Tony Melillo’s Journey

Hey everyone, my name is Shelby Melillo, Tony Melillo’s eldest son. On behalf of my younger brother Devon and our little sister, Jayden, we are trying to raise money to help my mom and dad cover medical expenses since he was diagnosed with stage 3 colorectal cancer in early 2022.

Through out the year he powered through chemo and radiation in preparation to have his tumor removed, in what should have been a simple mass removal surgery on November 10th.

He went in for his scheduled surgery only to come out of it in extreme pain and little progress in recovery. On November 14th, he went into emergency surgery due to a leak in his lower pelvis from his intestinal tissues tearing from the first procedure.

The amount of fluid that leaked, caused him to become septic and that’s when everything went downhill. He was placed in the ICU and was intubated. The sepsis infection caused him to go into total kidney failure so he has been undergoing aggressive dialysis. We are hopeful and pray that the acute kidney injury recovers prior to 90 days. Although we know he is dependent on dialysis treatment to keep his body alive, it has taken a toll on him.

He had a feeding tube placed on November 14th for nourishment. He is currently relearning how to swallow without aspiration caused by being intubated twice. He’s had three stomach drains placed in his abdomen to help drain pockets where the sepsis settled.

On the day of his stomach drain procedure, he went into respiratory arrest from a large amount of secretion and mucus build up from being intubated. The secretions were caused by the first intubation and removal of tube.

The medical team revived him after he coded and resulting in him being intubated for a second time.

On December 28th, he was released from the hospital and admitted into a rehabilitation facility where he is currently undergoing his recovery that includes physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy.

After visiting with the Palliative Care team, he has continued to try and fight against the odds of his kidneys not waking up. Currently he is transported off site to dialysis 3 times a week in a wheelchair because he is not yet strong enough to ride in a normal vehicle for the time being with a family member.

With the new year of 2023 we are very grateful to have our dad alive and by our side. There are no words to describe our blessings and time spent with each other. Each day is precious and so are the small and big wins. We anticipate that our dad will be discharged mid-January to go home, however the journey is not over. With a new year brings a new deductible and continued necessary follow up care including: dialysis, transportation, medical supplies, outpatient care, and future surgeries.

We know that this journey will be exhausting and financially depleting on our parents. Our mom has been by our dad’s side since November on an unpaid leave of absence from work. It is unknown at this time when either of our parents will be able to work again. We don’t know what the future holds.

As a family, we want you all to know how truly grateful and appreciative we are for the love and support we have already received. To every single person who has taken time out of their day and busy lives to help-whether it was a simple hug and listening or dropping off food for us, thank you and we love you.

We know that the holidays and new year can be difficult on families and individuals, but we ask, if you’re able to do so, consider helping our parents. Whether it be a monetary donation or a daily prayer, no gift is too small. We cannot thank you all enough!

Thank you and we love you all.t