Melodina and her sister Harmony were very close. Harmony is eleven years older and a better sister/sister relationship I have never seen. Harmony wrote the following:
For eighteen years, you were my girl
The closest blood I had
You understood my very soul
And fights with Mom and Dad
The day you came into this world
Was one of joy and pride
From that day on I was sure I’d have
A sister by my side
And although you were the younger one
You inspired me each day
To live my life with zest and zeal
The “Melodina” way
There couldn’t have been better aunt
For my daughter or my son
And though you loved them like a mom
I admit you were more fun
On weekends we would lounge in bed
Sharing jokes and secrets too
Sisters, friends and biggest fans
That was me and you
Your greatest battle was fought in bed
Not on the mats or slopes
But this was one you could not win
Despite our prayers and hopes
In eighteen years you touched more hearts
Than any of us knew
And though your spirit still inspires
I will always miss having you
Friday, March 6, 2009
Melodina's Own Words
Shortly before she died Melodina wrote about herself for Inspire Magazine. An edited version of this will be published by the Sick Kids Foundation in the next edition of Inspire. The following is what Melodina wrote.
Biography for Inspire
by Melodina Herman
I was never an average child. From the second I was born I showed it. Within minutes of taking my first breath I lifted my head, turned it left, turned it right, re-centered it and placed it back down on my mother’s breast.
Growing up I was rarely sick. From the age of three until I entered The Hospital for Sick Children just before my 15th birthday I hadn’t even taken an anti-biotic. By grade three I had developed my goals and the steps necessary to achieve my dreams of earning my Black Belt in Karate and competing at the Olympics in Alpine Ski Racing.
In August of 2005, I left Canada for the first time to train for ski racing on more difficult terrain. While in Chile I was tired all the time and often felt sick. Upon my return home I felt much better. In October of that year I left home again to train, this time in Zermatt Switzerland. Again I found myself tired and sick but this time, upon my return home, I didn’t improve. I had believed that it was Altitude Sickness but my parents thought that my cold like symptoms indicated that I had been pushing myself too hard. They believed I was having difficulty fighting a cold or the flu.
November and December passed and my symptoms only worsened. I began sleeping longer hours and having a difficult time getting myself up in the mornings. I developed a crupe like cough that although unproductive worsened every day. As the New Year approached I began to have fevers occasionally that were low grade and didn’t last long at first. Then every evening I started getting higher fevers accompanied by shaking. These however did not last and my temperature was fine during the day.
January 5th and the first race of the season had arrived. I skied the course beautifully but my clocked time didn’t reflect my near perfect performance. Nobody could seem to find a reason for it. We went into the chalet to await the second run and have some lunch.
During lunch I sat across the table from my father who noticed that I was shaking terribly. When he asked if I was cold I shook my head, no. He placed his hand on my forehead and told me I had a high fever. I decided to complete my second run (even slower than the first it turned out) and my father told the coaches I was leaving to go to the doctor’s office. It was a Thursday and when we got to the doctor’s office we were told he wouldn’t be in until Monday. I trained Friday and Saturday but my coach told me to take Sunday off because I appeared too tired.
Monday I went to the doctor’s office on the way to school, had some blood tests done and a chest x-ray was scheduled for the following morning. Tuesday morning I went for the x-ray and then onto school to write a math exam. I called my mom to come and get me. I was too tired. Mom drove me home. As we walked through the door the phone rang and the doctor on the other end was frantically telling us not to go anywhere, an ambulance was coming.
I was rushed to Headwaters Hospital in Orangeville. They pulled more blood work and did another x-ray. My blood count had been dangerously low the day before and had dropped further so that I had no immune system that day. The Orangeville pediatrician said he didn’t even want to guess at what was wrong and sent me in the same ambulance I had come in directly to the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. I was admitted to the General Pediatrics ward.
That night a hematologist told my father that with my blood counts as low as they were and the activities I had been doing she would have thought I might have died a couple of months earlier. After three weeks of what seemed like endless tests a diagnosis was given which seemed more like a description of what was going on inside me. They called it “Auto-Immune Hemolytic Anemia.” I was out on a very high dose of the steroid called prednisone. This was to help keep my blood counts up. After four months I was free of the medication and it appeared that my counts were holding. I was weak and 45 pounds overweight but I was able to stop the medication.
During the next eight months I grew stronger and even managed to achieve my Black Belt in Karate. I began the ski season well and participated in my first international races. However, I soon received some bad news. On a check up at Sick Kids I found out my counts had dropped again an I was put back on steroids.
This time the steroids didn’t work and as time passed my condition worsened. Still I managed two ski medals during that season. By the middle of summer I was in and out of Sick Kids at least weekly and by September I needed an emergency splenectomy. My 6.5 kilogram spleen was removed. Once again I was back in the hospital and still no one knew why.
Samples of the tissue from my spleen as well as from both a bone marrow biopsy and spinal puncture were used to stud the cause of my illness. After 21 months I was diagnosed with Delta/Gamma Hepatosplenic Peripheral T-cell Lymphoma with an underlying disorder called HLH. The malignant cells that were in my blood were clones of normal cells and could not be identified under a microscope. This was the first time this specific type of cancer was diagnosed at the Hospital for Sick Children.
