of you!
Thank you!
Unfortunately, Monica was diagnosed with Stage 4 Squamous Cell Carcinoma Anal Cancer in September 2019; at the time of that first scan she also had a spot on her pelvic bone. She had two rounds of a 96 hour chemo cocktail in the hospital in October and November 2019 along with 30 rounds of radiation. The radiation burns were so severe she had to delay treatment to give her skin time to heal before finishing that last week of radiation. She then had a PET scan and ultrasound in February 2020 which showed the cancer had metastasized to her liver. Because of this latest development, Monica will need to be on chemo indefinitely. She started this new round on March 5, 2020 and will have chemo one day per week for three weeks with the fourth week off and then repeat. We will continue to do all we can to fight this cancer and are looking into alternative treatment options to coincide with the chemo as well. Now that our parents have both passed, we find ourselves being a small, but mighty family who will do everything we can to fight this cancer to make sure Monica has the best quality of life and many more years to spend with her beautiful family. Monica has been married to Matt for 16 years and they have three kiddos – Issaiah who just graduated from ISU last spring, Foster who is a freshman and Mia who is a 7th grader.
To add to the stress of this type of diagnosis, Monica was recently terminated from her job as her boss sited “too many missed work days” as the reason. For those of you who know Monica well know that she worked on days she shouldn’t have and she pushed herself harder than she ever should have for a boss who then discarded her in the most difficult time of her life. They are now living on Matt’s income alone; Monica has applied for unemployment and plans to apply for disability, but in the meantime you can imagine the bills are piling up. We are hoping that this GoFund Me account will help her family with their living expenses until everything is lined up with disability. It took a lot to convince Monica to allow this page to be started; it isn’t easy to put yourself out there like this, but we have the most amazing family and friends who have been asking how they can help. This is just one way you can help; if you’re unable to donate to this account, please add Monica and our family to your prayer chains. Praying for her and all of us is the ultimate gift! We are so grateful for each of you!
Thank you!
Organiser
Kristin Casotti
Organiser
Sioux City, IA