Andree Leonelli, DC MFM Team Captain, Shares Her Husband Joe’s Inspiring Melanoma Journey

Guest blog post by Andree and Joe Leonelli: 

“Imagine being told your melanoma had returned, three weeks before your wedding. In addition to the natural stresses leading up to our big day, we were suddenly dealing with uncertainty and chaos we never expected. The last minute wedding details most couples navigate during this period were a welcome distraction for us as we also started talking about surgery, treatment options and life expectancy.

The start of our melanoma journey began as a sore shoulder that wouldn’t get better which led to several doctor appointments, multiple ultrasounds and a PET scan until we finally received a diagnosis that we could hardly believe – Joe had a recurrence and metastasis of his melanoma, 13 years after the first incident.  This time it was more pervasive and serious than the single mole on his back that was surgically removed via wide skin excision in 2001. The Wednesday after our wedding, as we said goodbye and thanked friends and family for traveling to Washington DC, Joe endured a 14 hour surgery which removed infected lymph lodes from under both arms and his gall bladder. 10 years ago, stage four metastatic melanoma was practically a death sentence – but we remained hopeful of our future together and steadfast in our love and faith.

Since 2014, Joe has endured multiple complex surgical resections and biopsies, two different immunotherapy treatments, radiation therapy, a cutting-edge NIH clinical trial and a novel combination of life saving chemotherapy drugs. Since Joe started the combination drugs in 2019, our family has been blessed as he achieved disease free status – and we continue to monitor his body’s fight against melanoma with scans every 6 months.

Shortly after our melanoma journey began, we found essential comfort and critical information in the resources provided by the Melanoma Research Foundation. In 2015, we began to give back to the community by supporting them through the DC Miles for Melanoma 5k Run. We support the MRF each year because this organization spends significant effort into funding lifesaving research and advocating for patients, including efforts that personally helped our family. Our friends and family unite once a year to celebrate Joe and the fight he has endured, celebrate those currently fighting and honor those who have fought hard.

We are fortunate to have found the MRF during a difficult time in our journey and are grateful for the hope it has given us over the last 9 years. We are thankful Joe continues to do well on his current treatment and we are so blessed to have welcomed our two beautiful children, Gabe and Rita, since our melanoma journey began.”