Colleen Finley:
CLASS OF 1975
Rock Island High SchoolClass of 1975
Rock island, IL
Colleen's Story
I've had some very unusual jobs over the years which include; selling Avon and being an Assistant District Manager with 300 Reps and five Iowa Counties to oversee; selling Jeep and Lincoln Mercury (Ford) automobiles; working as an Administrative Assistant for Tom and Roseanne Arnold while living in Ottumwa, IA; was a country music disc jockey and Clerk in Medical Records in a hospital when I lived in Columbia and Marshall, MO.
From 1985 through 1994 I lived in Ottumwa, Iowa. I then moved to Columbia, Missouri for two years, and Marshall, Missouri for a year. While living in Columbia my husband and I divorced. In Marshall, I had a dream job as a clerk in Medical Records. It had chances for advancement and excellent benefits.
Suddenly, and without warning, in June of 1997, I needed open heart surgery. They had to crack my ribs and insert a metal heart valve. I was a single parent with serious health concerns and needed a family support system. My folks were exhausted making many trips down and back trying to oversee my son, me, etc. So Ryan (then aged 11) and I moved back to Rock Island in the fall of '97.
At the ripe old age of 40, I had emergency open heart surgery to have a metal valve replaced. They had to crack my ribs and insert a metal heart valve. I have many other medical problems that have come on after that particular surgery, including Fibromyalgia and short term memory loss from being hooked up to a heart lung machine. I am closely monitored by my Doctor in Iowa City, as well as their anticoagulant clinic.
Very seldom does a year go by without at least one hospitalization. This year has been awful. Was in ER Christmas Eve of '13, and had to be admitted for 5 days. The following February of 2014 I was in for surgery on my shoulder. (It hasn't worked and now they want to do a different procedure. No, not again. Thank you.) Had a nuclear stress test that showed the bottom of my heart was not getting enough blood flow. Went in for stents in late October and when they did the angiogram I didn't need them after all. (Seems the machine is known for giving MANY "false/positive" results. (Don't...Expand for more
you guys think it might be time to get a new machine?) Four days later I was taken back by ambulance at 3 AM and rushed into the ER and straight into surgery. Something went wrong with the artery in my leg that had had the angiogram. The artery was weak and started leaking blood into my leg every time my heart pumped. My leg was huge! They put a drain in and again I was hospitalized. I had several complications with this since I was released from the hospital, as the site wouldn't heal. It needed 3 doctors of different specialties, a Wound Clinic and a visiting nurse to cure it. I was finally well and released from all of those listed above in mid January of 2015.
I have gotten to watch grandchildren go to Rocky. Two have graduated (One with honors and a free ride to college studying to become a forensic pathologist!) in 2013 and another is a sophomore. There is a 9 year old and a one year old left to go through Rocky in the coming years. Then there are 3 in Davenport which is where they are going through school. That leaves one in Missouri who is 1 and will go to school down there where her daddy is. Wow. That is a bushel full, but being a grandma really is fun! Can't picture life without them!
I have had the opportunity to travel a lot quite a bit. I have been on three cruises to the Carribean, wintered in Texas a couple of years, and will be leaving February 20th, '15, for my 4th Vegas trip. During the summer months I am driving all over Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, and Nebraska visiting friends and relatives.
Eight years ago I bought a small home in the block behind Washington Jr. High School. I am 15 blocks from 3 grandchildren one way, 15 blocks from 2 grandchildren in an opposite direction, and 12 blocks from my mother in yet another direction. I never thought I would ever end up back in Rock lsland. While living in Ottumwa, Columbia, and Marshall, we had a weekend place on a lake in Missouri and drove round trip to it every weekend from March 1st through October 1st. I do miss Missouri and the lakes, the cities, the people, the scenery, and the seasons..... But, I'm back in Illinois for good.
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