Melissa's Story
written by mom Patty

Melissa was born a healthy baby girl on May 20th, 1992. She had no chronic illnesses except for the "normal" childhood illnesses. Melissa had a "full of life personality", she was very intelligent, witty and possessed many leadership qualities.

During Elementary school, Melissa started with the Daisy Girl Scouts and continued growing with her Girl Scout troop throughout the years. She even became a Cadet. She also enjoyed cheerleading and softball.

Our world changed as Melissa was about to enter the 6th grade. Toward the end of July 2003, Melissa started to get migraine type headaches and then began to vomit mostly in the morning hours on the 2nd day of these early symptoms. On the 3rd day, we took her to the emergency room and they released her with orders to take Tylenol. She continued having her symptoms throughout the week. This seemed so odd to me since Melissa was not one to complain for no reason. As I voiced my concern to friends and family, I was dismissed by the fact that she was pre-teen and going through changes. I still could not dismiss the headaches to pre-teen changes and still haunted by the fact that something more serious could be wrong.

We had a vacation planned to go to Maine on August 1st, 2003. This vacation was planned months in advance and we were all looking forward to our upcoming trip. On July 31st, 2003, I wanted to call her pediatrician to let him know that we were going on vacation and that Melissa was having these symptoms. I needed to know that Melissa would be fine if we left to go on a vacation and that he was aware of these headaches. Melissa’s pediatrician was away so the covering Physician's office told us to come in and they would take a look at her. Dr. Cindy Tung examined Melissa and told us that we were to leave her office and get a CAT-Scan. I thought it was more of a precaution and did not think of what it was going to show. I was just happy to hear that it was not meningitis. Because in the back of my head, that is what I was really thinking was the culprit.

Our lives were about to change forever. There was no physician to give a wet read that night and we had to wait for the results the following morning. While we were loading the U-Haul that morning for our trip to Maine, the phone rang at 9 am. We had no idea that phone call was going to bring bad news. Her pediatrician called us to tell me that Melissa had a tumor and that a Physician from Hackensack Medical Center would be calling us and would want to admit us that day. We were all in shock but complied. Our world as we knew it no longer existed.

On August 4th, 2003, Melissa was operated on to remove a tumor that we came to know as Glioblastoma Multiforme. It is a very aggressive tumor that is more common in adults and rare in children. Melissa then had 33 radiation treatments and 6 months of a chemo called Temodar. She had MRI’s every 2 months.

We began to plan another trip to Maine with Camp Sunshine. It is a camp for children with life threatening illnesses and their families. We were once again looking forward to a second chance trip to Maine. Our excitement was once again turned to sadness on June 17th, 2004. Melissa’s MRI showed re-growth of the tumor. With in a short time after that, she began to have headaches, vomiting, and then she had a seizure. Our trip to Maine was once again cancelled. Melissa was operated on for a second time on July 2nd, 2004. Because of the position of the tumor being near the corpus callosum and also into the dura mater, approximately 3-5% of the tumor was left. Melissa’s surgeon implanted 8 Gliadel Wafers into the area.

Melissa started more chemo treatments. She was on a chemo treatment plan called PCV. It is a combination of IV chemo and Pill form. The names of the chemo are: Procarbazine, Ceenu, and Vincristine. For 2 weeks while she was taking the Procarbazine, she had to watch what she ate; she had a Tyramine restricted diet. She has finished one cycle of the PCV. Her blood counts dropped and there was a delay in starting the second cycle. She was given a second dose of Ceenu and Vincristine.

Melissa then had another routine MRI on September 13th, 2004. The MRI showed spread of the tumor across the corpus colosum to the other side of the brain Our nightmare had spread once again. There was no more option for an operation since you cannot operate on both sides of the brain. We looked into other chemo choices to try to slow the growth rate. Melissa started 7th grade with her "full of life" attitude despite the fact that her tumor continued to grow. We took each day as it came.

Another MRI was taken on October 15th, 2004. It was only 4 weeks since the last MRI...once again, not a favorable one. More enhancement of the tumor was shown as well as growth in the ventricles. Since the dura was exposed, there was fluid that traveled to different areas of the brain. Melissa started a new oral chemo combination on October 16th. It had fewer side effects to sustain life. The oral combination was: VP-16, Tamoxifen, & Celebrex. Melissa had another MRI on December 17th, 2004 and January 5th, 2005 in which were not favorable. She started an experimental chemo on January 8th, 2005 called Zarnestra. Up until now, it had not been tested on children. It is in Phase II clinical trial.

On January 25th, 2005 Melissa began to have seizure activity and was hospitalized overnight to control it. She was released on the 26th and started with home care. Also at this time chemo was stopped. On February 5th, Melissa had more seizures and vomiting, went back into the hospital. Our little Angel never returned home and earned her wings to Heaven on February 27th at 6:30 PM eastern time.

FOREVER 12 YEARS OLD!

We continue to morn Melissa’s passing. Each and every day she is missed, not only by her family, but by a whole community. I Love her more than any words can express!

I would like to thank all of you at Make A Child Smile who helped ease our sorrows through this journey not expected.