Celebrating the Life of Matthew Amelung
Donation protected
Friends and family,
I am starting this GoFundMe in honor of my late husband, Matthew Amelung.
From the day Matthew was diagnosed in January 2016, he fought daily to continue to be here for us, provide for us and make the most out of every day. The first time he went into remission, we were hesitant but so, so relieved. We had our beautiful wedding, we (begrudgingly!) adopted another cat that he swore I didn’t “just find outside,” and life resumed to fighting over who had to do the dishes.
Unfortunately, Matthew was diagnosed with metastatic melanoma in April 2018 and fought tirelessly for seven months. In November 2018, he had his first scan following chemotherapy and his doctor said the best words we could ever hear, “Resolved.” No spots, no cancer, it was gone. We spent the next few months celebrating. I threw him a surprise birthday party, we spent Christmas with our family and celebrated New Years. We both made a resolution to make 2019 the most boring year ever, but we only made it 16 days.
On January 16, 2019, Matthew had a seizure and was rushed to the hospital. After many scans and hours of waiting, we found out his cancer was back, this time in his brain. A few weeks later, he started whole-brain radiation and doctors were hopeful we could get ahead of it. He was constantly sick and spent days in bed but he still worked hard to provide for us and his clients. On top of being sick, he developed memory issues but was mostly back to being his brilliant, talented, funny self.
It wasn’t until June that Matthew had really started to not feel well. His memory loss was more severe, he had cognitive impairment issues, and he had developed a tremor in his right hand.
After a trip to the Emergency Room on June 13th, Matthew was admitted to Mercy South Hospital. After multiple tests, scans and bloodwork, his doctors told us that he had developed Leptomeningeal Disease. This disease effects about 3% of cancer patients and at this time has no cure. In addition to Leptomeningeal Disease, his MRI showed new tumor growth in his brain.
Over the next two weeks of being in ICU, we would continue to learn just how devastating this disease truly was. Matthew’s doctors worked so hard to give us more time with him, but chemotherapy and immunotherapy showed no progress.
On June 21st, we were told Matthew would be moving to hospice and that our time with him would be limited to days.
During those last few days, Matthew’s friends and family poured into the hospital room and filled it with stories, tears of laughter and tears of sadness. We spent hours retelling stories of wild nights (some we could have lived without ever knowing about!) and childhood memories. He would have been so proud to see just how many people showed up.
On June 26th, Matthew passed away surrounded by his family and friends. This has been truly devastating to our family, friends, and music community. Matthew was a wonderful husband, son, brother, and uncle, and an absolute musical genius. He loved to create music and made it his life.
We knew the most authentic way to celebrate Matthew and his contributions would be getting his friends and family together to see the music he created.
We also know that not everyone will be able to attend, but still want to donate to his Celebration of Life event — which is why I have created this GoFundMe.
Donations will be used towards medical bills and financial expenses accrued over the last several months. Thank you to everyone who has helped, called, stopped by and been there for me and our family over the last few weeks. I am so grateful for all your generosity.
All my love,
Ashley
I am starting this GoFundMe in honor of my late husband, Matthew Amelung.
From the day Matthew was diagnosed in January 2016, he fought daily to continue to be here for us, provide for us and make the most out of every day. The first time he went into remission, we were hesitant but so, so relieved. We had our beautiful wedding, we (begrudgingly!) adopted another cat that he swore I didn’t “just find outside,” and life resumed to fighting over who had to do the dishes.
Unfortunately, Matthew was diagnosed with metastatic melanoma in April 2018 and fought tirelessly for seven months. In November 2018, he had his first scan following chemotherapy and his doctor said the best words we could ever hear, “Resolved.” No spots, no cancer, it was gone. We spent the next few months celebrating. I threw him a surprise birthday party, we spent Christmas with our family and celebrated New Years. We both made a resolution to make 2019 the most boring year ever, but we only made it 16 days.
On January 16, 2019, Matthew had a seizure and was rushed to the hospital. After many scans and hours of waiting, we found out his cancer was back, this time in his brain. A few weeks later, he started whole-brain radiation and doctors were hopeful we could get ahead of it. He was constantly sick and spent days in bed but he still worked hard to provide for us and his clients. On top of being sick, he developed memory issues but was mostly back to being his brilliant, talented, funny self.
It wasn’t until June that Matthew had really started to not feel well. His memory loss was more severe, he had cognitive impairment issues, and he had developed a tremor in his right hand.
After a trip to the Emergency Room on June 13th, Matthew was admitted to Mercy South Hospital. After multiple tests, scans and bloodwork, his doctors told us that he had developed Leptomeningeal Disease. This disease effects about 3% of cancer patients and at this time has no cure. In addition to Leptomeningeal Disease, his MRI showed new tumor growth in his brain.
Over the next two weeks of being in ICU, we would continue to learn just how devastating this disease truly was. Matthew’s doctors worked so hard to give us more time with him, but chemotherapy and immunotherapy showed no progress.
On June 21st, we were told Matthew would be moving to hospice and that our time with him would be limited to days.
During those last few days, Matthew’s friends and family poured into the hospital room and filled it with stories, tears of laughter and tears of sadness. We spent hours retelling stories of wild nights (some we could have lived without ever knowing about!) and childhood memories. He would have been so proud to see just how many people showed up.
On June 26th, Matthew passed away surrounded by his family and friends. This has been truly devastating to our family, friends, and music community. Matthew was a wonderful husband, son, brother, and uncle, and an absolute musical genius. He loved to create music and made it his life.
We knew the most authentic way to celebrate Matthew and his contributions would be getting his friends and family together to see the music he created.
We also know that not everyone will be able to attend, but still want to donate to his Celebration of Life event — which is why I have created this GoFundMe.
Donations will be used towards medical bills and financial expenses accrued over the last several months. Thank you to everyone who has helped, called, stopped by and been there for me and our family over the last few weeks. I am so grateful for all your generosity.
All my love,
Ashley
Organizer
Ashley Eggers
Organizer
Saint Ann, MO
