Melissa Falco Multiple Myeloma Journey

Melissa Falco is 46 years old and recently diagnosed with multiple myeloma. After supporting her mother through a long cancer battle, her mother passed away in January, 2019. While dealing with her grief, Melissa found herself not feeling very well. After several trips to the doctor, multiple blood tests and several different diagnoses, Melissa was diagnosed with multiple myeloma (MM) in May, 2019.  A hematologist confirmed Melissa has a high risk form of MM. They believe she has had this for at least a year but that her body just started to show severe symptoms. She was referred for a piggy back stem cell transplant, one to be done in late September 2019 and another in January/February 2020. Stem cell transplants involve a very long and grueling process. Melissa will undergo 12 weeks of chemo. After that, she will check into an "apartment" downtown, away from her family, to have daily trips to Northwestern to harvest her stem cells. Following the harvest, Melissa will spend 3-5 weeks in the hospital, isolated, undergoing strong chemo and stem cell replacement. She needs to remain isolated to preserve her immune system. Melissa will have to repeat this difficult process again.

Melissa is married and the mother of 10 year old little girl. She and her husband both work; however, she is the holder of the insurance (as her policy was the better of the two). Throughout the chemo and stem cell transplant, Melissa will be unable to work and her short term disability will not cover the entire leave of absence. Because of this, Melissa will have to rely on Cobra.

Even though Melissa has strong family support - escalating medical bills, Cobra payments, and day-to-day living has made this journey especially difficult. Melissa and her family could really use your help. Thank you for taking the time to read this.