In and Out

She's Out!  She was admitted into the hospital at 12:00 est.  She was scheduled to go back into surgery at 3:00 but you know how doctor's appointments are.  She finally was taken back at 5:15pm for surgery.  They told us it would take about 3 hours for before we could see her again.  She was done by 7:00PM!!

Kennny, Sue and I, went to dinner at Marathon (just down the street).  It was yummy!  After that we went to a vegan place down the road to get Kenan a salad that she had the night before (which was difficult for Billy to make via phone).  I made her the exact salad she had the night before.

We made it to the eighth floor waiting room to check in and wait for the doctor.  We were waiting not even 5 minutes before Dr. Burger came in and sat down to explain the procedure.  Everything went great!!!!  The sutures are on the inside and the incision has butterfly band-aids holding it together.  She will be in the recovery room for about an hour before being released.  We are going to leave it up to her when she feels like heading home.  Which before we left the hotel this morning....she made it clear that we were heading home.  The only thing the doctor asked was that we stop a couple times to let her walk. 

Hopefully she will want to sleep in the hotel room tonight and head out tomorrow morning.  It will all depend on how she feels. 

Thank you again for all of your continued support and prayers!

Mommy and Daddy come home!!

KENAN is OUT!

Kenan is out of the Thomas Jefferson Hospital. She was released this morning around 10:30. She did remarkably well with her treatment. She has decided the date of her second treatment, Friday, November 4th.

Kenan just received a phone call from Dr. Burger and she will be put on the operating schedule for tomorrow. So, her freedom is short lived. She will have out patient surgery tomorrow to operate on her gluteus maximus. We anticipate spending Thursday night here in the hotel and leaving for home on Friday! Of course, how Kenan is feeling will dictate our travel plans.

Kenan is considering a walk to Chinatown or a movie at the moment. Billy, Kenny, and I will tag along :). Yep, she's remarkable!

Since this is a shorter update, I'll fill you in a little on Kenan's brother, Pete. He is attending officer training school at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. We are only a text message away. It was touching for "the Mom", when Kenan asked to have Pete call her yesterday. They had the opportunity to catch up last night. After Pete's 13 hour day of work!

Wishing you could be here with us Pete. We miss you!

Thanks for checking in on us.

Kenan's Mom

From The City of Brotherly Love

Kenan, like Rocky, ready to fight!

Hi All,

Sorry for the delay today, but we all spent the day with Kenan and the hospital did not have WI-FI, so Billy was not able to update the blog from the hospital room. But, how nice is it that most of you have an update first thing this morning. For the night owls, you have seen this already.

It was another early morning for Kenan and Billy. They arrived at Thomas Jefferson Hospital this morning or yesterday morning (Tuesday) at 6:30 am. Kenan was prepped for her procedure (immunoembolization) and went in approximately 9:00 am.

Her doctor, Dr. Gonsalves was telling Billy, Kenny, and me that she was fine and in recovery approximately 10:20 am. We all like Dr. Gonsalves very much. She is very personable and we talk with her easily. Dr. Gonsalves reported that she was able to treat 3/4ths of Kenan's liver. She was able to treat the largest tumors. The tumors glowed afterwards and that is a good thing, because that means the medicine stays attached to the tumors and works its miracle. She seemed very pleased with her work and therefore, we are all pleased. We all got to go back with Kenan while she was in recovery and before she was taken to her room.

I understand Kenan had some conversations with the nurses about running that she didn't remember later. The nurses were asking Kenan if she was a runner. They could tell by her low heart rate. I was impressed. Kenan has been preparing for a half marathon and had worked herself up to 8 miles. Even more impressed, now.

On the advisement of Kenan's friend Meredith, Kenan was able to secure a private room on the third floor. Thanks Meredith! And Meredith was right, the third floor staff has been great to us today. The doctors and nurses have been exceptional. All very professional and so attentive. It seems that the ratio for patients to nurses is phenomenal.

After Kenan arrived in her room, her instructions for recovery were to lay flat on her back for 6 hours. She was doing great. Then after 5 hours (1 to go), she started to bleed from her incision and the clock started back over. So, another 6 hours flat on her back. We were told that can often happen, but we were bummed! It became more and more difficult for Kenan to remain flat and comfortable. At 10:00 pm tonight we all celebrated with Kenan when she could finally get on her feet. What a joyous moment!

Dr. Sato came in to check on Kenan around 4:00 pm. It was a good report, as well. We like him very much and he has a phenomenal team. He will check on her again in the morning around 8:00 am and hopefully, Kenan will be released.

