Redwood City, CA
1-800-348-8911

Mary Hollomon

01/28/06

Note from 911 Cares:

This activation is a perfect example of "dispatchers helping dispatchers." Please print and post this activation and send cards or donations. There is an address listed below along with contact information.

Thanks! 911 CARES.

I am requesting a 911 Cares activation for one of our dispatchers, Mary Hollomon. Mary has been a dispatcher with us since 1995. Mary is one of those people who quietly does her job (very well) and is a delight to be around. I dubbed her "Little Mary Sunshine."

Just before Christmas 2004, she was not feeling well. On Christmas Eve 2004 she was hospitalized with a "bowel obstruction" Emergency surgery on December 26, 2004, revealed colon cancer which required her to have a colostomy. She was in ICU for a week and got to go home after another week's stay. Amazingly, she returned to full-time dispatch 4 weeks after her surgery.

She never missed a day's work in 2005, even through 6 weeks' radiation and 6 months of chemo. A port in her right shoulder also allowed her to work with a chemo bag attached for 48 hours at a time. In November, she had done so well that the doctors thought her colostomy could be reversed.

In doing all the preliminary testing, an ultrasound was taken showing what was thought to be an ovarian cyst. When the surgeon began her operation on December 19, his plan was to remove the cyst first, then proceed with the reversal. He found not a cyst, but a malignant mass on her ovary. In addition, he said it looked like someone poured a bottle of glue" into her abdomen. He had to remove not only both ovaries, but half of her intestine as well.

Once again, she was in ICU for a week, then in a room for another week. About 6 days after her discharge, she was feeling really bad. Her sister took her to the doctor, and blood tests showed she had renal failure. Her kidneys shut down, requiring another hospital stay.

She is at home recuperating, and her oncologist wants to begin chemo again at the end of February. Mary wants to come back to work because she is single and cannot afford to be off for a long time, plus she says that she would rather come back to work and deal with someone else's problems instead of sitting at home thinking about her own. Unfortunately, she is not bouncing back from this ordeal as easily, and she seems discouraged.

Our center is small (Director and 6 dispatchers), and we are like a family. It's tough to watch a family member go through something like this and sometimes even hard to know what to do to help. Our agency is covering the cost of her health insurance, and our dispatchers are putting a very small amount of money together to help her out. Any donation from the friends at 911 Cares would be wonderful.

Additionally, notes or cards and donations can be sent to Mary Hollomon, c/o Obion County 911, P.O. Box 866, Union City, TN. 38281. Mary checks to Mary Hollomon.

THANK YOU!

Sherri Fisher Hanna, Executive Director
Lori Cox, Assistant Director
Nancy Morrison, Dispatcher
Lee Ann Lewis, Dispatcher
David G. "Little Fish" Fisher, Dispatcher
Brandy Davis, Dispatcher

Obion County 911
P.O. Box 866
426 S. Home St.
Union City, TN 38281
731-885-3316
FAX: 731-885-9455
Email: obioncounty911@bellsouth.net

Return to Top
Return to Home Page