My wife, Jill Spieldenner, was diagnosed with Grade 3 Metaplastic breast cancer on December 23, 2025.

We received the call at 5:45 PM the day before Christmas Eve. It hit like a punch to the gut.

In August, Jill had a routine mammogram and it came back clear. In October, she started to have pain in her left breast and booked a meeting with our primary care provider. They did an ultrasound, a follow-up mammogram, and ordered a biopsy.

We caught it early, but this is a very rare (less than 1% of all cases) and aggressive form of cancer. It had spread to the lymph node under her armpit, but fortunately, has not spread beyond that.

We have two teenagers at home along with two adult children who have blessed us with 3 grandsons.

The cancer is aggressive, so our treatment plan will be also. Your support will help with costs not covered by insurance and the fuel we need for all the additional driving we will have.