Help These Cancer Warriors with Victorious Hearts Get A New Home!

To:  Extreme Makeover Home Edition

This is Marissa Meleske..a.k.a Rooey to the Byers(my new adopted family in Oregon LOL). Just recently, Boey’s parents Rob and Rachel asked me if I would help out with Boey's website at www.jenessabyers.com. They have become so swamped with their new campaign and advocacy work in finding a cure for cancer and lobbying Congress to pursue preventative measures in diagnosing pediatric cancer, they don't have time to work on Boey's website like they want to.
Anyway, let’s get right to work...onto my newest mission to help this incredible family. For months now, this family has been struggling. I’m sure some people don’t really understand why cancer is an illness of a family, and not just one person, even if the patient is a survivor. Most people will try to understand, but only because they know about the emotions that the family and patient will go through. What if how you were living as a family was harmful to the person who ultimately got cancer and you didn’t even realize it? Think about that for a minute. Now imagine Boey who is now in remission with a weak immune system because of the effects of the treatments, is still faced with another battle: surviving the possible effects of an unsafe home on her immune system. Rachel has wanted to move out of the house for the last year because she is terrified for her children. Instead she kept them in the safe parts of the house and makes them wear masks if they want to go into her room or any other room that poses a threat because moving out is not financially financially realistic at this point.
This is not fair for any family to live like this, and it breaks my heart to know how HARD Boey has fought and what she wants to do in helping other cancer familes and her crusade for a cure, only to live like this. IT’S WRONG AND UNACCEPTABLE, WE NEED TO HELP THIS FAMILY.
The Byers are excited about their bright future and the bright future of their warrior daughter and their awesome boys. They have done the best they could as far as making the house safe while Boey was going through her chemo(even went as far as making sure she and her brothers slept in her parents room and isolated her from certain parts of the house that have mold)and trying to keep everything under control financially, and making sure the boys were getting their needs met. Rob worked 80 hour weeks and would come home and continue working on the fixer upper that he bought for his family because he had a dream in making this house his family’s “dream home”.
A human being can only do so much. The term “warriors” really suits this family perfectly, they have been through so much not only in the last year, but the years leading up to Boey’s diagnosis because of Joe’s diagnosis.
I am asking all of you to stand together for this family and show the cancer that there is no such thing as a 70% survival rate for Boey, we need to make it 200% sure that she will NEVER ever for a second be under any kind of danger again, especially in her own home.So I am asking ALL of the people who support Boey and her family in ANY way, even if you have never spoken a word to the family or even if you don’t share the bond of being a Daughtry fan (which um watch out for Boey if you don’t…just a word of caution)…if you know who this family is PLEASE do this for them.
As parents, Rob and Rachel can’t even rest now that Boey is in remission, they long for the day the doctors declare her cancer free(in four more years). They are constantly worrying about the “what if’s” with Chris and Joe and the effects of the toxic mold and other dangers(because the house is so old, they had Asbestos in their ceilings but it’s now been removed)on their daughter’s fragile immune system and there growing boys as well.
Boey will have to deal with the side effects of the harsh toxic grueling treatments of the chemo and radiation, but to know that she is living in unsafe conditions after battling cancer and kicking it to the curb, is just to heartbreaking for her parents and all that know and love her. Her brother Joe’s asthma has been so bad at times that he’s been taken to the ER for injections into his leg and nebulizer treatments so he can breathe(he now has a nebulizer for his attacks at home thank God).
Rob bought this house not realizing the dangers lurking inside, he’s put his heart and soul into fixing it up, but with the cost of the supplements, Boey’s medical bills, Joe’s therapy, medications, and many other costs, the remodeling money for the house has been completely drained.Never did they expect Boey to go through the ordeal she went through, so until they know they are living in a healthy, safe home, they will not be able to relax. Just to give you a visual not only is there toxic mold lurking on the old ancient windows(which is one of the reasons no matter how many times a day they clean it..the mold keeps coming back grrr) and walls, there is faulty electrical which is affecting the heating (Joe’s heater use to spark..it’s now permanently turned off), broken windows throughout the house, huge cracks in the walls, the garage wall is so unsafe from dry rot it’s going to give way anytime, and the whole house is sitting on foundation that is uneven(due to the house being moved). There is a huge hole in Boey’s bedroom wall where Rob was attempting to clean oout all the mold, and was in the middle of working on fixing the bathroom that is pretty much in shambles when he got hit with the devastating news of his daughter’s diagnosis.
