The Colon Club

For those of us who remember Nikki, she passed away on 21st of July, age 42.

http://www.startribune.com/obituaries/d ... le-(umlauf)-ritzschke


Play the Game
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=50203


If you find yourself alone, riding in green fields with the sun on your face,
do not be troubled; for you are in Elysium

Merry meet, so sad to part
but merry meet again.

Wow, so sad. I do remember her. My condolences to her friends and family.


A bad week around here...

I was just wondering about her last week . Too young for sure .
Thinking of her husband and daughter at this difficult time .
Stu

This is terrible, Nik was so young. She was very active at one time on here, I spoke with her quite a bit. She really struggled mentally at times trying to deal with this horrible disease...

What a horrible week, such beautiful people were taken...

May God rest her soul...

I am saddened to read this.

I know that she had difficulty and stopped communicating on the public forum. I hope that some of what has been written here has helped her along the way. Sometimes people are quite, but participate by reading and relating to other's experiences. If you can share, please do. Nik Colon was one who I always suspected to be watching and listening from a distance.

RIP Nik, you are not alone, and are with the many brave souls who have passed before you.
My thoughts are with your family during this difficult time.
WS

WarriorSpouse wrote:I hope that some of what has been written here has helped her along the way.

Or not.
The latest virtuous attack on Nik was rather vicious.

jortego128 wrote: She was very active at one time on here, I spoke with her quite a bit. She really struggled mentally at times
trying to deal with this horrible disease...

May God rest her soul...

Nikki received her diagnosis on 12 December 2014 and wrote that it was a relief for her to have a diagnosis of a visible disease
process that most everyone would understand and she wasn't going totally around-the-twist after all! She was very candid about the challenges she
- and her whole family - lived with. The discussions she initiated drew interesting perspectives from other members, such as the
below from behconsult, a psychologist:

ALL HUMANS have there own garbage that frequently started before their age of 18 and to some extend remains unaware of it. This "garbage" is frequently multifaceted with regard to beliefs and themes about self, perceptual shifts/projections about what others believe about them and the like. This "complex" gets triggered by only certain things. When this stuff gets activated by current life junk like cancer, finances, isolation, and the like it takes a larger then life experiences and painful. We create stories we tell ourselves about our future, past, self and others that are frequently painful and in themselves cancerous or toxic. It is a process problem and not a content problem.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=52755&start=15


Nikki spoke up about her experiences as mental health awareness and stigma reduction is at it's most powerful when somebody
shares their personal story. I can remember a time when cancer was 'taboo' and people would keep their diagnosis secret for fear of being
shunned or perceived as having a disgusting contagious affliction. The work continues behind the seen with the array of mental health conditions.

Thank you Maggie for the update. I have always liked her, for sometime she was the welcome wagon around here.

I will miss here. My thoughts and prayers go to her husband, her daughter and any other family members or friends.

RIP Nik Colon,

Lee

Another sad loss to absorb in reading of Nik’s passing.

Nik’s posts and writings were infused with her personal passion. I was always impressed by her bare-to-the-bone honesty on the topic of mental health.

Like Nik, I shuffled from physician to physician for several months seeking a diagnosis for a garden of symptoms before being accurately diagnosed with Addison’s. Nik understood the personal toll of being dismissed by physicians and the anguish that accompanies being misdiagnosed or undiagnosed. I appreciate that Nik gave light to what it means to be the person behind a misdiagnosis and the quest for legitimacy and validation.

Nik . . . Please know that your voice was heard.

Gentle prayers,
Karen

Nik seemed to be a very pleasant person, she was always wanting to help others get through their journey. I remember reading threads that had multiple pages and most of the posts were Nik's. She was just thanking everyone who would reply to her post with a simple Thank You. What was very clever was when she went from ritz75 to Nik Colon because her name was Nicole Lynn. I always remembered that. She just seemed to disappear from posting I always wondered where she went.

RIP Nik

I am very sorry. I remember Nick very well. She was very active in 2015 when I got diagnosed and struggled with my disease.
Nick tried to help others as much as she could dealing with her own anxiety.
RiP dear Nick!

muskokamike wrote:..... then she just seemed to disappear from posting I always wondered where she went.

I believe I owe it to Nik to set the record straight about something.
Nik and I exchanged MANY PMs and FB messages about a lot of things. She was a creative soul, wore her heart on her sleeve and was passionate about life ... hers and others.

At one point there were
"differences of opinion" here on the forum, and as has been alluded to above, she was on the receiving end of intense criticism.

We chatted and she actually decided that, like kennyT, she was kind of "... drawn like a moth to a flame..." to the impact and intensity of this very forum whether positive or negative ... just drawn to the forum.

She asked that her account be deleted.
I told her we could deactivate it but that her contribution and memory HERE is part of what makes this forum THIS FORUM
and that her posts would continue to be part of what drew her here.

She agreed, despite being the recipient of less than "supportive" comments on what should BE the world's BEST SUPPORT FORUM.
That was just another part of who she was.

Her posts here have drawn us together, so I am glad she decided to continue to be a part of the forum, a minority of which, drove her away.

Nik ... your posts and the love we feel for you
Live On

WORD !

CRguy

So sad to lead of Niks passing. I often traded advice with her and i missed her so much when she left, I searched hed her out on facebook. She always tried to reach out and help others on the forum. I assume was was the same in real life. Rest in peace, Nik.

So very sad to hear of Nik's passing! My deepest condolences to her family and friends.

Like many of us, Nik was one of the first to reply to me 2.5 years ago. I was so grateful and felt an immediate kinship with her. I was very sad when she had the lung recurrence and when she abruptly left here. I hope she had peace in her final months and wish much peace to her family.