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Our daughter and sister, Katie (Prechtl) Howell, is a warrior, and is up against her biggest battle, and we are hoping and asking for your help. She is a single mother with 4 children, Lily, John, Ben and Ellie between the ages of 7 and 17.

On May 29, 2025, Katie was diagnosed with Stage IV anal cancer with metastasis to her liver and lung. This diagnosis was a shock for her as she had had no significant symptoms leading up to the diagnosis. She started on chemotherapy 2 days after the diagnosis and her treatment journey has had its ups and downs over the last almost 6 months. We were so excited to learn that an immunotherapy that targets her specific cancer was approved by the FDA just 2 weeks before her diagnosis so that was brought into her protocol at her 2nd round of treatment. She has handled the treatments, side effects and everything that comes with it with such grace and positivity. In August, we were pleased to hear her scans showed regression of all tumors in her liver and lung and the primary tumor was gone. We celebrated that good news. This was short lived. She had started to notice leg pain that worsened over the next month, putting her back in the hospital due to severe pain and a drop foot. During that 10 day stay every scan imaginable was done, including a scan of her brain. Several small tumors were noted at that time. She was asymptomatic, and the doctors were unable to say if they were new or old since no prior scan had been done to compare to. They decided to monitor these tumors and only treat them if there was a change. In addition, inflammation in her pelvic area, near a cluster of nerves, was thought to be the source of her leg pain. A difficult decision was made to stop the immunotherapy as it may have been causing toxicity, leading to the inflammation. In October she had repeat scans of the brain and pelvis, both of which showed progression of her disease. A PET scan confirmed these findings, and also showed increasing disease in her liver. She has just completed a course of whole brain radiation, and started a course of radiation on her pelvis. Her oncology team stopped her original chemotherapy due to the progression, but is hoping to resume the immunotherapy soon and is considering other chemotherapy options for continued treatment.

To add to the stress of battling a terminal disease, Katie became unemployed in August. The company she had worked for for the last several years had pink-slipped her earlier in the year with a termination date in August, having downsized and eliminated her position. She had been actively looking for work prior to her diagnosis, and has continued since the diagnosis. She has taken interviews from her hospital bed, on her way to treatment, because she is determined to not let cancer win. With the recent radiation treatments, she has realized she needs to put all of her focus on healing, and not working. Her financial stresses are many with a mortgage, car payment, utilities, groceries etc. She is seeking 2nd opinions with other hospital systems, so travel expenses will become part of her needs.

Katie’s kids are her life and she is doing everything she can to keep their lives as normal as possible amidst this devastating diagnosis. They are all involved in extra-curricular activities and her oldest is applying to colleges. She recently traveled for a 3 college tour, refusing to let cancer steal these milestones from her family.

We are so grateful for the support she has received from our close knit family of cousins, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, brothers-in-law, friends, her former father-in-law Thomas and his partner Laurie. And last, but far from least, we are so thankful for her amazing partner Tim. He has stood by her side through the good, the bad, the ugly. Dropping everything to be with her every time she needs it most. Without each of these people the gravity of the last 6 months would have been impossible to bear.

We are now hoping to increase the size of her village with your support. Please donate what you can, please share her story far and wide, please continue to pray and send positivity into her universe.

As Katie says, she refuses to believe this is how her story ends.

(I, Nancy Prechtl (one of Katie's sister), started this fundraiser with my parents and siblings for our daughter/sister Katie Prechtl Howell, and now that she has passed, it will be used to support her kids. The funds collected will be used by her family to pay for her services, as well as helping support her children's education etc. Our sister Ellen Prechtl Hudgik is managing the bank account since Katie is not here to do so on her own.)