All in

I wanted to take a minute to introduce myself. I’m Michelle, and I am proud to say I am the mother of three beautiful baby girls, Klara, Emilea, and Melina. I am also currently the president of the Melina Michelle Edenfield Foundation. I have tried to resign a few times since it began because, to be honest, it’s hard, it’s very hard. However, what is harder is thinking of all the families that are experiencing this pain, this loss, and the magnitude of helplessness upon hearing the most brilliant professionals say “yes this is a death sentence, there is nothing that can be done, we just don’t have answers.” Because of that, and because of my Melina, I invite you into my army to fight.

As we fight I want you to understand our cause, our mission, and our love. Our Melina was a beautiful, happy, strawberry blonde, curly-haired competitive spirit. Melina never so much as had a sick visit. She had never been on an antibiotic. Imagine our shock on May 22nd when we were told there was a mass on her brain, and as the day unfolded, we found out she had a tumor in her brain stem. And the craziest part, we caught the tumor earlier than most. From the day she was diagnosed, Melina declined. There was a chance radiation could give us 4-6 months with our baby. Think of that — the best there is to offer right now to a family with this diagnosis is a chance at 4-6 months with their child. And, as of now, very few clinical trials exist, and unfortunately, they provide minimal to no success with quality of life.

Our Melina was amazing throughout the last month of her life. As she declined, her spirit never did. And because of that we have to carry her spirit to fight. I can’t sleep at night thinking this is the best we’ve got. Neil Armstrong’s daughter had the same type of tumor. Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. We haven’t made a significant advancement in treatment for this type of pediatric brain tumor in 60 years.

So I ask you to join my fight. I don’t care how big or how small. But we are fighting for answers, for awareness, and for joy. I need to know families can have hope. I need to know Melina has a purpose greater than her four and half short years on this earth. I need to hear people talk about her because she truly was our miracle, and I really want her to be the miracle for someone else. We are raising as much money as we can to donate to research for a cure for these horrible tumors. We are raising awareness of Melina’s joy. So today I am asking you to share our page with one friend. Increase the awareness, share our fundraisers, and make a choice today to choose joy because you can and because Melina wants you to.

All in,

Michelle