Help Melissa Recover from Spinal Surgery
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Get to know Melissa - a message co-written by a few friends/family:
Melissa, or Moo to those of us who have had the privilege and blessing of knowing her, is a native Californian, born and raised along her older sister, Cynthia, in Riverside by their loving parents, Jose and Ascension Hernandez. After graduating from Riverside Poly High School with a prodigious basketball career (I’m told she played one heck of a defense), she obtained her Bachelor's of Arts in Psychology at the University of Redlands, where she met the love of her life, Dan, her now fiance. A passion for working with children was fomented through her work as a Behavior Interventionist to support students with Autism, and as an English teacher in Quintanar de la Orden, Spain, a passion that would encourage her to pursue graduate studies to become a School Psychologist through CSU, Sacramento. Throughout her studies, it became clear to everyone that Melissa’s perceptive, warm, empathetic, humorous, tenacious, and compassionate nature were ideally suited for her current career, but also as a simply fabulous human being and friend. Melissa is an amazing dog-mom, an upcycle and DIY master, a lover of travel (from local sites to places abroad), a heart-felt listener, a willing partner in even the most trivial adventures, and the most encouraging and tenacious friend one could hope for. We are thankful for the care she received and will continue to receive on her road to recovery, but mostly, we are thankful for the additional time we are allowed to spend with her and to continue to see her little family grow alongside Dan and their pup, Ozzy.
A message from Melissa:
After much deliberation, I wanted to take this opportunity to be open and share about a recent unexpected experience. Being vulnerable is not my greatest strength or joy, but I am working on getting better at it each and every day. While I require others to be vulnerable in my line of work, I still find it difficult to share my own struggles and take time to show others that I don’t always have it together. However, I am a firm believer that when you put yourself outside of your comfort zone you allow yourself to grow exponentially and become a better human being. In writing about what happened, I have chosen to highlight certain details and leave out others. While I am filled with endless gratitude for surviving this whirlwind experience, I am still processing everything and honestly, I am still shocked and in disbelief that this actually happened in the first place.
On Saturday, March 27th, I went to the ER to discuss ongoing symptoms related to frequent/increased falling and ultimately the loss of control/strength in my right leg. I started to notice weakness in my legs about two months before I went to the ER, but overtime the weakness and control of my right leg got worse. In hindsight, I had lost sensations and overall feeling in my leg as well. The day I decided to go to the ER, I was dragging my right leg as I tried to walk in for treatment. I could no longer pick it up. After many evaluations and several different tests (including a spinal tap), on Sunday morning I finally learned that the doctors found a large tumor on my spine. (Yikes!) They originally thought it was wrapped around my spinal cord, and it was compressing my nerves which led to the loss of control and weakness in my legs (primarily the right side.) Luckily, I was fortunate to end up receiving care at Banner Hospital in Tucson, Arizona, where the doctors acted quickly and made fast decisions to remove the tumor before more damage was done. The doctors and nurses provided me with exceptional care and compassion, and for that I will forever be grateful and empowered to pay it forward in any way that I can.
And this is where I get sappy, but thankfully y’all, by some miracle the best possible scenario happened for me and I get to live out a happy ending. I spent 10 days in the hospital in total, 9 days on a liquid diet, 3 days in the ICU, a couple of days on a ventilator, had 2 major surgeries on my spine completed in a 3 day span, a metal plate and screws fused to my spine, and 95% of the tumor removed. Through it all, I consider myself to be one very lucky person with an endless number of reasons to be grateful. My pathology results came back sooner than expected with fantastic news. They biopsied the tumor that was removed from my spine and IT WAS CANCER FREE!!! I will not be needing radiation or chemotherapy as initially told. I was discharged to go home on Monday, April 5th, instead of having to go to an inpatient rehab facility. I was initially told that I'd be spending 7 to 10 business days in an inpatient rehab facility following my hospital stay. But I'm so happy they allowed me to go home, especially since I didn't think it was an option yet. I finally feel like I’m catching a break in life, and for now I can continue to focus on recovering and regaining my strength to get back to baseline. (Gee, I sure can’t wait for a normal and boring day!)
Like I said, I am a very lucky gal. While the road to recovery isn’t quite over, each day I feel stronger and grow more optimistic. I’ll be participating in physical therapy to regain mobility and strength (they say I'll have at most up to 6 months of PT), and will also receive speech services to improve my swallowing and voice. The resiliency that was required to overcome this situation would not have been possible without the unconditional support and love from my fiancé, family, friends, dog, and colleagues. The people I love mean the most to me and I will never take another breath or moment for granted.
