#Matthew Fanelli

Mid March Matthew had been experiencing pain in his upper abdomen and side. After a few days of persistent pain, Matthew went to the emergency room where he underwent numerous tests. After 10 hours in the ER, Matthew and his parents were told that he had a large “mass” in his chest and should be seen by an Oncologist. After being advised by his Aunt and Uncle, Matthew immediately went to UCLA where he was admitted.

On March 12, 2022, Matthew received the diagnosis of T-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Lymphoma.

Matthew hit the ground running and began his vigorous treatment to beat this cancer. He had a very hopeful prognosis, and we were all very optimistic. We did find out a little later on that he had a very rare subtype of T-Cell ALL, but we were all still very hopeful and optimistic. He had numerous hospital admissions, endless trips to different UCLA facilities around Los Angeles (Westwood, Santa Monica, and Marina Del Rey). After the initial phase of his treatment finished in April, Matthew was in remission, and we were all even more optimistic. He continued on to the next phase of treatment and he received “chemo” almost every day for the past 7 months.

At the end of July, Matthew had a PET-scan to see the progress from the treatment. Unfortunately, he found out that his cancer was no longer in remission, so they needed to adjust his treatment plan. He was then put on a waiting list for CAR-T Cell Therapy Trial at City of Hope Hospital, but was told he would probably have to wait until November. In the meantime, he continued a rigorous chemo and treatment regimen.

Matthew didn’t wind up having to wait as long as expected, and he began treatment with CAR-T cell therapy on October 5, 2022. That night, he experienced a brain bleed, high fever and seizures and was transferred to the ICU and put in a medically-induced coma. He underwent a craniectomy surgery on Thursday, October 6th, where the surgeons removed part of his skull in order to allow his brain to swell without causing further damage. The surgery went as well as could be expected, and he was stable through the night. However, on Thursday, October 7th, we found out that he had experienced several more strokes in his brain. Later that afternoon, he had a major stroke that affected the majority of his brain, which ultimately lead to his death. We thought we might have to make a very difficult decision to remove life support, but Matthew took matters into his own hands. His heart officially stopped beating early Saturday morning, October 8, 2022. He went peacefully surrounded by his parents, Denise and Stephen, his sister Jennifer, his brother Michael, and the love of his life, Emma.