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Diagnosis puts go-to-guy on roller-coaster of emotion
Doug Colby, 49, of McCook, is the "go-to" guy among family and friends.
"He can fix anything," said his wife, Noreen. Doug keeps a wide variety of tools and spare parts carefully organized in his garage, so that whenever anyone speaks a need, he can quickly and efficiently meet it.
Parents of Dillon, 10, and Dawson, 8, Doug and Noreen had found a pleasant routine to life when they returned to McCook, nearly five years ago. The couple lived in Denver, Colo., and started their family after moving to Clarkson, where they lived for 15 years, before reclaiming their hometown.
Events this past spring turned their pleasant lives upside down, when Doug, "who has always been healthy," said Noreen, finally went to the doctor, after trying to wait out a persistent pain.
The diagnosis, advanced bladder cancer, was grim.
"We've been on a roller coaster ride ever since," exclaimed Noreen.
Sixteen weeks of aggressive chemotherapy was prescribed in an attempt to get ahead of the cancer, which was already showing up in Doug's lungs. Weekly trips to the Callahan Cancer Center in North Platte, with all of the attendant tests and medical consults consumed the family's summer.
It all seemed worth it, however, when tests indicated that the chemo had successfully targeted the cancer. The CT scan showed the lungs were clear, and surgery was scheduled at University Hospital in Denver.
The surgery, Sept. 1, has placed the family back on the roller coaster, at the topmost peak. Though the cancer had retreated from the lungs, it had spread throughout the pelvic region, necessitating a radical cystectomy -- the removal of Doug's bladder along with his prostate, numerous lymph glands and other infected tissues. Doug's treatment protocol now includes three additional months of aggressive chemotherapy, which, depending on the ongoing evaluations, will be followed by six weeks of radiation.
The family is ill-prepared for the ride. With two school-aged, active sons, and Doug unable to work, the family is faced with some hard decisions.
Family and friends are stepping up as best they can, with a spaghetti feed, silent auction fund raiser set for 5-7 p.m., Oct. 24, at St. Catherine's Hall in Indianola. A free will donation will be gratefully accepted.
Noreen, nee Remington, remembers St. Catherine's Hall from family reunions when she was a child. Her parents, Alden and Catherine Remington of McCook, raised their nine children here in McCook.
Doug's family moved from McCook to Denver, Colo., when he was 11. It was during one of his summer visits to his grandmother that he and Noreen met.
"I was working at Dairy Queen," Noreen reminisced with a smile. "He ordered a Mister Misty Lime and sat in the far corner for two hours."
Apparently, it took Doug that long to work up the nerve to ask Noreen out.
"Our first date was at Pizza Hut," she said. By the end of the second date, "I knew I was in love," she admitted with a wide grin.
Noreen's sister, Chris Kester of Cambridge, is spearheading the fund raiser and has enlisted the support of the Republican Valley Chapter of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, which will provide supplemental funds. Mary Bargen, Financial Director for the chapter, asks that any Thrivent members willing to help, either by serving at the spaghetti feed or through donations of food or silent auction items, call her at 345-2295.
"It is hard to be in this position," Noreen confessed with a cockeyed smile. "I'm a nurse. I'm the one who helps people, not the other way around."
Nevertheless, she is trying to accept the situation with grace and is grateful for any help as the family battles a cancer that not only threatens Doug's life, but the lives of everyone who loves him and depends on him.
"We've been together for 25 years," said Noreen. "He's been my steady rock through everything."
Items for the silent auction are needed and monetary contributions also are welcome and "most appreciated," said Chris.
An account has been set up at the State Bank of Bartley or contributions can be mailed directly to Chris Kester at 708 Butter Dr., Cambridge, NE 69022.
For more information, contact Chris at 340-9905.