Thank you for taking the time to read my story and give me the space to process this unsettling yet emboldening life event. Sometimes terrible things happen to us in life that aren’t the fault of anyone. For the entirety of my life, I’ve struggled with my self-worth, self-esteem, anxiety, and depressive episodes, often apologizing for even existing and taking up space. But today, I can say I am proud of who I am, of how I respond to adversity, how I treat others, and I believe that underneath it all I am a good person. To Dr. Hurlberg and the team of neurosurgeons who helped to save my life, thank you! The words “thank you” don’t feel like enough, but I’m glad you didn’t save just anyone's life, but that you saved mine.
If you feel so inclined to help in some way, please consider donating to this GoFundMe. As mentioned before, I want to continue to pay it forward and leave the world a better place than I entered it. I would like to donate 50% of anything contributed in this fund to the following two organizations: the Cancer Research Institute and the Arizona’s Children Association. The remainder of the donations will be utilized to help cover the cost of my medical bills and ongoing services. I am uncertain of the exact cost of everything at this moment as I have not received my hospital bills (although I imagine that two spinal surgeries to remove a large tumor isn't too cheap,) but dealing with the "d" of debt is way better than the "d" of death. Otherwise my friends, please take care of yourselves, treat others with kindness and respect, and listen to your body.
With love and a grateful heart,
Melissa
The tumor was found on my cervical spine (neck region) on my C7 spinal segment. The tumor was believed to be large, slow growing, and it absorbed my vertebrae. Two surgeries were needed to remove the tumor. The first surgery was on the front of my neck. I was told I lost a lot of blood during the first surgery, and that it took longer than expected. The second surgery was on the back of my neck. Check out my 24 staples below! :) Can't wait to get those out.
Being away from Ozzy was tough on the both of us. But it's safe to say I have the best dog nurse/cuddler around. ;)
I begged my family to let me walk outside that day! The doctors shared I will need to use a walker for about 2 months, but I'm hoping to get rid of it sooner. The doctors also shared that in about 3 months, my neck will be healed from the surgeries. I will not have the same range of motion in my neck after that, and I'll be setting off metal detectors for the rest of my life, but I sure hope to get back to working, being independent, and driving again by the end of 2021!!!
Melissa, or Moo to those of us who have had the privilege and blessing of knowing her, is a native Californian, born and raised along her older sister, Cynthia, in Riverside by their loving parents, Jose and Ascension Hernandez. After graduating from Riverside Poly High School with a prodigious basketball career (I’m told she played one heck of a defense), she obtained her Bachelor's of Arts in Psychology at the University of Redlands, where she met the love of her life, Dan, her now fiance. A passion for working with children was fomented through her work as a Behavior Interventionist to support students with Autism, and as an English teacher in Quintanar de la Orden, Spain, a passion that would encourage her to pursue graduate studies to become a School Psychologist through CSU, Sacramento. Throughout her studies, it became clear to everyone that Melissa’s perceptive, warm, empathetic, humorous, tenacious, and compassionate nature were ideally suited for her current career, but also as a simply fabulous human being and friend. Melissa is an amazing dog-mom, an upcycle and DIY master, a lover of travel (from local sites to places abroad), a heart-felt listener, a willing partner in even the most trivial adventures, and the most encouraging and tenacious friend one could hope for. We are thankful for the care she received and will continue to receive on her road to recovery, but mostly, we are thankful for the additional time we are allowed to spend with her and to continue to see her little family grow alongside Dan and their pup, Ozzy.
A message from Melissa:
After much deliberation, I wanted to take this opportunity to be open and share about a recent unexpected experience. Being vulnerable is not my greatest strength or joy, but I am working on getting better at it each and every day. While I require others to be vulnerable in my line of work, I still find it difficult to share my own struggles and take time to show others that I don’t always have it together. However, I am a firm believer that when you put yourself outside of your comfort zone you allow yourself to grow exponentially and become a better human being. In writing about what happened, I have chosen to highlight certain details and leave out others. While I am filled with endless gratitude for surviving this whirlwind experience, I am still processing everything and honestly, I am still shocked and in disbelief that this actually happened in the first place.
