Collette’s Battle with Cancer

Hi everyone,

As most of our friends and family know Collette has been bravely battling cancer since March, she has been so strong through this whole process and has continuously stayed positive through all the ups and downs. Knowing she only had limited time to try and travel a bit she wanted to go on a couple trips, her “farewell tour” as she said. We were treated to a trip to Disneyland in September by a family member where we made so many memories and got to have fun and enjoy our time together. We also made plans to go to Hawaii, her favorite place on earth. Once we were in Hawaii Collette’s health rapidly took a turn and we had to have her taken to the hospital the day after arriving. She was admitted and treated for almost a week and then released and told to enjoy a few days of her vacation before returning to Washington. We all agreed and decided that since the doctors said it was okay we would stay and let her enjoy Hawaii. Her son had already returned home earlier in the week and her husband was only able to stay a couple extra days due to both of them needing to return to work and we all assumed she was in better health and all would be fine. Unfortunately after being out of the hospital for only a day and a half she had to be readmitted to the hospital where we were told she was experiencing liver and kidney failure. This ultimately led to having to fly her son and husband back to Hawaii as well as extending our trip and staying in Hawaii for a month now. The treatments did not improve her health like we had all hoped for and we had to come to the hard decision to transition her into comfort care and she will be spending the last of her days here in Hawaii. This trip being unexpectedly extended has put financial strain on everyone in the family due to the extra flights, hotel costs, transportation to and from the hospital and missing work while also having financial responsibilities back at home. With all of this going on I’m hoping we can help them out by relieving some of the financial stress so that they can focus on what’s important right now, which is spending time with Collette. We would also like to put some of the funds towards her celebration of life when we return home and give everyone a chance to celebrate her. Collette was always hesitant to do a fundraiser for herself and never wanted anyone’s pity during her time of being sick, but her kids have discussed this at length. While we’ve had such amazing people help us while we’ve been here there’s still a lot the family needs help with financially. We appreciate all the support we have received from all of our people and hope you can continue to support us as we navigate through this difficult process. If you’re not comfortable donating through go fund me or would prefer a different route please feel free to contact the family.