2019 Warrior: Sarena Nourse

Sarena Nourse is a wife, mother of 3 precious children all under the age of 7 and a RN halfway through graduate school to become a CRNA (certified registered nurse anesthetist) when the unthinkable happened.

Here is her story as written by Sarena: Over the past six months, I have been enduring increasing pain in my right pelvis/hip. It was diagnosed as sciatic nerve pain, perhaps resulting from wearing a post-op shoe after bunion surgery. I did chiropractic, yoga, massage. After things didn’t get better I went to Twin cities orthopedics and got an MRI. Since the MRI appeared normal, muscle pain was considered. I got in touch with a specialist at Minneapolis clinic of neurology who diagnosed me with piraformis syndrome. Now I was noticing some swelling as well as pain. I received a cortisone injection but the pain continued to increase. Finally some neuro symptoms came into play. Loss of my axilles reflex, urinary retention, some right leg weakness. That got me a pelvic MRI with contrast that showed a 13x13x7 cm mass on my right sacrum that involved bone, soft tissue, and was “wrapped” around some nerves. That day was a blur: from a phone call with the radiologist, a pit stop in the Abbott ER and then a walk over to the MN oncology clinic we finally felt like we were getting some where or at least connected to people who could help. That same day I got a full body CT that showed a small 8mm nodule in my right upper lung. Over the weekend there was a lot of tears mixed with denial. Tuesday, March 26th, I had my sacrum and lung biopsied. Thursday, The 28th I officially received the news that I have Stage 4 Ewing’s Sarcoma with metastasis to the right lung. The treatment options are aggressive chemo to shrink the tumor then radiation or surgery depending on difficulty with nerve involvement. We have a meeting scheduled with a pediatric oncologist to coordinate care since the disease is typically a pediatric cancer. We have a second opinion at mayo in the scheduling phase. For the time being, grad school is on hold until we make more treatment decisions. we are moving ahead with appointments and screening to start chemo April 8th. The doctors at Mayo and MN Oncology all agree that chemo is the recommendation for the first course of action. After the first few rounds of chemo, they will look at other measures, which could include radiation with proton laser radiation/surgery.

Sarena is extremely grateful for all who have helped during her journey. She’s not done yet…

During the month of September, a portion of the proceeds from shopping all INDY Gear and Apparel will go directly to Sarena and her family. Shop now and be sure to mention her name in the comments section at checkout.