I was one of less than 75 documented cases worldwide, most of which ended in death. After four rounds of Chemotherapy I had still not gone into remission. I would need a Bone Marrow Transplant for any hope of surviving. I received donated bone marrow stem cells from an unrelated donor on February 7th 2008 and began my road to recovery.
Over the next nine months I took everything life threw at me while living in the hospital. I’m still fighting a nasty virus called CMV but recovering at the same time re-learning to eat and walk and doing physcio. I have a job set up for this winter and still intend to complete my goal of competing at the Olympics in Alpine Ski Racing – and expecting to win.
Melodina Herman November 2008
Biography for Inspire
by Melodina Herman
I was never an average child. From the second I was born I showed it. Within minutes of taking my first breath I lifted my head, turned it left, turned it right, re-centered it and placed it back down on my mother’s breast.
Growing up I was rarely sick. From the age of three until I entered The Hospital for Sick Children just before my 15th birthday I hadn’t even taken an anti-biotic. By grade three I had developed my goals and the steps necessary to achieve my dreams of earning my Black Belt in Karate and competing at the Olympics in Alpine Ski Racing.
In August of 2005, I left Canada for the first time to train for ski racing on more difficult terrain. While in Chile I was tired all the time and often felt sick. Upon my return home I felt much better. In October of that year I left home again to train, this time in Zermatt Switzerland. Again I found myself tired and sick but this time, upon my return home, I didn’t improve. I had believed that it was Altitude Sickness but my parents thought that my cold like symptoms indicated that I had been pushing myself too hard. They believed I was having difficulty fighting a cold or the flu.
November and December passed and my symptoms only worsened. I began sleeping longer hours and having a difficult time getting myself up in the mornings. I developed a crupe like cough that although unproductive worsened every day. As the New Year approached I began to have fevers occasionally that were low grade and didn’t last long at first. Then every evening I started getting higher fevers accompanied by shaking. These however did not last and my temperature was fine during the day.
January 5th and the first race of the season had arrived. I skied the course beautifully but my clocked time didn’t reflect my near perfect performance. Nobody could seem to find a reason for it. We went into the chalet to await the second run and have some lunch.
During lunch I sat across the table from my father who noticed that I was shaking terribly. When he asked if I was cold I shook my head, no. He placed his hand on my forehead and told me I had a high fever. I decided to complete my second run (even slower than the first it turned out) and my father told the coaches I was leaving to go to the doctor’s office. It was a Thursday and when we got to the doctor’s office we were told he wouldn’t be in until Monday. I trained Friday and Saturday but my coach told me to take Sunday off because I appeared too tired.
Monday I went to the doctor’s office on the way to school, had some blood tests done and a chest x-ray was scheduled for the following morning. Tuesday morning I went for the x-ray and then onto school to write a math exam. I called my mom to come and get me. I was too tired. Mom drove me home. As we walked through the door the phone rang and the doctor on the other end was frantically telling us not to go anywhere, an ambulance was coming.
I was rushed to Headwaters Hospital in Orangeville. They pulled more blood work and did another x-ray. My blood count had been dangerously low the day before and had dropped further so that I had no immune system that day. The Orangeville pediatrician said he didn’t even want to guess at what was wrong and sent me in the same ambulance I had come in directly to the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. I was admitted to the General Pediatrics ward.
That night a hematologist told my father that with my blood counts as low as they were and the activities I had been doing she would have thought I might have died a couple of months earlier. After three weeks of what seemed like endless tests a diagnosis was given which seemed more like a description of what was going on inside me. They called it “Auto-Immune Hemolytic Anemia.” I was out on a very high dose of the steroid called prednisone. This was to help keep my blood counts up. After four months I was free of the medication and it appeared that my counts were holding. I was weak and 45 pounds overweight but I was able to stop the medication.
During the next eight months I grew stronger and even managed to achieve my Black Belt in Karate. I began the ski season well and participated in my first international races. However, I soon received some bad news. On a check up at Sick Kids I found out my counts had dropped again an I was put back on steroids.
This time the steroids didn’t work and as time passed my condition worsened. Still I managed two ski medals during that season. By the middle of summer I was in and out of Sick Kids at least weekly and by September I needed an emergency splenectomy. My 6.5 kilogram spleen was removed. Once again I was back in the hospital and still no one knew why.
Samples of the tissue from my spleen as well as from both a bone marrow biopsy and spinal puncture were used to stud the cause of my illness. After 21 months I was diagnosed with Delta/Gamma Hepatosplenic Peripheral T-cell Lymphoma with an underlying disorder called HLH. The malignant cells that were in my blood were clones of normal cells and could not be identified under a microscope. This was the first time this specific type of cancer was diagnosed at the Hospital for Sick Children.
I was one of less than 75 documented cases worldwide, most of which ended in death. After four rounds of Chemotherapy I had still not gone into remission. I would need a Bone Marrow Transplant for any hope of surviving. I received donated bone marrow stem cells from an unrelated donor on February 7th 2008 and began my road to recovery.
Over the next nine months I took everything life threw at me while living in the hospital. I’m still fighting a nasty virus called CMV but recovering at the same time re-learning to eat and walk and doing physcio. I have a job set up for this winter and still intend to complete my goal of competing at the Olympics in Alpine Ski Racing – and expecting to win.
Melodina Herman November 2008
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