Team Kristi
A Fight Though Cancer
A Devastating Diagnosis
In July of 2024 she notice a small lump in the middle of a scar where a previous lump was removed on her upper leg. At the time she was told it was all removed and that there was a very small chance of it coming back. She went to the dermatologist and they biopsy it saying it was inflammation. In the middle of September she was feeling more tired.
Each provider we went to would only focus on one symptom. I could see she was getting worse and not getting any help. This continued day after day, month after month. Finally in December at her work, her heart went into supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) and she was taken to the ER by Ambulance. After a few days in the hospital, many tests both blood work and imagining, it was determined that her heart was good. But the truth of her pain was finally brought to light. Metastatic melanoma cancer with spine/bone, liver, lung and adrenal gland involvement.
Treatment
The treatment for Metastatic Melanoma is immunotherapy. Four rounds of double immunotherapy 21 days a part. The actual tumor does not need to be removed. She was able to do 3 of the 4 double immunotherapy rounds. However she was unable to do the 4th infusion due to a mild episode of Bells Palsy - this has turned out to be a side effect of the immunotherapy. Unfortunately at the end of March she ended up in the hospital for a few days with autoimmune hepatitis. This was a second side effect of the double immunotherapy. Therefore she will only be getting single immunotherapy. While being treated for hepatitis, she was placed on high dose steroids for 3 months. Now we can only do single therapy.
December 2025, a year later, she was able to get a scan which showed her adrenal gland and lungs with no evidence of cancer, all nodules in the liver have been reduced and no new ones seen. She still has the metastatic disease in the spine. It’s from the thoracic (chest) to pelvis (hips). This is very painful and has prevented her from doing a lot of what she loved to do. We can’t say she’s cancer free, at this stage its all about maintenance. The treatment will continue for the remainder of her life.
A Message
from Kristi
“This has been difficult for me to live with every day. Some days I feel really good and forget about my cancer until I look at my arms, so it's a constant reminder that I am fighting a battle, a great war! But, I know God has a plan for me, and that plan is good because God is good. So I need to just take it day by day, one day at a time and be thankful for each day I have. Being on long term disability has taken a mental toll on me, but, again I have been very prayerful and have been trying to enjoy the time given to me to be with my kids, only God knows how long we have, so why not enjoy it!!!
I appreciate the prayers, thoughts, notes, phone calls, cards and everything else that has been sent my way to help with my healing and make me smile!”
-Kristi Colcord
