Daniel James Collier

COLLIER, SR, DANIEL JAMES, 53
Ocala - Daniel James Collier, Sr., 53, of Ocala, passed away March 26, 2011 at his home. Born in Richmond, VA, he came to this area 31 years ago from Daytona Beach, FL. He was a lifelong C.P.A. in Marion County and a member of Blessed Trinity Catholic Church. He is survived by his loving wife of 29 years, Irene C. Collier; daughter, Catherine of Houston, TX; sons: Daniel Jr., John and Andrew all of Ocala; brother, John G. Collier, III of Ocala and his aunt, Jane F. Boinest of Richmond, VA. A mass of the Resurrection will be held at 10 a.m. on Saturday, April 2, 2011 at Blessed Trinity Catholic Church, 5 S.E. 17th St., Ocala with Father Patrick J. Sheedy as celebrant. Following the mass, a reception will be held in the parish hall. The family requests that in lieu of flowers donation be made to either the Trinity Catholic High School Girls Basketball or the Endowment for Student Athletes, 2600 SW 42nd St., Ocala, FL 34471. The family also requests that all in attendance wear F.S.U. attire and blue jeans in honor of Dan.


http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/ocala/obituary.aspx?n=daniel-james-collier&pid=149827865

Goodbye Coach...

Today at 10:15am, Coach Dan Collier made his way to his new coaching assignment.

I love you Dad.

Because I am my Father's Daughter....

As most of you know, Dad is losing is battle with cancer. I hate to say losing, because Colliers never lose. The chemo was hell and the radiation was even worse. Half way through his second round of chemo and proton therapy, his cancer spread to the skin. Spreading to the skin is very rare but they still thought they could get it. They tried some radiation, which exhausted Dad. Then they went to the "tried and not so true" type of chemo. It was the FDA approved form of chemo, they weren’t really sure if it would work, but Dad was going to try it. Dad struggled with this type more than the rest. He went in for his final rounds of test, only to find that it did not work. Dad had a choice to make. He had to decide if he wanted to keep trying the hell that they call chemo, or.... He chose the “or…” and we are okay with that. Dad is nearing the end but he hasn't stopped being is same ole sarcastic self.

Now, please don’t be sad. See Colliers do not lose and Colliers certainly do not cry…So…this is how I see it...

God loves football, its true. How do I know? Don't you see all of those football players thanking God for helping them get a touch down? God is there…heck, He invented football.

Well, you see, God has two football teams in heaven, one being the team of Archangels called the Angels and the other the ragamuffin team, the Saints. See now, the Archangels are well, Angelic. They are perfect in every way, offense, defense, special teams? They have it! The Saints, well, not so much. How can you compete with Perfect? Most times, they barely get past the line of scrimmage. God was getting bored with always seeing the Saints get clobbered. It really is not much fun (believe me, I know, I went to St. John).

So, he started interviewing all the famous football coaches in heaven. He met with Woody Hayes and Paul William "Bear" Bryant, but both of them only wanted to recruit from Heaven and fire the rest of the players. God doesn’t like that. He likes fair, heck, He invented fair. So He thought and He thought, and He finally came up with an idea. He was going to call a coach to Heaven, one who always coached fairly, one who always let everyone play, even the worst of the worst. He decided to call Coach Dan Collier to Heaven.

God knew that my Dad was really struggling with the Chemo but he was fighting for his family, fighting so hard. God knew Dad was tired and just couldn’t do it much more. But Colliers never quit and they certainly do not fail. So God called him home, He can do that, He is God.

Soon my Dad will be working on plays, practicing with the team and getting them ready for Fall. He will be out of pain and will be in his element. I believe this, you should too.

Go Saints beat the Angels!!!!!

Update...

Dad got back from Chemo very late last night, so I am not sure how it went. Mom said it went well. I will update everyone this evening...

Lots of Love,
Kate

Drum Roll Please....

(Hold for applause)

(Still holding)

"Quiet Down People"

"People....please"

"Thank you, thank you!"

Hehehe.....Anyhoo...

Dad has been placed in "Arm B" of the trial, which means 4 rounds of extra kick butt cancer killers for free! Thats right people, free!! This also means that he will have 12 days between rounds, also meaning...Dad is coming home with Mom on Monday! Get excited people, the queen bee is returning with the king. Bzzzzzzz!

Dad will be home for about a week and half and will return to Houston for one full day and then back to Ocala again. After the four free chemo sessions, Dad will receive the standard round of chemo + radiation. After that, he has about a month and a half off and then... surgery. I have provided a timeline, cause I am good like that.

Enjoy.

PS. The port (pic line) went in really easily.

Lots of Love,

Kate

I will learn to love the waiting room...

Good Afternoon Readers!

I must apologize for the delay, yesterday was a very long day. Dad had appointments with both the Oncologist and the Radiologist. We are totally and completely armed with information! We even got to see Dad's CT Scans! I have seen my Dad's kidneys, pancreas, lungs, and liver! How FREAKIN cool is that?!

Dad is going to be participating in two clinical trials. The first one is a study on the effect of a round of chemo before the round of chemo and radiation (standard treatment). Dad will be randomly placed into either the experimental group or the standard treatment group. In either group he will receive this awesome new Chemo drug (along with the standard one 5-FU --insert chuckle here--). This new Chemo drug is just as kick cancer butt like Chuck Norris but does not make you as sick. Depending on what group he randomly is assigned to, he will either start chemo on Tuesday (experiment group) or a week from Tuesday (standard group).

He is also (depending on insurance) going to receive Proton therapy in lieu of regular radiation. Protons are so specific that they can target the tumor and only the tumor, sparing all of the healthy tissue around the tumor...like the heart, lungs, all those minor things... They are going to give Dad tattoos too! They want to make sure that they target the tumor in the exact same place every day, so they give you tattoos! After he is cured I am going to talk him into getting some sort of remembrance tattoo around/on them (he just doesn't know it yet)!

Here is a link with more info about Proton Therapy:
http://www.mdanderson.org/patient-and-cancer-information/proton-therapy-center/what-is-proton-therapy/benefits-of-proton-therapy/index.html


In any case, Dad will start treatment really quickly! He is going to receive a PIC line on Monday so that the Chemo will go directly to his heart. Mom is in charge of that appointment, so keep her in your prayers!

On another note Dad’s research nurse is phenomenal; her main goal is to make Dad comfortable! She looooveess those 'scripts!

I think I covered it all…maybe I will update more tonight! I have some great pictures from the day to add as well!

Lots of Love,
Kate

Uneventful

Goodness gracious, its late and I don't have much to say! Mom is here, she has already made suggestions for the redecoration of the house, still no idea what color the accent wall will be....Lord only knows!

Doctors appointments at 9am and 1:30pm...I will be sure to update.

Lots of Love,
Kate