YouTuber Melanie Ham has died at the age of 36, after her years-long battle with cancer. The mom of two was known online for her crafting tutorials — making skills like quilting and crochet easy for beginners — and amassed more than 800,000 followers and many fans all over the world.
Melanie’s death was announced in an Instagram post shared by her husband on her feed.
“It is with a heavy heart and deep sadness I share the news of the passing of my sweet, amazing, beautiful wife Melanie,” Robert Ham wrote on January 12. “If you’ve been following our journey I’m sure you were, like us, hopeful she could defeat this insidious disease.”
The dad explained that as 2021 came to a close, Melanie’s condition was getting progressively worse.
“We’re thankful that we made it to this point through the holidays and tried to make every moment count,” he shared.
Melanie and Robert were nine days away from their 16th wedding anniversary when she died.
“My family, our doctors, our nurses and especially Melanie fought until the end and did all we could do to avoid today, but that is not our path. Let me reassure all those rooting for us, Melanie fought like a warrior queen,” he wrote.
He added that despite his family’s grief, they want to celebrate Melanie who “loved passionately, created beautifully, provided abundantly and was my best friend all the way to the end.”
“She was an extraordinary woman and God has another beautiful angel,” Robert wrote.
“She can now walk, and sing, and dance in a way her body did not allow over the last few months,” he added. “She relied on her faith in Jesus all the way to the end and she will always be with me.”
Melanie’s health struggles began back in December 2019, when doctors found (and safely removed) a mass on one of her kidneys, as well as removing the kidney.
“After seeing the scans, our surgeon thought it was most likely cancer,” she wrote in a post on her blog at the time. “Surgery was scheduled for the following week and I had my left kidney, the mass and two lymph nodes removed. I thank God everyday for how quickly my surgeon took action on this issue.”
The mass turned out to be “a rare kind of benign,” she wrote, that would require more doctors' visits.
On August 14, 2020, Melanie shared more devastating news.
In a second blog post, Melanie explained that a few weeks earlier she had started feeling pain in her lower abdomen and believed she was sick with a urinary tract infection.
“After a week of not feeling good I felt something wasn’t right and went to Cedars-Sinai (where I have all of my follow up care) emergency room,” she wrote. “Turns out I didn’t get to leave the hospital that night, I was admitted and spent two nights in the hospital while they ran tests. Turns out my tumor came back in multiple locations, very rapidly. Ugh …”
Melanie was diagnosed with epithelioid angiomyolipoma, or PEComa, a very rare form that is part of the sarcoma family of cancers.
“[I]n fact our doctor said it was more likely we would win the lottery than have this type of cancer (yes please),” she wrote. “It behaves differently than a typical cancer which is why it was so unpredictable, and now that it’s back it’s officially cancer (no longer ‘benign’).”
In October 2021, Melanie shared that she’d had a successful surgery to remove the tumors.
“But only five weeks after surgery I had new symptoms and after a scan we discovered that the cancer spread and had become very aggressive … again,” she wrote online. She started harsher chemotherapy treatment that caused her hair to fall out.
“That was a really hard moment for me,” she admitted. “Robert shaved my head and we just cried together.
“We were of course hopeful that this chemo would work but after a few rounds we scanned again and the chemo wasn’t doing a darn thing – all the cancer was still progressing,” she added. “Another gut punch.”
At the end of August 2021, Melanie switched chemo drugs.
Understandably, all of the medical treatments she was undergoing made her reluctant to share her life.
“Sharing, being online and working take more energy than I have,” she wrote. “I have been prioritizing rest and being with family in this difficult season and spending 100% of my energy on my healing.
“We're always trying to stay optimistic that this will be the treatment that works, but the truth is there is no clear path on how to battle this, so we're just gonna keep fighting,” she shared.
The mom fought until she ultimately died on January 12.
After the news of Melanie's passing, her followers wrote to share kind words about her legacy.
"Oh Robert … I don’t have any words," wrote one person. "I’m just so brokenhearted for y’all. Melanie was such a kind and gentle and good soul. You and your beautiful kids will be in my prayers."
"Sending all the love in my heart and prayers for your family. What a lovely, kind and talented soul. I’m so very sorry," another commenter wrote.
"She helped so many people through her videos. She was a teacher of so many skills! I’m so sorry for your loss, Robert. Melanie was a wonderful woman," a third commenter shared.
A celebration of life will be held for Melanie at 11 a.m. Saturday, January 29, at Crossroads Community Church in Valencia, California, a second Instagram post read. “Colorful attire encouraged.” The event will be livestreamed at www.lifeatcrossroads.org/event stream.
Source: cafemom.com
