CaliforniaLyme
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 7136
posted
MELLEN, SANDRA January 25, 2008
Sandra Mellen, 53, of New City died on January 23, 2008 after a long illness.
Born on March 2, 1954 in Suffern, NY, to Chester and Astrid (Roos) Mellen, she was a lifelong resident of Rockland County. She graduated from Clarkstown High School North in 1972 and attended Franklin College in Indiana. Most recently she served as office manager for Mellen and Jayne, Inc. a graphic design company in New City.
A longtime member of Saint Paul Lutheran Church in New City, she was an avid activist for Lyme disease and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Sandra was a loving and devoted mother to her son Douglas Mellen, 16, and a beloved aunt to 12 nieces and nephews.
She is also survived by her mother, Astrid, brothers Ronald (Jayne), Chester, and sister Christine (Kenneth) Torrey - all residing in New City -and sister Barbara (Thomas) Speerin of Lake Worth, Florida. She was predeceased by her father Chester in 2005 and her sister Donna in 1956. The family will receive friends today, from 2-4 and 7-9 pm at Higgins Funeral Home in New City. Religious services will be held on Saturday at 9:30 am at Saint Paul Lutheran Church in New City. Burial will follow at Oak Hill Cemetery in Nyack. Memorial donations may be made to the Friends of Sandra at www.friendsofsandy.or . HIGGINS FUNERAL HOME 321 So. Main Street New City 845-634-6110
-------------------- There is no wealth but life. -John Ruskin
All truth goes through 3 stages: first it is ridiculed: then it is violently opposed: finally it is accepted as self evident. - Schopenhauer Posts: 5639 | From Aptos CA USA | Registered: Apr 2005
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CaliforniaLyme
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 7136
posted
She did not have LYme, her father had Lyme. Here is her story. Bless her for fighting for all of us while she was so sick, too!!! There is a photo of her & her son at this site... ************************************************ http://www.friendsofsandy.org/index-1.html
October 2005 marked the end of one nightmare and the beginning of another one for Sandy Mellen, a now 53 year old single mother with a 16 year old son. Her father was slowly deteriorating from neurological lyme disease. Sandy had spent the past five years of her life caring for him while fighting both insurance and government regulations that limited his options for treatment. Sadly, this was a fight she had lost. As he lay dying in the emergency room at Nyack Hospital, Sandy was on the second floor of the same hospital receiving the mind-numbing news that she had cancer. No longer a stranger to adversity or pain, she simply readied herself to fight the next battle -- this one for her own life. Sandy's father passed away the following day. Amidst the flurry of funeral-arranging activity that is counterpoint to the solemn mourning which accompanies death, medical specialists were contacted and Sandy's surgery was scheduled at Memorial Sloane Kettering Hospital for the day following the funeral.
Waking in the recovery room, Sandy found a group of doctors surrounding her bed. The good news was that they believed that they had removed all of the cancer. The bad news? They had discovered, during routine bloodwork, that she also had leukemia. She was sent home to recover and get strong enough to undergo chemotherapy treatment for the leukemia. Several weeks later she was back at Sloane Kettering, which would be her home for the next several months.
As most of us know, chemotherapy is not an easy ride. But Sandy held up beautifully -- always positive, always laughing despite the pain -- and in March of 2006 returned home, hopeful that the leukemia would now be in remission. Several weeks later, the good news came -- Sandy was indeed in remission! The bad news? The cancer had metastasized after all and was now in her lungs.
Sandy began treatment with reassurances that this cancer would be fairly easy to control. It was just 3 small spots and should respond well to oral medications. It did not, and almost one year later Sandy began another round of chemotherapy. This time she could receive treatment while living at home. This particular chemotherapy had only mild side effects which lasted just a few days, which meant she was finally able to return to work -- happy news for her as well as her employers! She would go for chemo once every three weeks, sometimes missing a day of work after treatment, but more often not. This routine continued until just before Thanksgiving this year. Sandy had been complaining of strange pain in her legs for several months, but her doctors reassured her that it was just a minor side effect of chemo.
Then one morning she woke up and could not stand. She was brought to the emergency room at Sloane Kettering and, numerous tests later, learned that the cancer had now metastasized to her brain, spine, and femur, as well as the cancer still in her lungs. Additionally, there was a mass at the base of her brain/top of her spine that was swelling and creating undo pressure, which was responsible for the trouble in her legs. Emergency radiation treatment began that day and Sandy started to feel better right away. Despite this immediate improvement, she's been told that the situation is grave. Though she continues to receive radiation treatment every day, her doctors have warned that statistically speaking, her prognosis is not good.
Ever the fighter, Sandy does not accept this final diagnosis. She has sought second and third opinions, and has found potential treatments that, while there are no guarantees, do offer a more positive outlook. However, she will not be able to return to work any time in the near future.
Our goal is to give Sandy and her son at least some of the peace of mind that they both need so desperately right now.
**************************
-------------------- There is no wealth but life. -John Ruskin
All truth goes through 3 stages: first it is ridiculed: then it is violently opposed: finally it is accepted as self evident. - Schopenhauer Posts: 5639 | From Aptos CA USA | Registered: Apr 2005
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lymeladyinNY
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 10235
posted
Wow, so powerful. This lady had a lot of courage. Bless her.
-------------------- I want to be free Posts: 1170 | From Endicott, NY | Registered: Sep 2006
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bettyg
Unregistered
posted
so sad for all the obstacles she went thru and was a lyme activist for her dad! and going thru cancer/leukemia! uffda
God bless Sandy; thank you Sandy for all you did on behalf of all of us.
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