Support Renee Hillyer in Her Journey to Healing

Dear Friends, Family, and Kind-hearted Strangers…

I’d like to tell you about my friend, Renee. I have known Renee since 8th grade, when she moved to New Springfield. Shortly after high school, Renee was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma and underwent successful treatment. She married her husband, Jerry, in 1991. They went on to have three boys and are now the proud grandparents to two grandsons and a granddaughter. Renee is a para-educator, working with special needs students. Jerry is a teacher for the blind. Anyone who knows Jerry and Renee knows how hardworking and giving they are. They feel very blessed and praise the Lord for each day.

In the fall of 2023, Renee started having episodes where she would pass out. It took months of doctors’ visits and testing to diagnose her. She had three heart procedures last year in less than a month, resulting in two stents to open her artery and a pacemaker to keep her heart in rhythm. It’s suspected her heart condition could be a result of the cancer treatment she underwent in her late teens.

Renee was doing well until this past fall. After some debate between the doctors, she had surgery in January to remove her gallbladder. Since then, her hemoglobin has dropped and her white count has increased. Doctors can’t find a source of the infection. For nearly the past two weeks, Renee has been in ICU at the Cleveland Clinic. She is in heart failure and needs a mitral valve and aortic valve replacement, a tricuspid valve repair, bypass surgery, and a new pacemaker. First, however, they need to treat her infection and raise her hemoglobin.

Renee has had to take a leave of absence from work and Jerry has taken time away from work as well to be by Renee’s side, to love and support her. This is just the latest of multiple times Renee has had to stop working in the past couple of years. While they have medical insurance, they still have the normal day-to-day living expenses that need to be met.

Renee’s recent journey has been nothing short of a rollercoaster; emotionally, physically, and financially. Through it all, they have relied heavily on their faith and love of family and friends.

I’m setting up this fund on behalf of her friends. We have offered our help in the little ways that we can, but we wanted to be able to do more. It is not easy to ask for help, and Renee and Jerry never would on their own.

Usually on the giving side, right now Renee needs OUR kindness and generosity. Please consider supporting Renee, whether through a donation, providing meals once she’s home from the hospital, or the simple act of your prayers. This can allow her family to focus on what truly matters – her recovery.

With gratitude,

Friends of Renee