Pathology Report & Treatment-

HI all-

Rene's oncologist came in last night with the pathology results and a treatment plan. Finally! The cancer is advanced enough so that they are unable to tell the original source of the cancer. It is either uterine or cervical cancer- the good news is that they are both treated in the same manner.

The cancer is treatable, not curable. The miracle that we are looking for here is to combat that cancer into remission, so make that your mantra! :)

The doc said that since Rene has no other health issues, she has a huge advantage and a good chance to fight this cancer. This is a really big positive.

She begins chemo tomorrow, which is a 5-6 hour process. She will undergo 6 cycles of chemo at 3 weeks each. She will have the chemo at the beginning of each cycle, feel crumby for a few days, and then hopefully feel pretty good for a couple of weeks each cycle. They will take a CT scan at the end of the first and second cycles to make sure that the treatment plan in on track, or identify any changes they need to make.

Who knows Notre Dame ladies, she may be back on campus sooner than we thought! Keep that seat warm!

Rene is just beginning the fight of her life. This is the beginning of a very difficult process for her body and she will often feel weak, experience sleepless nights, soarness, nausea, hair loss, and possible infection. She needs your thoughts and prayers more than ever and she begins a journey to combat those tumors and lesions. She has a very large mass in her abdomen, another in her rib cage and smaller lesions throughout between her cervix and ribs. Cancer cells essentially feed from the body's nutrients, leaving none for the healthy cells to grow and prosper. Chemo will poison both her good cells and the cancer cells, hoping to kill the cancer cells first. Because Rene has been strong as an ox, her healthy cells have a strong chance of overcoming the cancer cells. This is the ultimate goal!

Thank you all for your support and keep it coming! We will continue to update you throughout each week on how things are going.

love,

Kristen, Jay, Cooper and Addison