Melanie, who is living with stage IV cancer

Our family is raising funds to support loss of income for our sister, Melanie and brother-in-law, Stephan, as they navigate Melanie's treatment and care. As a non-smoker, she was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer last summer. Currently there are no guidelines to recommend lung cancer screening in non-smokers. While it came as a surprise to all of us, this type of diagnosis is much more common than we imagined. In the United States, roughly 19% of women with lung cancer are non-smokers.

How it happened

Melanie and Stephan were visiting the rest of the Rusk clan in Massachusetts for the first time in five years, and we were spending the warm July Friday afternoon relaxing in our parents’ backyard. We had just gotten all four sisters together when Melanie had a seizure - a first for her. An ambulance brought her and Stephan to our local emergency room, where they completed a chest x-ray and a few other tests before transferring her overnight to Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. After an MRI and several more tests, doctors concluded that Melanie’s seizure was caused by a tumor in her brain that needed to be removed immediately. As rain poured down in Boston early on Sunday morning, she went in for a craniotomy. After two days in the hospital, Melanie was released to recover at our parents’ house in Massachusetts for a couple of days before embarking on the long drive to Iowa with our sister, Emily.

Once home, they met with her new team at University of Iowa Health Care to address what was found to be Stage IV non-small cell lung cancer. Immediate intervention involved gamma knife radiation on the three remaining brain metastases and surgical site, as well as genetically typing the cells taken from her brain tumor.

Since it had moved beyond the lungs it is by definition Stage IV, so cannot be cured. Her tumor had cells with a genetic mutation that has a corresponding targeted therapy,so Melanie began taking these pills twice a day and focusing on her nutrition and workouts designed to keep her body in good condition. In August, a PET scan revealed multiple tumors throughout her brain, lungs, and bones. The targeted therapy was initially very effective. A CT scan in November showed that the primary lung tumor had shrunk to half its size and the smaller metastases had disappeared entirely.

Fast forward to the holidays, when Melanie developed a pain in her back and spine. An additional PET scan and MRI test came back with new, fast-growing tumors in her spine. She has since begun a two-week course of radiation treatments at her tumor sites.

Seven months into Melanie’s cancer journey, costs of treatments, her loss of income, and increasing at-home healthcare needs are taking a toll on their finances. In order for Stephan to be able to take time off for her care, they are in need of financial help from family and friends.

Here’s where you come in. Please help us help Melanie and Stephan be able to focus on what’s important - getting Melanie the treatment she needs. She will be living with cancer now, along with our love and your support.