Dawn Arnold:
CLASS OF 1989
Greeley Central High SchoolClass of 1989
Greeley, CO
Aims Community CollegeClass of 1993
Greeley, CO
Maplewood Middle SchoolClass of 1989
Greeley, CO
Heath Junior High SchoolClass of 1989
Greeley, CO
Greeley West High SchoolClass of 1989
Greeley, CO
Dawn's Story
Well the first 10 years out of high school, were a little bit rocky here and there... but over all by the 10 year reunion, things could not have been better for me. Things were wonderful, I was happy with a wonderful man, Sean Colton. Had two wonderful and beautiful children, Cody VanDoren born in 1990, and Kelsi Colton born in 1997. I had a great dream job, where i was at the top of my game, got to travel and the pay was great, for 1996-2001!...
But then, probably the worst of all nightmares happened. The stuff that happens in the movies, and most defiently not to us!... in August of 1999, our baby girl, Kelsi was diagonsed with Neurobalstoma, an agressive childhood cancer of the nervous system, she was not even 2 years olds yet, her big brother Cody was only 8.
Our world was turned upside down. Nothing in my life has been or ever will be the same again! Chemo, Surgery, Bone Marrow Transplant, Radiation, you name it, she went through it. She had tubes that were implanted directly into her chest for medicine and into her belly for food. We even took her to Philidelphia for experimental treatment, which helped some, but was far from a cure.
She was the strongest and bravest person iv ever known (my angel, my hero). She fought her cancer, everyday, most of the time, you wouldnt even know she was sick, except for her shiny bald head, because her hair fell out from the chemo.
She didn't know that she was sick...She was amazing, she was the light at childrens hospital, every nurse and doctor just loved her and her spirt, she was everyones favorite! She went into remission for what they called 8 months...and we made the best of every day that we could, doing as many things and exposing her to as much as we could, she honestly did more in her short little life, then most get to do in a whole life time, (well maybe not a life time) but she got to do so many things, go so many places, and meet so many people, who loved her and all that she was about.
I was able, to stay home, almost the whole time to be with her and care for her, or be up at the hospital with her, thanks to my wonderful job, at Startek they contunued to pay me and allowed me to work when i could, from home, so we could also keep kelsi's health insurance.
It was the toughest, yet mo...Expand for more
st wonderful almost two years of our lives...She fought so hard for almost two years...Until the cancer just became too strong, and she became too weak and she lost her battle on June 29, 2001, at just 3 1/2 years old. My life was devisteted and destroyed.
My son, had by that time moved entirley in with his dad...taking care of kelsi had consumed all of our time, and so much of it was in the hospital, we even had to move to Denver during her Bone marrow transplant, that he needed to be at his dads, to continue school and a normal life. But when kelsi passed away, i had pretty much lost him too....
Then Sean and I struggled to understand why this had to happen to us, to kelsi...things were rocky for sure, on again, off again....we suffered so much with our loss. And then just as we were approching the year anniversary of kelsi's death, and how we were coping with it....in May of 2002, Sean passed away in a camping accident, and that was just about the end for me...i lost my family, my job, my drivers liscense, my sanity, my world....how was my life ever going to be the same, or even bearable?
Well.. My life is still not the same, and i know it never will be. But I would have never dreamed that my life would be here, now? Basically Nowhere... I am truly a lost soul still. I have continued to struggle through, yet more of lifes tough times.... The wrong men, being alone, moving countless times, searching for compaionship, and even friendship to find that no one is true anymore. Money problems, Troubles with the law, and with major to mild depression, have continued to create job issues and many more problems.... Sometime i never see an end in site?
As of today April 16, 2008 I am very close to being released from probation after nearly 3 years. I have spent 2 yrs in thearpy, trying to cope with all of my pain and loss. I have found a few true friends who i know that i can count on when i need them. I have discovered a hidden talent of mural painting, which i am trying to work into a career now. I have recently gotten my drivers license and a car, after nearly 6 years without one.
Although, i try to think postive, and still believe in love, life and happiness, my struggles continue...as i just try to survive each and every day, and find a reason!
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