On February 9th, our little sister was told she has breast cancer - Invasive Ductal Carcinoma. Her form of BC is an aggressive type which can't use standard hormone therapy for treatment. However, it usually responds positively to chemotherapy, so Nikki's oncologist has set up 16 rounds of chemo over the next 6 months. She'll begin with weekly chemo for 12 weeks, then a round every three weeks for another 12 weeks. Depending on how well she responds to the chemo will determine the treatment plan after chemo is complete, but it could include a lumpectomy, a mastectomy and/or radiation. As you can imagine, the diagnosis was a shock. But if you know Nikki at all, you know that she felt sorry for herself for about five minutes and then decided that SHE (and God AND her Nikki's Nation supporters) would determine the outcome of this diagnosis - cancer has no power over her. Her oncology/surgery/acupuncture team is top notch and she is confident in the plan of treatment. No matter how positive Nikki is, we can't let her do this alone. She has been the first one in line to help when we've needed her over the years - it's our turn to help her and her family. The first 12 weeks will be the most challenging with weekly chemo sessions. We imagine she'll need the most support during this time even though she is planning to put a few days a week in at Best Buy (mostly working from home). We anticipate that she will have four down days and two or three work days each week - but of course we won't know for sure until we see how her body reacts to the treatments. Thanks for being a friend and support to Nikki and her family. She appreciates your love, prayers and positive words. She is so, so grateful! Please feel free to reach out to me at 612.220.4641 or [email protected] - but of course talk to/text Nikki directly when she's feeling up to it. Thanks for being part of Nikki's Nation! Deb