Billy out ranked me tonight and he got to stay in the room with Kenan. Her Dad and I are only a few blocks away and that makes it nice. Of course, Kenan is more concerned about Billy, her Dad, and I than herself. But, as her Dad told her, speaking for all of us, "we would not want to be anywhere else". We do nothing compared to my brave, positive, "full of grace", little girl. She was definitely the best patient of the day!

We are anticipating a visit from Dr. Burger tomorrow morning. On the advisement of Dr. Sato, we are hopeful that Dr. Burger will be able to remove the tumor from Kenan's gluteus maximus. This procedure will be done as outpatient surgery and we tentatively hear this may be possible for Thursday afternoon. More to follow on those specifics as they develop. Therefore, Kenan will recover in the hotel room and perhaps we will return to the south Friday.

The weather here in Philadelphia has been perfect but, there is no place like home.

Kenan and Billy will return to Philadelphia in 4 weeks. Of course, I want to come too, but not sure. In 4 weeks we will know the results of the procedure today and from my layman's vantage point, I believe this procedure was tolerated well and therefore, a second procedure should follow.

In closing on this update, thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all of your support. The prayers are so appreciated, needed, and wanted. Keep 'em coming! Thank you John O and Melissa for organizing the Prayer Warriors! We all know and believe that with the help of God, Dr. Sato, Dr. Gonsalves, Dr. Burger, and their teams that this will heal Kenan.

Although we haven't had the time to personally respond to all of your emails, text messages, phone calls, etc., we have received them and want you to know how helpful they have been to us all. With each new response, we separately and collectively are truly touched by the most amazing words of endearing comfort and support. So, once again, a simple thank you.

PS: Jetty, Kenan and Billy will be home soon. Thanks Emily and Megana for taking such good care of her.

Come home soon, I miss you!

Kenan's Mom

We have a plan!

We started off today at 6:30 am with a CT scan and MRI at the Bodine Center at TJUH.  After the scans we were 5 minutes late for the Holiday Inn Express breakfast.  We did a little sweet talking and they pulled everything back out for us.  After a quick shower (and some shopping at H&M), we were back at Thomas Jefferson for the long awaited meeting with Dr. Sato. 

Kenan was able to meet all of the nurses that she has been e-mailing with over the past couple weeks waiting for this visit.  It was great to finally put some faces with names.  Dr. Sato made his appearance and after a short examination he asked what questions Kenan about treatment.  Kenan pulled out a binder with all of the treatment options that she has researched.  He explained why some options were not the best, and told us that Immoembolization is the best option. 

We also met with Dr. Gonsalves who is the interventional radiologist that will be administering the immunoembolization.  She explained the procedure in depth and also reitterated why this procedure is the right path.

We will be at the hospital tomorrow morning at 6:30 am to check in and get things started.  They said the procedure itself will only take about 90 mins to complete.  After that Kenan will have to lay flat on her back for 6 hours.  A friend and fellow patient, Meredith, told us to come prepared with a pillow and egg crate.  Sue ran right out and scooped that up so Kenan could be as comfortable as possible after the procedure!  She should be discharged on Wednesday morning around 9:30 - 10:00 am. 

After Dr. Sato examined Kenan today he recommended surgically removing the lesion from Kenan's glut.  We can feel the lesion through Kenan's skin so they hope that it is in a place where it can be easily removed.  A surgeon is going to come and visit us tomorrow or Wednesday to see if it is possible to do. Our hope is that they can and they will be able to perform the surgery on Thursday!  This will be treating all areas of concern in one week!

Thank you John O and Melissa for starting the prayer warriors for tomorrow. 

Love Billy & Kenan.

Attached are a few pictures!


Checking out the Liberty Bell...

Picture of the Colbert/Koll family after we ran up the stairs of the Philadelphia Museum of Art like Rocky!

We couldn't resist this one!  Em sent a picture of Jetty waiting for a blog update :)

Headed to Philly!

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind!   After lots of research we decided that we absolutely want Dr. Sato at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia to guide my treatment.  Ocular melanoma is a very rare type of cancer and we have learned that few doctors know how to treat it .  Thankfully, Dr. Sato has dedicated his life to finding new OM treatments and he is the leading physician in this field.  I have my first appointment with him this Monday, October 10th!  I am so excited to get the ball rolling!  Even though I have not met with him yet, I have been talking to his team daily I am 100% confident in them.  They are awesome folks to work with!

