My name is Miriam Limón, and I am fundraising for my friend Melanie Vantreese. I met Melanie over a decade ago and can say that she’s the most unique, independent, “unapologetically herself” person I have ever known. She is fierce in the way she lives her life and fierce in the way she loves her family and friends. And this year, she has had to be fierce in a new and terrifying battle: one to survive cancer and continue to live her life in a drastically different way than before.

In January 2022, Melanie began to notice health symptoms that concerned her enough to confer with multiple medical professionals. For over a month, they were dismissed as common ailments to her increasing frustration and fear. However, after diligently insisting that she be examined further, a tumor on her esophagus was discovered, and on February 10th, 2022, she was diagnosed with gastroesophageal cancer.

She required immediate aggressive treatment, which she began in March 2022. She had her first surgery to have a feeding tube and port installed (as over the 2 months since her symptoms began, she had lost a dangerous amount of weight and would need as much strength as possible to proceed). The surgery was followed by 4 rounds of chemo. In June, she had a total gastrectomy (the full removal of her stomach) and a partial esophagectomy (where part of her esophagus was removed).

On 08/30/22, she will have the last of another 3 rounds of chemo.

She will spend 5 weeks recovering, and then on 10/24 will start 28 days of radiation. She will have radiation 5 days a week, and her last day is scheduled for 12/01/22.

Throughout this process, while Melanie has had some support from her family, she has maintained her own residence and continued to care for her cat Margot. She worked 2 jobs for most of her adult life, but she is currently battling to work even part-time hours at her primary job where she works when she can. As there are days when getting out of bed is difficult, she can only work the equivalent of part-time hours. She has the medical expenses that have accrued since the beginning of the year; she has applied for grants through her clinic but it takes time to get responses and meanwhile, she continues to accumulate more. Her biggest obstacle is currently just being able to take care of her day-to-day expenses. She has no savings and no means of generating additional income.

I am reaching out to our community (hers and mine) to ask for help for Melanie. She is independent, but as we know, life is not meant to be lived alone, and she is in need of people willing to come alongside her to help shoulder some of the financial burdens so she can lower that point of stress as much as possible and focus on getting through her remaining treatment and then the continued process of healing and becoming accustomed to a body that has to learn to live without a stomach.

Her basic monthly expenses run around $1,500, and she has been without a steady income for 6 months, so she is in a deficit at this point. Apart from the basic expenses (rent, internet for work, food), she needs to be able to perform basic maintenance on her car and care for her cat. I am starting with a goal of raising $5,000 and am asking that family and friends consider showing love and support by making a financial donation. If you are unable to donate (or even if you are able to but would like to do even more), I also ask that you share this link on the social media platforms you follow. I am believing that as the story's ripples spread, even more compassionate people will feel moved to help Melanie.

I would like to end with 2 notes:

-The first is a request from Melanie that if anyone donates, they also consider sharing their mailing address so she is able to write a personal note of gratitude.

-The second is that if you have any questions or would like to touch her life in a method other than donating through this link, please feel free to contact me personally.