Give Renée Support in the Fight Of Her Life

My name is Celesse Hilliard-Clark and I am reaching out on behalf of my dear lifelong friend, Renee Johnson, who is facing the fight of her life against Multiple Myeloma, a devastating and incurable form of blood cancer.

Renee’s journey has been filled with challenges. For years, her symptoms were ignored or downplayed, delaying a critical diagnosis. As a result, her cancer has spread to nearly every bone and some organs. True to its nature, the cancer has attacked her spine and ribs first, eating through three vertebrae and one rib. While she underwent surgery to stabilize her vertebrae, there is no way to repair her rib, leaving her with spider web-like fractures and visible lesions throughout her spine and ribs.

A Lifelong Battle Ahead - Multiple Myeloma is incurable, but there is hope to put it into remission. Renee’s immediate goal is to be well enough to undergo a stem cell transplant, harvesting her own cells. Her treatment will involve a combination of chemotherapy, cancer-fighting medications, and radiation therapy to slow the spread, manage her pain, and repair the damage to her bones.

Renee’s care is being overseen by two teams of specialists:

Moffitt Cancer Center for treating the cancer directly. Lakeland Oncology for protecting and preserving her mobility by fighting to save her bones. Radiation therapy, which will take place from December 23 to January 3, cannot cure her cancer but can slow its progression and help repair her bones. Following this, Renee will begin an aggressive chemotherapy regimen in mid-January, lasting six months to a year, with ongoing testing to monitor her progress. If successful, she will undergo the painful process of harvesting stem cells and the subsequent transplant, followed by additional recovery and monitoring.

This fight will be long and grueling, but Renee is determined to endure it with her faith in Jehovah, and the support of her childen, grand children, in-laws, sister, neices, and friends.

The Unimaginable Burden Renee is battling not only her health but also financial and bureaucratic obstacles. United Healthcare has denied her much-needed PET scan, which would provide critical information about the activity of her cancer in each bone and serve as a baseline to assess the effectiveness of her treatment. She must now undergo another MRI instead, further delaying critical insights into her condition.

Additionally, she has been denied short-term disability. The financial strain of mounting bills, reduced income, and daily living expenses is overwhelming.

Renee Matters Renee has spent her life caring for others. Her grandchildren are her greatest joy, and her love and devotion to them inspire her to keep fighting. Renee is a woman of deep faith, resilience, and quiet strength, who has often found solace in her prayers to Jehovah. For those who truly know her, she is a loyal friend and a keeper of memories—a person whose life and story deserve to be remembered for the love and goodness she has brought to others.