Donate to Honor Serena's Medical Heroes

**Update 12/17/2024**

Today, on her 27th birthday, the Serena Melo-Chew respite room was formally dedicated at Sutter Roseville Hospital.

Thank you for being part of Serena’s legacy and keeping her spirit alive. Her vision has now become a reality.

With heartfelt gratitude,

Ben, Belina, Sabrina

Serena was diagnosed with colorectal cancer on September 17, 2020, when she was just 22 years old. It was caused by a defect in her DNA, known as familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP).

She began her treatments at Sutter Roseville, and at UC San Francisco Medical Center. This resulted in weekly trips to San Francisco, sometimes taking up to 3 hours to drive one way. She endured and experienced all the side effects of chemotherapy--nausea, vomiting, and hair loss. She immediately began 8 rounds of chemotherapy and then received 28 rounds of radiation therapy.

In July 2021, she required surgery to remove her colon and rectum. As a result, she would permanently have to use a colostomy bag for the rest of her life. The surgery required a hospital stay of 17 days.

Once released and recovered from the surgery, she began a regimen of more rounds of various chemotherapies. By December 2021, the cancer then metastasized into her lungs. She had an additional surgery to remove a tumor in her lung, which resulted in reduced use of her left lung.

She continued her chemotherapy throughout 2022, and in January 2023, she experienced her first seizure. The cancer had now spread to her brain. She received multiple radiation treatments to her brain in February and July. She was still receiving chemotherapy as well.

In August 2023, she was chosen to participate in a clinical trial with an experimental cancer drug. Initially, the treatment had slowed the growth of the cancer and showed some promise of controlling the disease.

Unfortunately, in February 2024, she suffered additional seizures. Scans showed that the brain tumors were very active and growing. She had additional brain radiation at that time. She was no longer able to make the trips to San Francisco and received all her treatment in Roseville thereafter. She was placed on another new cancer medication but had to discontinue because of additional seizures in May 2024. In addition, the cancer had now spread to her spine.

In June 2024, she suffered complications to her small intestine, most likely due to the surgery she originally had in 2021. She needed surgery to save her life. There were complications during the surgery, and she almost died. The surgery was stopped, she was placed in the trauma intensive care unit and the surgery was resumed two days later. She was in the ICU for ten days. The surgery resulted in a significant incision in her abdomen. The incision required that she have a wound vacuum attached to her 24 hours a day. She required home nursing services multiple times a week.

Two weeks after that surgery, she had another complication and required another emergency surgery. During her 20 days in the hospital, she suffered more seizures. The wound healing would take precedence over any other medical treatment she would receive, meaning that the doctors would not be able to give her medication to control her brain swelling and seizures because those medications were impeding her abdominal healing.

She finally returned home on July 17. Her wound was healing nicely but the brain tumors had become more aggressive.

Serena spent her final days surrounded by her family, and dog Coco. She watched Crazy Rich Asians, Friends, New Girl, Schitts Creek, Hannah Montana, and Bluey. She listened to Taylor Swift. She ate french fries, salted caramel ice cream, and drank lemonade.

On August 17, in her final moments, she was held by her sister, mommy, and daddy, telling her how much joy and love she brought to them. We treasure all the memories from the 26 years we had with her and miss her so much.

We would like to thank the team at UCSF—Dr. Van Loon and Lisa.

We would like to thank the team at Sutter Home Health—Mark and team.

We would like to thank the team at Sutter Oncology—Dr. Reddy, Allison, Gisselle, and Tammy.

We would like to thank the Sutter oncology social work team—Leslie and Juvy.

We are grateful for the care that Serena received during her treatment at the Sutter infusion center and Oncology unit. These departments provide excellent support for patients as well as their caregivers. All the numerous nurses, doctors, and supporting staff that interacted with Serena provided the absolute best care that she could have asked for.

Serena was planning to work with Sutter social services to provide enhancements to their infusion center, the oncology respite room, and the pet therapy program. All funds received will go directly to the areas that Serena specifically wanted to assist. The photo above is of Serena with therapy dog Juvy.

We thank you for any contribution and for being part of Serena's legacy.