Welcome, friends and family of Melissa Everhart! If you have found your way to this page, you know that Melissa is experiencing a life-altering journey, and she needs us all to gather with her in grace and positivity as she focuses on her heart and her healing. Together, we will see her through this tremendous challenge with the same love and light that she has shared with us over the years.
After experiencing swelling and pain to her left shoulder, Melissa was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), M7 classification. This is an aggressive form of leukemia and will require an equally aggressive course of treatment. She will undergo a 7 day round of intensive chemotherapy, which began on 9/14/16; the goal of this phase of the treatment is to eradicate the leukemia cells in her bone marrow and achieve a state called remission. 14 days after her first day of chemo, a repeat bone marrow biopsy will be done to determine Melissa's response to the chemo and to reveal whether or not she is in remission. Melissa will likely be in the hospital for a month, first to receive the chemotherapy, and then to monitor for infections and changes in her blood counts. She will then be released from the hospital for two weeks to recover and regain her strength for the next phase of treatment, a bone marrow transplant (BMT). For the BMT, she will be admitted to the hospital for another 4-6 weeks.
Melissa is allowed to have visitors anytime; her immune system will be weakened from the treatment, so use your best judgement if you or those around you are ill with colds or other viruses. Unfortunately, flowers are not allowed in her room. But love, prayers, warm thoughts, and positive intentions are crucial and she can feel them, so keep them coming!
Please follow her journey on the Facebook page that has been created for that purpose, "Melissa's Healing Journey". This will be a long haul for Melissa and her family so please check in often and send love even more often. Also, if you'd like to sign up for meals, visits or sleepovers, please email Bonnie at bonbrommer@gmail.com.
Also, if you are interested in being tested & possibly donating to her bone marrow transplant cause
http://bethematch.org/ 
