As the odds against Cheyenne Reno continue to mount, Chelsea Reno finds solace from an unexpected source of inspiration. THE FAMILY recently lost Chelsea’s health insurance because she could not afford the premiums.
That’s Cheyenne.
“That’s the thing,” Chelsea said. “She is always in such a great spirit. She’s always happy.”
Cheyenne Reno, 5, is battling embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare form of cancer that started with a tumor in her sinus cavity. She was diagnosed in early 2014.
The tumor is inoperable, rendering the young Piqua girl blind in one eye.
News grew more distressing in late May, when doctors at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Mo., found the cancer had spread to Cheyenne’s legs.
Cheyenne can no longer walk.
“She’s in a wheelchair,” said Chelsea, speaking over the weekend at a large rummage sale on her daughter’s behalf in Humboldt. “She can’t use the bathroom by herself.”
The ongoing medical issues have pinched the Reno family financially.
Both Chelsea and Justin Reno — Cheyenne’s father — have essentially quit working to care for their daughter, and to transport her to the hospital in Kansas City for weekly treatments.
The spreading cancer prompted a new round of chemotherapy.
“We’re trying to find a dime here, a penny there,” Chelsea said. “That’s why we had the rummage sale.”
The Renos are anxiously awaiting word whether Cheyenne can be treated at a children’s hospital in Dallas, where a specialist in rhabdomyosarcoma could see Cheyenne.
“As far as her cancer is advancing, I’m scared of what they’ll do,” Chelsea said.
She noted doctors in Kansas City recently found lesions on Cheyenne’s lungs, but have opted against another biopsy, for fear the procedure could cause that, too, to spread.
“I’d like to hear a second opinion from the Dallas specialist,” Chelsea said.
An employee at Gates Corporation, Chelsea in recent weeks has not worked, but remained a company employee, through the Family Medical Leave Act.
However, Chelsea has used up her designated FMLA allotment, and now is on another form of medical leave.
But while she’s employed, Chelsea is not working — and thus, not getting paid.
“I hate to say this, but it’d almost be better if they fired me,” she said, “so we can get some form of unemployment.”
Chelsea also is anxiously awaiting word of whether Cheyenne will receive state assistance for health insurance, such as Medicaid.
Prior to this, Chelsea’s job put her family income too high to receive state assistance.
“Right now, we’re between a rock and a hard place,” she said.
Friends have set up a GoFundMe website for donations. Funds can be sent to www.gofundme.com/v9qem4c.
Fundraising efforts continue for youth
