Woman diagnosed with breast cancer talks journey with treatments while her cow friend helps along the way

It's unusual to treat a cow like a pet, mostly they are treated as livestock in Colorado, preparing to be shown or sold off to market. 

It's unusual, but not unheard of. 

Rene Janiece has been dubbed the cow whisperer of Cederedge by her neighbors, in a small town on the western slope of Colorado. She's looking after a few of the animals, but her especially close bond is with one "Remy" who she's helped raise since he was a small calf. 

Remy was unable to walk correctly and Rene offered his owner help to get his muscles moving again since there were cows living on the property they were renting at.

"I went down, it was bottle feeding and I saw that its legs were all bent and buckled over and he was having a hard time walking."

In 2019, Rene was having a difficult time walking at that time too. She had recently been diagnosed with breast cancer and later, was re-diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer, a rare, more aggressive version of the disease. 

Rounds of chemotherapy had taken a toll on Rene, but seeing that cow and helping him to heal inspired her to keep going through the treatment. 

"I stayed here and I would go down two or three times a day and sit with this little calf," she said. "I would work his legs, I'd do stretches and try to keep him moving and I would sing to him and he would lay down and put his head on my knees."

This kind of bonding continued as the steer grew up. The animal began to expect time with Rene and over time, was able to walk normally again. 

Rene also recovered, but the cancer came back. The treatment would leave her exhausted, but she continued to make her trips down to see Remy.

"I'd have two hours of recoup, you know, we'd go and I'd hike and I'd find him and we'd sit. And when I got home, that was it," Rene said. 

She feels conflicted about how people look at her now that she's fighting a disease that may take her life in the end. 

"People don't intend it to be dismissive of it, but it's, 'oh, we are all done now, right? Oh, but you'll be done and then you'll all be better,'" she said, with a smile. "You get on with your life and I have to question if anyone gets on with their life."

 Right now, her life is just that; treatments, time with Wayne, her husband and the cows. She knows her time might be limited. 

"We've had other friends who, yeah, had cancer, who were doing fine and all of a sudden, I mean, yeah, it was a few weeks and that's just like, Wow. OK," she said. 

But she intends to make the most of it and make sure Remy and the other cows she looks after are never sold for meat. 

"My goal is, you know, for them never to become somebody dinner, they're more than that," she said. 

As for why she keeps going, she says it's all about your direction and how you spend your energy. 

"Is it artwork? Is it music? Is it a person? Is it a cow? You know? And I don't know that it matters so much. What matters is picking something or allowing something to find you and giving your heart to it," Rene said. 

If you would like to follow along with her journey, click here.