After careful considerate discussion with the family, I am humbly asking for financial support for my friend, Melissa Barker, and her children, Teagan and CJ. They have been quite private/self-reliant, haven’t shared many details, and originally were not wanting to proceed with a Go Fund Me. Since realizing the financial and emotional impact this has had on their lives, they now need/are ready to accept our help. Melissa has been battling a rare cancer known as LAMN affecting 1 to 2 people per 1 million each year for the past year. She recently received an additional secondary diagnosis of PMP (Pseudomyxoma Peritonei) which will eventually impede organ function. Both officially have no cure.

She was diagnosed in June of 2023 with LAMN which then was followed by her diagnosis of PMP. This is after being in the ICU for 2 weeks in 2021 and the year prior to that having extensive cervical surgery. Melissa and her children have tried to keep up with the functional costs of treatment but at this time they are in a position of needing additional help after experiencing 4 years of out of pocket expenses. Any small amount will assist with this unexpected financial predicament.

This type of cancer is not frequently discovered until it’s too late but thankfully hers was in May 2023 when she was admitted to the ER with appendix pain. While in the operating room, they found a 10cm tumor on the appendix. The appendix and ruptured tumor were removed but additional malignant fluid was found in her abdomen. After an oncology convention review, it was decided to wait 9 months - 1 year, to see how the fluid developed. In June 2024 she had a laparoscopic surgery to determine the extent and the results showed all 4 quadrants and almost all organs were affected. Melissa was lucky enough to find a specialist oncologist surgeon who has had success in disease delay of up to 10 years with Cytoreductive (CRS) and HIPEC surgery which includes thermal chemotherapy. After appealing many insurance denials, on 23 August 2024 Melissa underwent the procedure commonly known as MOAS (Mother of All Surgeries) since so many organs are removed at once and the duration of the surgery can be around 6-15 hours long.

Melissa is now on day 5 of recovery at City of Hope hospital in Duarte. She is doing relatively well after a 10 hour surgery that resulted in the removal of her gallbladder, spleen, ovaries, fallopian tubes, cecum, omentum and a large section of her peritoneum wall. This procedure was extremely invasive - we understand that this will be a very slow recovery and have a heavy impact on the family with hospital visits, support and aftercare.

If you are able to give, your donation will go toward co-payments, deductibles, integrative care, occupational/physical therapy, nursing care for when Melissa returns home, special dietary needs, and travel costs for the follow up visits. Additionally, a specialized and successful oxygen related treatment only offered out of state has been recommended - this costs $3,000+ per two week treatment not including travel costs, which they would like to pursue for two treatment rounds if possible.

If you can give any amount to help reduce the stress of covering the above medical costs for Melissa, Teagan and Christopher, please donate. At this point we estimate the costs above amount to about $30,000. Please help us meet the goal of this fundraiser to alleviate some of this financial burden for Melissa and her children. 100% of donations will be used for the needs related to Melissa’s cancer. Any invoices will be available immediately upon request.

Updates on Melissa’s recovery will be shared by Teagan and will be posted here for those who would like to be kept up to date, or please feel free to reach out to Teagan or Christopher through text message. Your thoughts and support are so appreciated as Teagan and Christopher’s mom battles this.

A note from Teagan:

Anyone that knows my mom knows she is usually the one extending herself to help others. Her fun loving spirit and eagerness to do things for others and self reliance is a big part of her personality. I know this whole experience has been extremely humbling and uncomfortable for her to face that she is the one in need of support. Knowing that our friends are here to support her means the world to me and CJ. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!