YAY FOR RENEE!

We are re-opening this campaign because Renée has relapsed twice since last year and is now in Toronto undergoing a clinical trial, and hopefully a bone marrow transplant in Halifax if the trial is successful. She is a fighter!! And we have faith  that she will see this til the end! Here is the story from beginning to now---> On November  9th, 2013  Renée Martineau at the Age of 23 was working off- shore and developed a very bad infection in her leg. She returned from work and was immediately admitted to the hospital and was suddenly diagnosed with cancer of the blood. A rare type of acute Leukemia that they cannot sub-categorize. Shortly after, she underwent seven days of harsh chemotherapy and had been hospitalized at the Health Science Center in St. John's. On December 10th, the results of her bone marrow biopsy miraculously showed she was in remission (YAY!!). Renée had to undergo consolidation treatments of chemotherapy for several weeks , to keep her in remission. She waited for three months to find a  match for  bone marrow transplant. She was told she would  be traveling to Halifax first for a full assessment and consultation. When we met with the specialist from Halifax in St. John's  we were surprised to hear that he sounded  negative towards the transplant and that it was a life threatening procedure that  she should not risk being completely healthy. He said it was a 50% chance the Cancer would never return, and if she lived through the transplant,  she may never work again. We opted against the transplant and she was doing wonderful. She finally returned to work in late July, 2014 and worked two solid months off-shore ,12 hour shifts with a month break in between. She was ready to go back to school for Occupational health and safety on October 27th,2014.  She had  relapsed October 9th!! Two weeks before! This time it took almost 3 months and two different chemotherapy protocols before she attained remission. We were furious because the specialist had told us it might be harder to get into remission if she relapsed but didn't tell us our options would become limited. They said there were no more possible treatments for renee. We were relieved that she got her remission and would finally go to transplant. We went to Halifax and had the consultation and she underwent more testing.  We had her transplant scheduled and she relapsed a week before!!!! We were then told that there was nothing in terms of traditional treatment that the doctors could possibly do for her because she's had all of the chemo protocols, and giving her the same drugs simply won't work.  We are now in Toronto and she is participating in a clinical trial. This is an experimental drug, not yet approved by the FDA.  We have been here for three weeks and are paying for our own board and food. We will be here atleast another month and if she's in remission after this month we will yet again schedule a bone marrow transplant in Halifax, which takes another 4-6 weeks.  We haven't had this page advertised since last year, the donations we received went a long way and helped us tremendously. Any contribution  towards medical and travel expenses for Renée and her family would be greatly appreciated!  Help us say YAY! For Renée!