On Saturday, March 27th, I went to the ER to discuss ongoing symptoms related to frequent/increased falling and ultimately the loss of control/strength in my right leg. I started to notice weakness in my legs about two months before I went to the ER, but overtime the weakness and control of my right leg got worse. In hindsight, I had lost sensations and overall feeling in my leg as well. The day I decided to go to the ER, I was dragging my right leg as I tried to walk in for treatment. I could no longer pick it up. After many evaluations and several different tests (including a spinal tap), on Sunday morning I finally learned that the doctors found a large tumor on my spine. (Yikes!) They originally thought it was wrapped around my spinal cord, and it was compressing my nerves which led to the loss of control and weakness in my legs (primarily the right side.) Luckily, I was fortunate to end up receiving care at Banner Hospital in Tucson, Arizona, where the doctors acted quickly and made fast decisions to remove the tumor before more damage was done. The doctors and nurses provided me with exceptional care and compassion, and for that I will forever be grateful and empowered to pay it forward in any way that I can.
And this is where I get sappy, but thankfully y’all, by some miracle the best possible scenario happened for me and I get to live out a happy ending. I spent 10 days in the hospital in total, 9 days on a liquid diet, 3 days in the ICU, a couple of days on a ventilator, had 2 major surgeries on my spine completed in a 3 day span, a metal plate and screws fused to my spine, and 95% of the tumor removed. Through it all, I consider myself to be one very lucky person with an endless number of reasons to be grateful. My pathology results came back sooner than expected with fantastic news. They biopsied the tumor that was removed from my spine and IT WAS CANCER FREE!!! I will not be needing radiation or chemotherapy as initially told. I was discharged to go home on Monday, April 5th, instead of having to go to an inpatient rehab facility. I was initially told that I'd be spending 7 to 10 business days in an inpatient rehab facility following my hospital stay. But I'm so happy they allowed me to go home, especially since I didn't think it was an option yet. I finally feel like I’m catching a break in life, and for now I can continue to focus on recovering and regaining my strength to get back to baseline. (Gee, I sure can’t wait for a normal and boring day!)
Like I said, I am a very lucky gal. While the road to recovery isn’t quite over, each day I feel stronger and grow more optimistic. I’ll be participating in physical therapy to regain mobility and strength (they say I'll have at most up to 6 months of PT), and will also receive speech services to improve my swallowing and voice. The resiliency that was required to overcome this situation would not have been possible without the unconditional support and love from my fiancé, family, friends, dog, and colleagues. The people I love mean the most to me and I will never take another breath or moment for granted.
Thank you for taking the time to read my story and give me the space to process this unsettling yet emboldening life event. Sometimes terrible things happen to us in life that aren’t the fault of anyone. For the entirety of my life, I’ve struggled with my self-worth, self-esteem, anxiety, and depressive episodes, often apologizing for even existing and taking up space. But today, I can say I am proud of who I am, of how I respond to adversity, how I treat others, and I believe that underneath it all I am a good person. To Dr. Hurlberg and the team of neurosurgeons who helped to save my life, thank you! The words “thank you” don’t feel like enough, but I’m glad you didn’t save just anyone's life, but that you saved mine.
If you feel so inclined to help in some way, please consider donating to this GoFundMe. As mentioned before, I want to continue to pay it forward and leave the world a better place than I entered it. I would like to donate 50% of anything contributed in this fund to the following two organizations: the Cancer Research Institute and the Arizona’s Children Association. The remainder of the donations will be utilized to help cover the cost of my medical bills and ongoing services. I am uncertain of the exact cost of everything at this moment as I have not received my hospital bills (although I imagine that two spinal surgeries to remove a large tumor isn't too cheap,) but dealing with the "d" of debt is way better than the "d" of death. Otherwise my friends, please take care of yourselves, treat others with kindness and respect, and listen to your body.
With love and a grateful heart,
Melissa
The tumor was found on my cervical spine (neck region) on my C7 spinal segment. The tumor was believed to be large, slow growing, and it absorbed my vertebrae. Two surgeries were needed to remove the tumor. The first surgery was on the front of my neck. I was told I lost a lot of blood during the first surgery, and that it took longer than expected. The second surgery was on the back of my neck. Check out my 24 staples below! :) Can't wait to get those out.
Being away from Ozzy was tough on the both of us. But it's safe to say I have the best dog nurse/cuddler around. ;)
I begged my family to let me walk outside that day! The doctors shared I will need to use a walker for about 2 months, but I'm hoping to get rid of it sooner. The doctors also shared that in about 3 months, my neck will be healed from the surgeries. I will not have the same range of motion in my neck after that, and I'll be setting off metal detectors for the rest of my life, but I sure hope to get back to working, being independent, and driving again by the end of 2021!!!
Organizer and beneficiary
Addy Calkins
Organizer
Tucson, AZ
Melissa Hernandez
Beneficiary