Riverside graduate’s benefit set for Saturday

Darcie Colwell Tigner, a 1997 graduate of Riverside High School, is fighting stage four colon cancer. The cancer metastasized into her liver. 

She currently is the director of nurses at the Wyoming Retirement Center (WRC).  The WRC is hosting a benefit yard and bake sale this Saturday from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. 

The funds will go toward Tigner’s travel to Billings and Houston as well as a liver transplant if Colwell qualifies. She would have to spend two months at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston after the transplant. 

Next week she finds out if she qualifies for trial treatment at MD Anderson. If she qualifies, her colon will be sectioned. The colon is where the original tumor was found. There will also be a liver transplant. 

Tigner travels to Billings every other week for chemotherapy at the Billings Clinic for Oncology. This is where she was first diagnosed with terminal cancer. The doctor urged her to get additional opinions.  She then went to MD Anderson. Her doctor there worked out a treatment plan which was sent to Billings. She goes back to Houston for scans every two months. 

After high school Tigner went to Miles Community College to get her RN degree. She then went to Boise State for her bachelor’s degree. She is currently working on her master’s. 

Tigner said that the WRC has been wonderful and flexible. She can work from home as needed after chemotherapy. She added that “chemo brain is a real thing. When speaking I mean to say one word and a completely opposite word comes out. It is the weirdest thing. It is a brain fog.” 

She has some words of advice for others regarding their health: “When you see or feel something that is different especially when you are getting older don’t ignore it. Being a nurse I just poo-pooed it off. At the first sign of change, I thought it was a gluten or lactose intolerance. I took those out of my diet, and I felt better. “

The signs continued and got worse until she thought “I can’t poo-poo off a GI bleed. My mind never went to cancer. It went to diverticulitis or colitis. I’ve never been a cancer nurse, so my mind went to what is enterally wrong not cancer.” 

 If you are unable to attend the event on Saturday, an account has been established at Security State Bank. It is the Darcie Tigner Medical Fund.