Ok,  so those of you who know my family personally,  may know of my mom Steve Harvey obsession.  When my friend Vonna and I found out that he filmed his talk show in Chicago,  we set out on a campaign to get her tickets to his show!  Vonna and I wrote Twitter, Facebook, his show… Anything we could think of and we wrote multiple times. We did request ticketson the website,  but even that was not answered.  So I layed it all out in a personal letter from my heart hoping that would do the trick… Crickets!  Nothing from the show.  We just want tickets for them Steve!  Not cool… Seriously,  not cool!!

Here was the last message I sent.  

Hello, I sent this message via facebook a week ago.  I haven’t heard a response and was hoping someone would see this and help me give a small gift to my parents.  A gift of time away from me and my chemo 🙂

Hi,  my name is Colleen  and I am writing you to ask for a favor.  My mom Marianne  is a huge Steve Harvey fan.  Along with my dad, she is also my rock.    

At the age of 25,  I lost my fiancé Jason and his father Dan in tower 1 of the WTC during the terrorist attacks on  9/11/2001.  That was the first of many times my parents dropped everything to stand by my side as we all tried to grasp what horror hit our family.  They helped me pick my life up and gave me the strength and encouragement to fulfill a lifetime dream of becoming a mother.  I waited 3 years to adopt my daughter Rosemary.  Just before we were set to travel,  my mother was diagnosed with esophageal cancer.  My mother fought and beat that horrific disease in order to be there to help me raise my daughter.  Her and my father retired soon after Rosemary came home and when my job transferred me to Texas from NY,  they made the decision to move with me.  They lived in the same town for 65 years.  A town where they knew everyone and were comfortable with the life they made.  The made the decision without looking back.  

20 months ago we were dealt another blow.  I lost hearing in my right ear and went to my ENT to see what the problem could be. He sent me for an MRI and the results shocked us all, but my parents took it the hardest.  The results of the MRI showed multiple lesions on my brain in line with demylating disease…. In other words… I had multiple sclerosis.  This was 20 months ago.  20 months of sporadic blind periods, severe pain, walking issues, balance and speech problems.  I’ve tried just about all the medications available to halt the progression of this disease and I  failed each of them. With each failed medication, I began to lose hope that I would have a normal life.  Through all of this both my parents made sure I was taken care of and more importantly,  my daughter had the life that I dreamed for her.  After I failed my last medications in September,  I asked my neurologist about HSCT, a stem cell transplant procedure that was in phase 3 of a trial.  I was familiar with the transplant procedure as the year before my best friend had undergone it for Leukemia.   I had read all about Dr Richard Burt in Chicago. He  pioneered the use of this procedure for autoimmune diseases.  The results are amazing and for the first time ever,  those of us with MS have a real hope for a long term remission and possibly even a cure.  I applied in October,  received an evaluation and was accepted in January and Monday, I found out I had 6 days to get to Chicago for 2 months.  My parents are right by my side.  Knowing what is ahead of me in these months,  I can not begin to express how blessed I am to have such wonderful parents.

People offer hear my story and comment on how strong they think I am,  but the truth is… I am only strong because I have amazing parents who lifted me up each and every time I fell.  I am very very blessed.  God gave me them,  my fiancés’ wonderful mother and brothers (who have both relocated to Texas to be near my daughter and I), and family and friends who love me and support me even if I have to hobble around on on a cane or can’t remember their name.  That is why this favor I ask is so important to me.

My mother is a huge Steve Harvey fan.  She talks about his shows all the time.  We all tease her because you would think they were close personal friends.  Many nights as I lay sleepless in bed,  I can hear her laughing at family feud or telling someone on the phone “what a sharp dresser” Steve is.  The next 2 months are going to be so hard for my parents.  I will undergo chemo therapy and a stem cell harvest before eventually getting the cells transplanted back into me.  They will watch helpless once again while I fight for normalcy.  As a mother,  I know that is so much harder then the journey I will take.  Please,  grant me the favor of having my parents see a taping of the Steve Harvey Show while we are here in Chicago(2/23-4/18) I know that it will delight my mother beyond words and that in itself will delight my father.  Please give them this gift for me.  I will forever be grateful.

Colleen
www.remissiontocure.com

I mean,  I would totally give me tickets if I read that.  Not cool Steve Harvet Show people,  not cool