Help support Katie Hannasch (Meltzer) fight cancer

My best friend Katie Hannasch has just been diagnosed with cancer, stage 4 soft tissue sarcoma. She’s 31, an amazing mother of two sweet, sweet boys - John, 5, and William, 3. She is selfless and full of love, creativity, and spunk, as you’d hear from her middle school students. Dedicated is just one word to describe this woman who puts all of her love into everything she does, whether it be making fun homemade pizzas with her boys on a weekend, being a listening ear for her students beyond her required responsibilities, or coaching volleyball for her school in Browns Valley. She is full of faith and ready to fight this cancer HARD in desperation to stay on this earth with her babies, husband, family, friends, and students. She’s far too young, and her boys and husband need her dearly. I need her dearly. This will be a long journey of hardships, and I’m just hoping we can all join together to alleviate the financial burden this cancer will cause so that she can focus on fighting this fight. Please, please consider donating and share this page to help reach as many people possible . The story of her diagnosis is on caringbridge. I’ve provided the story in her words here, but please visit the site directly to follow her journey: https://caringbridge.org/visit/katiehannasch In Katie’s words: I was given devastating news today. I have stage 4 sarcoma. This is not what any 31 year old, seemingly healthy, busy mother of two young boys and teacher about to enter a new school year expects to hear. I have had a painful spot in my leg for about five years. It started out very small and didn’t cause me much pain. I attributed it to sleeping in goofy positions after being up all night with little babies who didn’t like to sleep. I brought it up with my OB/GYN and she wasn’t concerned. In the last  six months it has grown rather large and very painful. This led me to mention it at my yearly exam. Since the lump was now clearly visible and was so painful it was waking me up at night and causing me to limp, the doctor ordered an X-ray. The X-ray showed that the lump, whatever it was, was not associated with my bone. At this point, a CT scan was ordered. This showed the lump a little clearer- the radiologist estimated about 14.5 cm x 5.5 cm. However, since contrast dye wasn’t used, it wasn’t very clear. Around this time, I also noticed several lumps in my groin that were very swollen. The doctor ordered an MRI to check my leg and another CT scan to check my abdomen and pelvis. The MRI showed what the radiologist believed to be a sarcoma- a soft tissue cancerous mass about 18.5cm x 6.5cm x 2cm. The CT scan showed no cancer in my abdomen but since the scan happened to catch the lower part of my lungs, the radiologist noticed several spots of cancer in my lungs- indicating stage 4 sarcoma. I met with the doctor and he explained that this was not a good situation and that the prognosis wasn’t great. He set me up with an oncologist at the Roger Maris Cancer Center in Fargo. I had another CT scan today to check my lungs. I met with the oncologist today. He showed me the chest scan and there were many areas of cancer all over my lungs. We came up with a plan to biopsy the mass on my leg on Friday and insert a port to start chemotherapy as soon as the biopsy results come back. We will fight this and our first goal is to shrink the cancer in my lungs.  “Stage 4” is scary and I know the prognosis is grim to doctors and on paper. However I am a woman of very strong faith. I believe in miracles and the power of prayer. Please, please pray that the spots in my lungs shrink. Please pray for peace for my family, my sweet little boys and my husband. We are struggling to grasp this, to wrap our heads around what is happening.   Thank you so much for your prayers and to those of you who have already reached out. It means more to me than you know.