Help Venus Fight Cancer
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Hi everyone, my name is Venus Martinez, I’m 25 yrs old and was diagnosed with B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) with a Ph+ Chromosome mutation in December of 2021.
It all started around late October of 2021, when I began to always feel a bit tired no matter how much I slept. I shrugged it off and blamed it on everything going on in my life like just having gotten married in August, moving to another state in September, and building my new career as a recently graduated cosmetologist. My life was just starting and I was so excited for everything the future had in store.
But my symptoms slowly progressed and by mid November, I was still feeling exhausted even after sleeping 12 hours a day and I developed a “rash” on my lower legs that looked like a cluster of tiny red dots. I thought it was a razor burn and went on with my life.
By December, a week before Christmas, I finally decided to get my symptoms checked out as I was now struggling to stand for more than 30 mins without feeling short of breath and feeling faint, and I was nearly passing out at work. I also noticed I had become severely pale, extremely cold, and the red dots were spreading to my face and eyes. I thought, “I’ll go to my local urgent care and they’ll probably tell me I’m anemic and prescribe me iron supplements and I’ll be good in time to see my family for Christmas”.
I did not expect the doctor to be as concerned about my symptoms as he was and told me to change into a gown so that he could further examine the dots on my legs. As I change into the gown, I notice a disgusting purplish bruise on my leg. It was the kind of bruise you’d get after a major painful impact, yet I had no idea I even had it. That’s when panic began to settle in because everyone recognizes the famous Leukemia symptom of large unexplained bruises. We immediately draw my blood for tests and they move me to a different room in the ER.
My husband and I wait for the results of my bloodwork when the ER doctor walks in with another doctor (I believe he was a hematologist). The looks on their faces tells me the results before their words do, and they proceed to tell me they’ve arranged an ambulance to take me to another hospital where I will be further treated as it is very likely I have Leukemia.
I arrive at the new hospital, get a room on the oncology floor, meet my doctors and get a bone marrow biopsy to confirm my diagnosis, but those first few days, to put it lightly, felt like hell on Earth.
After the results of the bone marrow biopsy was confirmed, I was immediately started on a high dose chemotherapy regime that fortunately, knocked my cancer into remission after a month. Ever since then, my life as a 25 yr old dramatically changed with visits to my oncologist once a week and admissions to the hospital for chemotherapy that lasts weeks. Fortunately, I can be cured with a stem cell transplant at the end of a year of 7-8 cycles of chemo, followed by another year of maintenance therapy with specialized prescription drugs.
Due to this change in lifestyle, my newly founded career in hairdressing does not seem like a viable option at this moment, and I felt no other choice but to leave my job.
I am forever grateful to my loving husband that is supporting me financially and emotionally through this tough time. Although we have insurance through his job, the mounting co-pays are starting to add up and will continue to for the rest of my therapy. As a young couple starting off on a low salary, this has been a major stressor in my life without being able to contribute financially, on top of coping with the anxiety of a cancer diagnosis.
For these reasons, I felt compelled to make a fundraiser for my situation and will discontinue it once I have been approved for government benefits or have found a flexible job I can do from home or long stays at the hospital.
I am humbly forever grateful to anyone that is able to make a donation and will have taken a major weight off my shoulders so that I can focus on stabilizing my life to kick cancer’s ass.
Thank you for taking the time to read my story, best wishes and prayers go out to all those fighting a similar battle.
It all started around late October of 2021, when I began to always feel a bit tired no matter how much I slept. I shrugged it off and blamed it on everything going on in my life like just having gotten married in August, moving to another state in September, and building my new career as a recently graduated cosmetologist. My life was just starting and I was so excited for everything the future had in store.
But my symptoms slowly progressed and by mid November, I was still feeling exhausted even after sleeping 12 hours a day and I developed a “rash” on my lower legs that looked like a cluster of tiny red dots. I thought it was a razor burn and went on with my life.
By December, a week before Christmas, I finally decided to get my symptoms checked out as I was now struggling to stand for more than 30 mins without feeling short of breath and feeling faint, and I was nearly passing out at work. I also noticed I had become severely pale, extremely cold, and the red dots were spreading to my face and eyes. I thought, “I’ll go to my local urgent care and they’ll probably tell me I’m anemic and prescribe me iron supplements and I’ll be good in time to see my family for Christmas”.
I did not expect the doctor to be as concerned about my symptoms as he was and told me to change into a gown so that he could further examine the dots on my legs. As I change into the gown, I notice a disgusting purplish bruise on my leg. It was the kind of bruise you’d get after a major painful impact, yet I had no idea I even had it. That’s when panic began to settle in because everyone recognizes the famous Leukemia symptom of large unexplained bruises. We immediately draw my blood for tests and they move me to a different room in the ER.
My husband and I wait for the results of my bloodwork when the ER doctor walks in with another doctor (I believe he was a hematologist). The looks on their faces tells me the results before their words do, and they proceed to tell me they’ve arranged an ambulance to take me to another hospital where I will be further treated as it is very likely I have Leukemia.
I arrive at the new hospital, get a room on the oncology floor, meet my doctors and get a bone marrow biopsy to confirm my diagnosis, but those first few days, to put it lightly, felt like hell on Earth.
After the results of the bone marrow biopsy was confirmed, I was immediately started on a high dose chemotherapy regime that fortunately, knocked my cancer into remission after a month. Ever since then, my life as a 25 yr old dramatically changed with visits to my oncologist once a week and admissions to the hospital for chemotherapy that lasts weeks. Fortunately, I can be cured with a stem cell transplant at the end of a year of 7-8 cycles of chemo, followed by another year of maintenance therapy with specialized prescription drugs.
Due to this change in lifestyle, my newly founded career in hairdressing does not seem like a viable option at this moment, and I felt no other choice but to leave my job.
I am forever grateful to my loving husband that is supporting me financially and emotionally through this tough time. Although we have insurance through his job, the mounting co-pays are starting to add up and will continue to for the rest of my therapy. As a young couple starting off on a low salary, this has been a major stressor in my life without being able to contribute financially, on top of coping with the anxiety of a cancer diagnosis.
For these reasons, I felt compelled to make a fundraiser for my situation and will discontinue it once I have been approved for government benefits or have found a flexible job I can do from home or long stays at the hospital.
I am humbly forever grateful to anyone that is able to make a donation and will have taken a major weight off my shoulders so that I can focus on stabilizing my life to kick cancer’s ass.
Thank you for taking the time to read my story, best wishes and prayers go out to all those fighting a similar battle.
Organizer
Venus Martinez
Organizer
North Las Vegas, NV