Help Skylar as he undergoes treatment for rare brain tumor

Justin Post is organizing this fundraiser on behalf of Jamie Melensky.

Donation protected

edited as of 10/24/24 down below Justin’s message.

My name is Justin Post, owner of East Tennessee Coops and uncle of this young man, Skylar. At 18 years old, Skylar works hard, full-time for me as one of my lead builders. He was married in June, just a few short weeks after his high school graduation. In the midst of starting his new life with his bride, Neveah, working full-time, running his church sound booth and's even starting to build them a cabin on our farm, Skylar began experiencing severe migraines and double vision. This ultimately led to a recent diagnosis of a pediatric germinoma tumor near the pineal region of his brain. Skylar is currently awaiting further testing and treatments, and as we speak, heading to a specialized facility many hours from home for a biopsy. Radiation and chemotherapy are likely to last several months. Skylar is the main income for him and his wife and financial stretched thin as it is. This young man is taking on more than most average men could handle. Skylar and Neveah, most importantly would desire your prayers above all else, but I know that these young newly weds will need a helping hand financially over the next few months while Skylar is facing this tremendous obstacle in his young life. Please, if you feel led, your donation would be truly appreciated, but if you can’t, please say a prayer for Skylar, his wife, and family.

Sincerely,

Justin Post

-Uncle

Edited to add -

Hi! I’m Jamie - Skylar’s mama. I added some short updates down below but wanted to share a longer overall picture of what is going on. On September 11th Skylar was diagnosed with a mass on his pineal gland at a local emergency room. By September 17th he was having brain surgery to get a biopsy of the tumor and to have an endoscopic third ventriculostomy to drain cerebrospinal fluid off of his brain that had backed up causing hydrocephalus because of the location of the mass. About a week later we got confirmation that the mass is a rare malignant brain tumor called a Germinoma. We are still awaiting results from genetic testing to learn more about it. In the meantime we have relocated to St Jude’s Research Hospital for the foreseeable future and he has started chemotherapy. He will have chemo treatments through the end of the year. In January he will start radiation 5 days a week for several months. Even though this tumor is rare his prognosis looks good as it responds very well to this type of treatment. St Jude’s is an amazing place and many of our daily needs are met. The help we really need is twofold. He needs help with expenses back home that are not met. When he returns home he likely won’t be able to jump right back into the work he did before all this started. We don’t know what the future holds in that way yet but his BIGGEST need is this - he was in the process of building a small cabin for him and his new wife. Obviously that is now on hold and the money he had saved for materials has been used up. What I would love to see is enough money raised to help with their normal expenses for the next 12 months or so and then enough to buy the remaining materials he needs and to pay for someone to come in and finish building for him so when is treatments are complete he and his wife have a safe, warm, finished home to return to.

I don’t love asking for help and never imagined we would be in a position to need to ask for this kind of help but I would love to be able to help my son in this way. To ease that burden that he is carrying so he can focus on his healing. But most importantly we are asking for all the prayers. God is good and His plans are good and He is walking this journey with us. We feel every prayer that is prayed and it means the world to us. Thank you for considering helping Skylar. He is an incredible young man who loves the Lord and his family. He works hard and cares about everyone around him. He volunteers in the community and volunteers in his church and overall is an incredible human being who would give the shirt off of his back if someone asked. Please help show him the love that I know he would show others in their time of need. Thank you for considering helping and most importantly thank you for praying for him!