A Miracle for Michele

On January 10, 2014, my dear friend Michele Andreoli, was diagnosed with Stage 3/L1 Uterine cancer at the young age of 54. This required an immediate hysterectomy on February 3rd. Since this date, Michele has been in a total battle for her life. She had a very difficult time with the surgery. She's had several infections and her wound has been unable to heal. She still has a gaping hole in her abdomen and now has had a wound vac attached to her stomach for the last 75 days. She also has a wound specialist coming to the house in an effort to help her heal. While in this terrible pain and discomfort that has resulted in a second surgery to again try to readdress the wound, she has had to start chemotherapy. The treatments that she initially received were so strong that she ended up with flu-like symptoms for 10-14 days after each treatment. Her first round of chemotherapy started in the beginning of March.  She initially received treatment every three weeks for eight hour sessions.  On round four, she was able to reduce her sessions to four hours each and she receives weekly treatment. This is all in an effort to spare her already compromised immune system.  As of today, she has nine more scheduled weeks of chemotherapy. Since her surgery, she has been hospitalized on seven separate occasions due to a myriad of issues and complications.  She was told that she would lose her hair in this process. Typically, Michelle wears her hair pretty long, past her shoulders. She got her first haircut in late March, as she has started to lose it, and in preparation for complete hair loss. The picture of her here shows her hair cut short, which looks adorable! Unfortunately, she now is completely bald, but still as beautiful as ever!  After the last chemo treatment, she will have further testing and will need to determine if she will proceed on with radiation, depending on the effectiveness of the chemotherapy. The prognosis she was given was a 20% survival rate, but I'm certain even grimmer cases have persevered.



Michele has worked in Property Management her entire adult life, leading a successful career in Delaware managing apartment communities. Due to her diagnosis, she has been unable to work since January 27, 2014. This is the first time in over 35 years that she has been out of work. Like most of us, Michele is not independently wealthy and her household relies solely on her income. To date, she has $30,000 in unpaid medical bills (this number is growing daily) and she is significantly behind in her monthly household obligations. Just her co-pays alone are substantial given the amount of medication she must take and her routine doctor visits. She has no additional resources to rely on and is very concerned about what the future holds for her as she is literally unable to make ends meet. The very last thing she (or anyone going through a life or death ordeal) should be concerned about is finances. I'm reaching out asking for your prayers and donations in her time of need. Any donation, no matter how big or small, would be greatly appreciated and truly a blessing to her during this time.



I personally met Michele back in 1999, shortly after losing my father unexpectedly. (Not until I was typing this did I realize that her last day of work was the day my Dad died; January 27th). I was living in one of the apartments at a community she was managing. At that time, she had managed that particular property for over 10 years. I went to her tearfully explaining that my father (and co-signer) had died while I was in attending my second year of college at University of Delaware. At that time, I wasn't exactly sure if I'd be able to continue my education or what was in store for me financially, not to mention emotionally. Michele was very positive and took me under her wing, offering me a job as a weekend leasing agent and assuring me that life would indeed go on. I gladly accepted the position and at the time, did not know that Michele would have a significant impact on my future career and become a mentor to me throughout my professional growth. Michele taught me the back-to-basics approach to our industry, but more importantly, how to treat EVERYONE like a human being, regardless of their circumstances. Michele never judged anyone. Rather, she always engaged in how she could help others. She focused on what she could do personally to make their situation better. She approached things in a positive, yet very matter-of-fact way, and never sugar coated what someone needed to do to be successful or better their life situation. Michele is rooted in hard work and dedication and is a pillar of strength to those around her. She has always given back to the community and helped anyone she could in need. She used to take her own time and wrap the elderly residents' Christmas presents, taking the same care she would have doing it for her own family. She often adopted a family at Christmas time and has a real soft spot for children, especially when they come from less privileged households.



Michele has three adult children: Rob, Michael and Jessica. She has 7 grandchildren ranging in ages from 2 to 14. Her children are helping her as much as possible by providing transportation to appointments, handling the house cleaning and laundry, caring for her wound when she is unable, making meals, etc. However, the biggest need for this family is both in prayers, asking for favor and grace, and finances as they just do not have enough to cover all the obligations. Unfortunately, I cannot heal Michele from her cancer or take her physical burden from her, but hope that I can contribute in putting her mind at ease a bit over her massive financial struggles and make this one less thing to keep her up at night.



Please open your hearts to her and give what you can to support her battle. Please also share this information with your social network and your churches, hoping that they too will donate to her cause. During this journey, I will post updates of Michele's condition and the effectiveness of her treatment. I will keep you abreast of her physical, mental and financial well-being. I"ll also be sure to post additional pictures, as I receive them. It takes a village to overcome these types of life obstacles and Michele needs your help now more than ever. Should you want additional information or would like to send prayers directly to her, please follow her Facebook fan page at http://www.facebook.com/amiracleformichele. Thanks so much for taking the time to read her story and I appreciate any help you can contribute at this time. May God bless and carry Michele as she walks through this valley.  Let’s all rally around her, support her during this difficult time and show her what a village can really do to help one another.