Support Jen's Fight Against Advanced Melanoma

Where to start?

Well first things first, cancer sucks.

Melanoma sucks.

For those of you that don’t know, our girl Jen Melahn has been fighting Melanoma since 2022. She has been brave, persistent and strong. Our goal is to be able to show our continued support by helping lessen the burden of unexpected expenses while she begins this next step. We want to bring attention to her story so those who love Jen, or just want to offer support, can come together to make life as easy as possible.

Right now Jen's husband Justin, and her three beautiful children, Keegan (17), Asher (8) and Milo (1) need to able to focus on treatment and their family.

Originally Jen was diagnosed with Stage IIB Melanoma, but within 2 years she has progressed to stage IV. Jen did not respond to the initial immunotherapy - the cancer progressed despite surgery and radiation.

The new plan is to undergo TIL therapy. This new therapy is only available in certain states. Jen and her family currently live in Colorado, which is one of the states where this treatment is not available. Jen will be coming to Chicago for her initial consult in July. If she's able to start her treatment quickly it will require time away from family, regular trips to Chicago and long hospitalizations.

At this current time, TIL is a new therapy treatment for advanced Melanoma that may NOT be covered by her insurance. This treatment potentially can cost $500,000. At this time, TIL is the best option for her to fight this cancer and beat it.

Money donated will offer financial assistance for medical bills, a minimum of 3 round trip flights to Chicago, child care needs, and meal assistance.

For those who want to understand more about Jen's story, lets start at the very beginning. Initially in 2022, it was Jen's daughter, Keegan, who found a mole that was bleeding on the back of her ear. Shortly after she learned that it was Stage IIB Melanoma, which brought on two surgeries; one to remove the cancer from the ear and the second to repair it with a skin graft.

In February 2023 she was “cancer free” with only a 5% chance of recurrence.

In April 2023, Jen was 9 months pregnant with Milo when she discovered a lump behind her right ear. A prompt biopsy confirmed a Melanoma recurrence. At 37 weeks pregnant Jen was induced to obtain stat imaging and begin treatment. Less than 24hr post-partum, Jen had an MRI of her brain, full body PET/CT to stage her cancer.

Jen was diagnosed with Stage III Melanoma. They found a new tumor behind her right ear, and the cancer had now spread to her lymph nodes in her neck, ear, and parotid gland.

Jen started on immunotherapy, which she received every 4 weeks for one year. Keep in mind that this is all happening immediately after having her son, adding more struggles and stress. She had to stop breastfeeding to start therapy only to be told after three months that she wasn't responding as they hoped and the tumor had grown.

In August of 2023, she had a major surgery to remove her right ear and part of her parotid gland as well as a neck dissection. This surgery was accompanied by many unfortunate side effects and struggles that required a lot of physical therapy and multiple interventions, many of these side effects persist today.

In the Fall of 2023, Jen completed 5 rounds of radiation therapy to her head and neck, which again was coupled with some really challenging side effects.

In April 2024, Jen had several clean scans and was told she was done with treatment.

After all she had been through in just a few months she finally got the news that she was done with treatment and she had clean scans. A sigh of relief.

Jen and her family were devastated to learn just months later that her Melanoma again had returned, this time being Stage IV, having spread to new areas it hadn't been before. Since then, Jen has been working hard with her medical team to figure out the best and most aggressive approach available to beat this cancer. They feel the TIL therapy is the best option for her and are fighting to make it happen as soon as possible. Right now she is continuing with a stronger more aggressive immunotherapy while waiting to get to her Chicago for her appointment.

The Plan:

Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocyte (TIL) therapy. This therapy has been used to treat blood cancers in the past, but as of February 2024 has been approved by the FDA for treatment of advanced Melanoma when immunotherapy has been unsuccessful.

Please help us support our beautiful friend Jen and continue to share her story.

Jen's consult with Northwestern Medicine is in early July, we will continue to post updates on Jen’s journey. We know Jen appreciates everyone’s support <3