This is so unfair to this family who has always worked so hard and held strong to their morals and beliefs that with their love and strength as a family, together they can conquer anything. Well..that has been the case for sure, but now they really can’t do it alone anymore, they need us guys. They never asked for the hardships they’ve had to endure this past year. What were they supposed to do….”Oh can we cancel Boey’s chemo for today while we go rob a bank, because we have no money, so we can pay a cleaning crew?”. As if the blow to the family of Boey’s diagnosis wasn’t enough, her brother Joe has Autism, Aspergers to be exact. Go visit this link to find out more about it: http://www.udel.edu/bkirby/asperger/aswhatisit.html. He also has Asthma which makes it even harder to celebrate Boey’s victory, knowing that your other child is in danger. Everytime he coughs or weezes, Rob and Rachel’s stomach goes in knots. He has had issues with attempted suicide, and running away from home. He is a very sweet kid, and I think getting him involved with spreading cancer awareness will help tremendously.
Chris is very excited about showing off his comic of the tumor being destroyed! They’ve truly been Boey’s “rock” through all of this. Especially with not being able to attend school with her friends for so long,they have been all she’s had.
In a way, as bad as the situation with Joe might get at times, they’ve gotten to lean on each other. It has made those 2 boys feel so loved with how much Boey has needed them through all of this, they’ve all bonded over this crisis and it touches me to know how they’ve helped eachother through this.
Chris is even going to be getting involved in the near future with his amazing talent as an artist. He draws amazing comics of the tumor being destroyed and these are the same comics that have helped his sister visualize the tumor getting it’s bootie kicked and seen her through her darkest days. What an amazing brother..she is so blessed to have Chris and Joe at her side. I am working on getting his comics out in a magazine that is distributed to hospitals country wide! Boey’s main Oncologist saw the comics one day while Boey was smiling as she was reading them in her hospital bed and really encouraged Chris to publish his drawings because she knew how much it would help her patients and she saw incredible talent!!!
The family has had to do a ton of prioritizing this year and they’ve done an amazing job. Amazing is an understatement, there really are no words that can justify how truly incredible they are. Just to know all they have endured and how they are absolutely dedicated and committed to helping other families with cancer despite what they have to face in their daily life (home situation, medical bills, about to lose there house cause they can’t make payments) is truly mindblowing to say the least. They keep telling me that all of that seems so trivial cause all they care about is the fact that Boey won and they can hold their little Boey in their arms every night..and they survived a year of hell. Okay..they have a point..to an extent..and I’m sure you all know where I’m going with that.
Now that they can rest easy knowing Boey is in remissioin, they are in desperate need of A SAFE HOME. Bills for chemo and supplements were outrageous, so they can’t buy a new house (or I’d be moving them all to NY tomorrow)….why not help them out? If they get a ton of nominations for Extreme Makeover Home Edition, they will be that much closer to getting a safe comfortable house! The goal is 50,000 signatures but I would even like to exceed that!
They have been nominated for a month already by some of their closest friends who surprised them with the nomination, including their Naturopath doctor (who expressed her concern for Boey living in an unsafe environment), and the Mayor of Corvallis, but we need more!
Rob had a dream for his family. Let’s help this amazing family get what they so righteously deserve… A SAFE HOME WHERE THEY CAN LIVE COMFORTABLY AND PURSUE THEIR PASSIONS OF HELPING OTHERS(this family is going to change the world with their determination to pass laws and find a cure for cancer..it’s awesome and very exciting)This is their DREAM!!!They’ve been living a nightmare this past year, dreams have had to be overlooked time after time, especially for all 3 kids, so I’m making it my personal mission to make sure all of it, or as much of it as possible, is made up to them, to make Rob and Rachel realize that despite what sacrifices they’ve had to make and whatever they couldn’t do, they are still amazing parents who have done all they could. . With the burden of the house falling apart now, everything that he’s done to try to keep it together doesn’t seem worth it now that his mind can focus on that. The fact that he has a Hernia doesn’t help either. Thosemedical bills add to the one’s from Boey, which they can’t even keep up with. He has tried to do everything he can to keep the family together as the provider and with the amount of love Rachel and the kids have for him, that is all he really needs.
If there is anyone who knows that sometimes the amount you take in isn’t always as much as you expect, especially after bills that you can hardly pay after your child just went through 10 months of chemo and everything, it’s me. What better way to warm the hearts of these Extreme Makeover people than to express to them how this family and Boey’s victory have all touched our hearts all over the world?? Things like that don’t happen everyday, but everytime I look at Boey, I know anything is possible! She has inspired so many to fight and NEVER GIVE UP HOPE..she is our hero!!! Help us give back to this very well deserving family...please sign this petition and show ABC how much we love them and are behind them!!! THANK YOU TO ALL OF BOEY'S ANGELS FOR HELPING TO GIVE THIS LITTLE WARRIOR AND HER FAMILY A SAFE HOME!! Let you know as soon as we here from ABC!!!

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The Help These Cancer Warriors with Victorious Hearts Get A New Home! Petition to Extreme Makeover Home Edition was created by and written by Marissa Meleske (rissapissa6986@yahoo.com).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.

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