ABOUT OUR FAMILY

Cicera and Edevaldo Mello led a comfortable life in Brazil, with their daughter Ellen and newborn Emily, whom right after her birth got sick and the doctors were not sure of the diagnosis. In 1989 the Mello family came to the U.S. looking for answers they could not find in Brazil. Emily was diagnosed with Cystinosis, a disease which affects the kidneys of a newborn. Cicera recalls "we came to this country looking for the right treatment for my daughter." Cicera described the beginning as being very hard, the first Christmas, the first birthdays away from their Brazilian family. In 1996, the Mello family was the beneficiary of the "green card lottery", "it was like winning millions in the actual lottery" Cicera recalls. Their immigration status was legalized and Edevaldo could get a job with medical benefits they so needed. Cicera was able to donate one of her kidneys to her daughter Emily, "it was a privilege for me to do that" explains Cicera. In 2012, things were about to turn upside down again in the lives of this Brazilian-American family. Ellen, her oldest daughter, was diagnosed with colon cancer. "When I found out, I thought it was too much for me and my family". Cicera once again supported her daughter through every moment of her treatment and today Ellen is a cancer survivor.