Hi, my name is Elaina and I, along with Alisa's friends and family, am running this fundraiser on behalf of Alisa Mello. Alisa went to work as usual on the Monday before Thanksgiving after having an unyielding headache for 2 weeks. Unfortunately, she didn't make it far into her day before becoming so unbelievably ill and out of sorts that her colleagues had to intervene. Luckily, they acted fast and brought her to the ER in Modesto, where doctors found an abnormality on her CT scan and, subsequently, a large tumor bleeding into itself in her right prefrontal cortex. The next week was a blur as she was transferred to UCSF and rested until she was strong enough to endure a surgery to remove the tumor. In another stroke of fortune and thanks to the skilled surgeons at UCSF, the tumor was removed exactly one week after it was discovered. It was determined that Alisa had developed a Meningioma Grade 2 tumor, likely within the last couple of years. This began her healing journey which included more rest and transfer to a rehabilitation hospital back in her home town of Modesto. Alisa was moved home today, but will be staying with her parents while maintaining her lease and remaining off work for the foreseeable future. Alisa is doing well, in better spirits every day, and becoming more independent however she still requires supervision and assistance and has a long road ahead. She still awaits the results of the testing on the tumor to determine if it is cancerous or not to determine the next steps of treatment. For now, she will continue with outpatient therapies.

To know Alisa is to love Alisa. She is the most kind-hearted, sensitive, and loving person. Chances are Alisa has cried for you and held you either in person or from afar in your time of need and now is our time to do the same for her. Most of you have cried for her already. We can now support her further by helping her meet her out-of-pocket medical expenses incurred so far, as well as maintain financially throughout her healing process for the next 8 weeks or so. If you are moved to help her, any amount small or large will ease the stress and worry of the financial side of her journey so she can concentrate on the physical, emotional, and spiritual healing, as well as prepare for what may come as the results from the surgery are received.