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<div>Hello my closest friends and family 
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<div>As many of you know, in early November 2024, <strong>my big—and only—brother, Sami, was diagnosed with Stage 3 colorectal cancer</strong>. Since then, he has walked a long, exhausting road: chemotherapy, an attempted round of radiation, more chemotherapy, an emergency surgery in July 2025 that quite literally saved his life, and most recently, a massive surgery on January 27th, 2026 that included reconstructive surgery.
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<div>Throughout much of this journey, Sami continued working his remote IT engineering job. Unfortunately, in November, he was laid off. He believed the savings he had would carry him through, but as medical bills and living expenses continue, he is now finding himself short.
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<div>He is still currently in the hospital recovering and will soon be coming to my home in Houston to continue what will be a long and intense recovery—physically, emotionally, and financially.
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<div>As his little sister, my heart’s greatest wish is that I could take every ounce of stress from him. While I can’t do that on my own, what I can do is humbly come to you.
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<div>If you feel led and are able to donate in any way, it would be a tremendous blessing. And if giving financially isn’t possible, we are deeply grateful for your intentional prayers. I believe with all my heart that God hears every cry, goes before us in every detail, and is always working all things together for good—even when life feels unbearably heavy.
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<div>The past couple of years have been a nonstop roller coaster for our family, but God… but God… but God. Without His mercy each morning, His strength, and His faithfulness, we would be lost. 
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<div>Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I love and appreciate each of you more than words can say.
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Standing with Sami Through His Cancer Battle

<div>On November 22, 2022, Bri had open heart surgery for a congenital heart defect. We just found out about this at 21 years old. This heart defect is called an anomalous origin of the right coronary artery. The University of Minnesota performed this open heart surgery, called a unroofing procedure.
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<div>Nine months post-op (August of 2023), she got very sick with pneumonia that collapsed both lungs (pleural effusion), which then spread to her heart. This caused pericarditis (infection around the heart) and a pericardial effusion (fluid around her heart). In the last 12 months, she has dealt with 8 different kinds of steroids, 6 of them long term, 5 antibiotics, steroid shots, steroid tapers, 13 other medications to keep her heart and other organs healthy, at least 10+ ER visits, multiple hospital admissions, 3 cardiac MRIs, 7 heart/lung CT scans, hundreds of blood draws, 5 pericardial effusions, 3 collapsed lungs, and pericarditis the whole 12 months.
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<div>She now deals with heart failure, ventricular tachycardia, a congenital heart defect, constriction and thickening of the pericardium. This has now done permanent damage to her heart. <strong>Bri will be needing her 2nd open heart surgery to completely remove the pericardium (the sac around the heart).</strong> This surgery is called a pericardiectomy. This surgery will be done at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. This is the only option at this point. We met with the surgeons and we go up Sunday, September 15 for 2 days of testing, a heart cath on Tuesday Sept 17, and the open heart surgery Wednesday September 18. They said her heart is swollen and inflamed which is why she is in so much pain.
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<div><strong>I’m creating this to help Bri as she will be out of work for quite some time again, to help with bills and other expenses. We will have caring bridge updates as well. Thank you everyone♥️</strong>
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<div>Caring Bridge Link -
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<div><a href="https://www.caringbridge.org/site/8c72b476-c4f4-33c9-a69f-a8b10ac1b6a2" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><strong>﻿<a href="https://www.caringbridge.org/site/8c72b476-c4f4-33c9-a69f-a8b10ac1b6a2" target="_blank" class="" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://www.caringbridge.org/site/8c72b476-c4f4-33c9-a69f-a8b10ac1b6a2</a></strong></a>
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<div><strong>#BriStrong♥️</strong>
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Support Bri’s 2nd open heart surgery ♥️

Cory Melvin

Cory Melvin

Cory Melvin

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