After reviewing my scans and history Dr. Sato decided they will treat me with immunoembolization.  I am scheduled for this procedure on October 11th.  I will be sedated, but awake, and somebody will be able to stay with me the whole time (I'll let Billy, Mom and Dad fight over this)! An interventional radiologist performs the procedure and he will go up my femoral artery and inject a drug into my liver.  This drug will boost my immune system and my body will build immunity to fight the cancer cells.  I'll spend the night in the hospital Tuesday night and hopefully get released Wednesday morning.

Philadelphia is an 11.5 hour drive from Charleston but the trips will be worth it.  As you know, we love to travel so we are going to make the most of our trips by planning fun things to do and delicious restaurants to try.  Any suggestions are welcome!  I hear the shopping up there isn't bad either...I already found an H&M within a few blocks of the hospital :)

We will update you again after my appointment on Monday!

Love, Kenan

The fight continues!

Hello Everybody!  As much as I hate to bring the blog back I feel like I need to update everybody about what has been going on.  Sorry that I haven't been updating but it is so easy to forget about things when everything is going well.  My 3 month post surgery scans in June were clear!  Billy and I had an AMAZING summer and we got to travel all over the place!  We made a road trip to NY for Pete's graduation with a stop in Salisbury, Maryland (where I was born) and Ocean City, Maryland.  We also went to Chicago, Atlanta, Denver, and made more trips to Folly Beach than I can count! 

I had my next round of scans on Thursday, September 8th and they found two small spots on my liver.  I had a PET scan last Friday (which is a full body scan) and they said there are actually three small spots on my liver and a spot on my right gluteus maximus, which they believe to be melanoma. 

I have been meeting and talking regularly with my oncologist in Charleston trying to figure out a treatment plan.  My oncologist has been in contact with a doctor in Philly (Dr. Sato) who is thought to be the leading doctor for treating ocular melanoma.  He has reviewed all of my scans and they are exploring several different treatment options as we speak.  Right now we are just waiting for an update on where to go and what to do.  I have told the doctors that they just need to tell me where to go and I will be there.  Right now my options include a new drug called Yervoy, a radioembolization treatment (http://www.sirtex.com/, and an immunoembolization called TIL (tumor infiltrating lymphocytes).  I am very anxious to get things started but I'm not getting overly worried about it.  I KNOW that the third time is a charm and after we knock this out everything is going to be gone for good!

I honestly couldn't ask for a better support system during all of this!  As I write this Billy is reading over my shoulder and my Mom is in town to help out with everything!  I have been flooded with emails and phone calls sending prayers and positive thoughts my way.  I appreciate it all so much and please keep them coming!  All I ask is that you please say a prayer to rid me of this melanoma once and for all!

Love, Kenan

as of lately

Sorry it has been so long since we have updated the blog.  It was the highlight of our day to update this blog when we were in the hospital but now that we are back home it has been hard to keep up with it.  My apologies :)   I wanted to give everybody an update on where I stand...

We recently went back up to Dook to meet with the oncologist and surgeon.  Both appointments were rather uneventful.  On May 9th we met with the oncologist and she just told me I needed to make an appointment with an oncologist in Charleston who specializes in melanoma so he/she could schedule my next round of scans.  Since ocular melanoma is so rare there is very little research out there for how to prevent it from coming back.  Therefore, they will not do any chemo or radiation.  Instead, I will get frequent PET scans to make sure that it doesn't spread anywhere.  They hope that with the recent surgery they were able to remove it all from my body and keep it from coming back! 

Thanks to the help of my dear friend, Nurse Emily Spears, I was able to speak with a doctor at MUSC who recommended an oncologist at Hollings Cancer Center.  I meet with him tomorrow, May 25th!  I am excited to meet with him and hope that we get along well since we will be seeing a lot of each other over the next few years.

On May 10th we met with the surgeon and he checked out my incision. He said it looked great, and I must say that I agree! He also went over the pathology report with us and said that they were able to remove all of the melanoma lesion from my liver!  He also released me to go back to work on June 1st.  I have been doing some light exercise and most importantly, I was well enough to be in my friend Elizabeth's wedding 2 weeks ago.  I also got to go to NY to see Pete graduate from West Point!  I told the doctors from the start there was NO way I was going to miss those two events and I am so thankful that I healed so quickly!

I should have my scans done this week or early next week and I will be sure to update with the results.  Fingers crossed!


Attached is a pic of Billy and I with the handsome graduate.  So proud!