My name is Melissa Eichele, and although I am known for many “hats” I wear, the one I wear the proudest is “mommy”.

 

I grew up an average kid on Long Island, raised by my grandmother, attending private school my entire life. I was a good student, captain of the swim team, and student council president. I went to College with a scholarship, and graduated with a degree in nursing. After college, I married Andrew, who I met in high school. We bought the house I grew up in, fixed it up, and started our life together. I went to graduate school, got my masters degree in nursing, and Andrew worked as an electrician. We tried for 4 years to conceive and were finally blessed with our baby boy Tanner in November of 2007. In July of 2009, we found out we would be expecting a second baby the following April. In our eyes, our family was complete. We truly thought “life couldn’t be more perfect”.

 

Our world came crashing down in September of 2009 when Tanner was diagnosed with cancer. Until then, we thought of pediatric cancer as something we saw on TV, something that happens to “other people”. We learned first hand how pediatric cancer can change your life from “perfect” to a complete nightmare in the blink of an eye. I took leave from my job as an ICU nurse for the next year and a half to sit by Tanner’s side through every treatment and surgery. Andrew took long leaves of absence. When it comes to your child, nothing is more important – especially when you’re fighting for his life. The world kept turning though, and the bills kept coming. We depended on family and friends, fundraisers, and charities for support. The Lexiebean Foundation was one of our biggest supporters, and at the time of Tanner’s relapse, we were surprised with a gift from them, while we were in the ICU, that helped pay our mortgage that month. You can’t imagine how scary it is to sit by your child’s side, praying that he will live, and at the same time worrying about how to keep a roof over your heads so you will have somewhere to go “home” to. With a gift like that, all of a sudden, you can focus fully on your child – the burden of bills was just lifted.

 

I have fought the hardest fight of my life, and lost. Trying to keep my son Tanner alive, I would have given anything, including my own last breath. He was the light of my life, and I know in my heart I will never be the same. But Tanner still lives in my heart, and I hope to make a difference in the lives of families affected by pediatric cancer, in his name. In this spirit I have joined the Lexiebean Foundation so that I can help other families, so that their financial burdens can be lifted, so that they have someone to talk to who “gets what their going through” just as the Falabella’s did for us, and so that everyone will always know my angel Tanner.