In 1964 my family and I moved from San Francisco to Petaluma. I attended McKinley, Kenilworth, and graduated from Petaluma High School in 1970. I married Robert Collins Jr. in 1972 and we have two children, Tom and Janeice. Our children attended St. Vincent’s grammar and they both graduated from St. Vincent’s High School. Tom works as a police officer for the city of San Rafael, and Janeice works for Cinema West Cinemas, in Petaluma. I have two grandchildren, one in Petaluma and one in Albuquerque, New Mexico. For the last 15 years I have worked for Bank of Petaluma. While working for Bank of Petaluma I volunteered to help in various functions held by the Boys Club, PFO and the Carousel Fund. I also participated in the Butter & Eggs Days with the Bank of Petaluma.

In the year 2000 I was diagnosed with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia. This disease can be controlled for a while with chemotherapy. In 2002 I had my first treatment and then again in 2005. July 2007 I became very ill and chemotherapy was very hard for me to have and I could no longer work at my job and I was placed on disability.

Now I am waiting for a stem cell transplant, which will be performed at Stanford Medical Center in Palo Alto, Ca. For the transplant, Stanford goes through a bone marrow donor bank and I have been notified in January that they have found three matches.

The transplant is a very long process. I will have to live at Stanford for three months and have 24 hour care provided by my family and friends. Although Kaiser Permanente covers the transplant there are expenses I will have to cover out of pocket. There will be co-pays for my medicine and hospital stays and office visits and blood tests every day.

Having this transplant will give me a fifty-fifty chance of a full recovery, or a very good chance of a remission. This is my one chance to beat this disease.

Thank you for listening to my story.