The Tavares Family

As most of our family and friends know on August 1, 2019, Colleen went to urgent care for intense back pain. After several more doctor visits, she received the devastating news confirming the diagnosis of Stage 3 Ovarian Cancer.

Throughout her battle with cancer, Colleen continued to work full-time while raising her six-year-old son Connor with her husband, Michael. Anyone who has had the pleasure of having Colleen in their life knows what a devoted and selfless wife, mother, sister, daughter, and friend she is.

As of this week, on the strong advice of her Oncology team and our family, Colleen has made the difficult decision of taking a long-term medical leave from the job she loves at Johnson & Johnson. She has completed three rounds of a new FDA approved Ovarian Cancer treatment called, Elahere, a drug that is only available to patients who have tried at least three other chemo treatments. The side effects of this course of treatment have been brutal and have taken their toll on her. We are encouraging her to focus on her health and rest while continuing this treatment. We also recently lost our Mother, Margaret McArdle, on January 12, 2023, and are still processing our grief, but our sole concern is getting Colleen, Michael, and Connor through this difficult time.

Many family and friends have reached out asking how to help the Tavares family, and we decided to put this account together in hopes that these resources will go towards medical expenses, dinners and daily activities that have become difficult recently.

Backstory on her August 2019 diagnosis:

Two weeks after the diagnosis: during exploratory surgery, her doctors decided that the cancer was too advanced to attempt to remove without damaging important organs, and she immediately began a difficult regimen of 9 weeks of chemotherapy to shrink the tumors before her upcoming surgery. Even with total hair loss and intense side effects from chemo, Colleen maintained a positive attitude and remained a constant source of inspiration for her family and friends.

Upon completing this course of chemo, Colleen underwent a grueling surgery that included debulking (surgical removal of tumors), a full hysterectomy, and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) that involved heated chemotherapy drugs applied directly inside the abdomen to eliminate the remaining cancerous cells. The next 9 weeks would be another round of intense chemo.

On February 2020, Colleen was declared NED (no sign of disease). However, it was a bittersweet celebration because, on that same day, Colleen learned her mother had been diagnosed with Stage 2 Lung Cancer.

During her scans a few months later, there were signs the cancer was coming back, but this time around, Colleen would require a different course of treatment because of the risk that her blood could be poisoned by the previous chemo and surgical HIPEC treatment.

By November 2020, her cancer had returned, and other treatments were needed due to the danger of traditional chemotherapy. Targeted radiation was also tried and was unfortunately unsuccessful. Colleen has had to depend on the immunotherapy treatments recommended by her oncology team in hopes of them being effective against her cancer; these treatments have essentially acted as a bandaid while clinical trials and any other options are explored.

The past months have been challenging; her cancer has spread in areas that cannot be treated. Her upper GI tract has essentially paralyzed itself and she has not been able to eat or drink liquids, she relies on a TPN feeding tube daily for nutrition for her strength. After four difficult hospitalizations, the Tavares family faces new challenges with her treatments.

Colleen is brave and strong and will continue fighting this devasting disease with all the love and support from everyone, most importantly Michael and Connor. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts, love The Tavares and McArdle Families.