Cord Blood Succeeds after Chemotherapy

Six years ago, Jaymie Martinez was diagnosed with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia. With chemotherapy proving ineffective, she was given nine months to live, but a cord blood transplant helped to save her life. Today, she is cancer-free and works hard to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada (LLSC).

Shortly after Martinez turned 23-year- old, her doctors informed her that she had AML. She was admitted to the hospital immediately, where she underwent a grueling chemotherapy treatment.

Martinez went through five rounds of chemotherapy before her doctors decided it was of no use; she was not responding to the treatment. Her next option was to find a bone marrow donor, but her only brother was not a match. It was at this point that her doctors told her she had only nine months left.

Between radiation therapy and chemo, Martinez became a shell of her former self. She had lost a great deal of weight as a result of the intensity of the treatment and suffered from malnutrition. She was only 86 pounds when she received news that she was eligible for a cord blood transplant the following year.  A match was found in the United States and she received the transplant in 2006. Just three months later, Martinez was in remission.

She spent the next four years recovering and it was during this time that she decided to help out the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada (LLSC).  For the past three years, Martinez's group, Too Hot to Trot, has raised money for the organization by taking part in the annual Light of the Night Walk. The group also runs fundraising poker tournaments. In this short time, they have raised $27 000.

Martinez has recently gone back to work in a full-time position. Spending 5 five years cancer-free, she is ready to resume living a regular life.
 

http://www.thesuburbannews.ca/content/en/17625

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