The evening ahead of a wedding can be full of nerves and pressure.
For Melissa Adams, though, the night before she was set to marry her partner, Matt, became something far more serious than pre-ceremony anxiety.
After celebrating at a rehearsal dinner with loved ones, the 31-year-old from Alabama was involved in a crash that would lead to a life-altering discovery.
In an interview with WHNT, Melissa described leaving the gathering the day before her November wedding. On the drive home, she was hit in a T-bone collision—where the front of one vehicle impacts the side of another—and was taken to the hospital immediately.
Once there, doctors ran multiple scans and found a startling number of growths throughout her body.
Melissa learned she had 18 masses in total.
She was later diagnosed with follicular dendritic cell sarcoma (FDCS), a very rare cancer that commonly develops in lymph nodes.
“There’s masses all in my abdomen and in my chest, there’s one that’s kind of on my heart,” she told the outlet.
By the time her condition was identified, Melissa’s cancer was already stage four. Even with the devastating diagnosis, she chose to move forward with her wedding plans.
“Obviously, my cancer has taken away so much from me,” Melissa said.
Melissa said it took visits to several hospitals and oncology teams before she finally had clear answers. With a diagnosis confirmed, she began treatment on Wednesday (April 1).
“I’m really excited to start chemo because it has been about 19, 20 weeks of a journey to get to this point,” she said.
“All I’ve wanted for those weeks was just to start a treatment plan and just to, you know, have a goal and something to work towards.”
With medical costs adding up, Melissa is also hoping to get support through her GoFundMe fundraiser.
In the fundraiser, she opened up about symptoms she had been dealing with, including persistent back pain, which she initially attributed to a history of autoimmune problems.
“Looking back, I had been experiencing pain and other symptoms for some time, but I believed they were related to my autoimmune disease. Over the past few weeks, my condition has worsened – simple daily tasks have become painful, and walking has become difficult,” she wrote.
“I thought I just needed to toughen up, you know.
“Other people have back pain, but mine was steadily getting worse, and that was actually because of the masses inside my body pushing on my organs and moving things around.”
“I am now preparing to begin chemotherapy treatment and have to have a second biopsy due to other complications,” she said in the post.
Now, Melissa says she wants to use her experience to help others recognize when something might be wrong and to seek medical advice sooner rather than later.
“It’s such a taboo thing to talk about, and it’s not cool to get online and cry, you know, or share your feelings, outwardly with just the world,” she wrote in a candid social media post about her condition.
“But I think that does kind of help other people who are maybe in the same boat as you.
“Had I not been in the car accident, I wouldn’t know. I’m thankful that God hit me with the car, and that I get to, I get the chance to fight for my life. …My prognosis isn’t great, but God has the last say.”
At the time of writing, her fundraiser has reached $37,640.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact the American Cancer Society on 1-800-227-2345 or via their live chat feature, available 24/7 every day of the year.