Fashion Fundraiser to Benefit Stylist Melody

It’s possible that you either know Melody, heard of Melody or Aydan’s Army, or worked with Melody for the purchase of your special wedding dress.

Melody is an employee of Ve’Lace Bridal and we want to take this time to share with you all the journey that Melody and her family has gone through, especially most recently, and why we will be hosting a fashion show fundraising event in her honor.

Although born in Massachusetts, Melody has been a long time resident of Cumberland, Rhode Island. Married in 2002 to her long time high school sweetheart Elisha Nyberg, the two welcomed their very first child Aydan Joseph on 5/5/2004. On 5/10/2010 they gave birth to their now 9 year old daughter Mikaela. Melody and Elisha have been married for 18 years.

At the age of 3, Aydan was unfortunately diagnosed with cancer. Although Aydan was in remission for a short time, with the assistance of cancer treatments and a bone marrow transplant that was donated by his very own sister Mikaela when she was 18 months old, Aydan lost his battle to cancer and passed away on 4/20/2013 at the young age of 8.

In 2012, while Aydan was still with us, Melody learned that she and Aydan both carried LFS, an inherited familial predisposition to a wide range of certain, often rare, cancers… Children and young adults are susceptible to developing several multiple cancers, most notably soft-tissue and bone sarcomas, breast cancer, brain tumors, adrenocortical carcinoma and acute leukemia.

Because of her diagnosis, Melody had a full body MRI performed in 2016. Li-Fraumeni syndrome (LFS) increases Melody’s chances (by 98%!) of having breast cancer therefore she opted to have a double mastectomy. In 2017, Melody was diagnosed with Glioblastoma, the most aggressive cancer that begins with the brain and Leiomyosarcoma, a type of soft tissue sarcoma that was found in her abdomen. Doctors successfully removed Melody’s brain tumor along with the mass in her abdomen.

In 2019 doctors recently located an additional cancer called adrenal cortex carcinoma found in her adrenal gland. Incredibly, they were able to successfully remove her adrenal gland but as a result of the findings Melody will require chemo treatment for the next 2 years.

Our Melody. After all that she’s been through, she continues to be a light to us all. She brings sunshine into our space on a daily basis. As the owner of Ve’Lace Bridal I can honestly say that I am honored to have Melody on my team both as an employee and friend. She reminds me of why I need to keep doing what I’m doing. It’s an incredible thing to watch Melody work with her brides. If you think about it, her brides are so excited as they celebrate the happiest time and many are not aware of what Melody’s gone through and what she’s continuing to go through. Melody is always found smiling, laughing, hugging, and supporting her brides…all while she faces so many challenges, difficult decisions, and unhappy times.

Our hope for Melody this Holiday season is that you join us on January 26th from 10am – 2pm for an in house fashion show fundraising event. We will present you with a full bridal fashion show, appetizers, raffles, and plenty of giveaways. All we ask is that you kindly place a donation to help Melody and her family do away with some of the expenses that come along with cancer. Unfortunately, we have learned that health insurance doesn’t always cover everything. Not only did Melody experience the loss of a child, we believe she is experiencing a financial burden that shouldn’t be.

Because of the fundraiser, we will close the store to shoppers and open it to the public for this very fun fashion event! Please share and spread the word, we would love to make this an incredible turn out for Melody and her family!!