Help to pay for ongoing treatment for brain tumor

Hi, my name is Leah Martinson. I'm a mother of six amazing kids ranging from the ages of 8 to 24 years old, and married to my soul-mate. I've always strived to be healthy and active by eating well, working out, and doing recreational things whenever I can. In July, 2023, I felt something strange happen with my head when it suddenly jerked, while talking to a friend. The strange event caused me to momentarily lose my balance, but I didn't think much of it, at the time. But over the course of the following weeks, odd symptoms started progressively getting worse — things like being unable to track with my left eye, dizziness, imbalances, and feeling drunk and heavy-headed. The thought never occurred that this was something serious. I figured I had pulled a muscle in my neck or was just overtired from summer traveling.

My primary care doctor recommended that I get an MRI done, wondering if I had had a mild stroke, and soon after meeting with him, I went through the MRI procedure. Let me just say that the MRI changed my whole life! When we received the results from one of Southern Utah's neurosurgeons, he explained that I had what looked like a glioma tumor located in my brain stem. If you're unsure of what a glioma tumor is, it is what they call a grade 2 lesion that is cancerous — a grade 4 lesion is called a glioblastoma and is a medical emergency. I was not expecting to hear that I had something wrong with my brain. I was not expecting to suddenly be faced with my mortality. But there I was, sitting in the surgeons office, as he proceeded to explain all the terrible things about the location of my tumor. Finally he shared what options I had. I figured, "Okay. That's okay. I have a friend who had a brain tumor and they operated on it, removed it, and she's good." Well, unfortunately, where this lesion was located, the neurosurgeon informed me that he wasn't able to biopsy it or operate on it, due to the risk associated with any kind of surgery in that area of the brain — the tumor is at the peak of the brain stem, deep inside the brain. He also said, because they are unable to biopsy, to know its exact genetic makeup, I don't qualify for any treatment, regular or alternative.

What does a person do with information like that? It took days for me to process what I was told... I'm still processing it now. When we were finished with the consultation, my husband asked the surgeon, "What's next? How do we move forward?" The surgeon said that he'd recommend "watching and waiting." That was deflating and discouraging, as who wants to find out that they have something in their brain, but there's nothing that can be done but "watch and wait"? This is where faith becomes real and you have to ask yourself what you truly believe. I knew He who put it there had a plan and I had to learn to be patient and trust.

This was probably the most difficult thing to hear, because it is so hard to just wait around knowing that something is growing inside your brain that shouldn't be there, but I have learned over the weeks to do my best to enjoy everyday. I have a little plaque on may desk that I have had for a long time and it really sums it up "every moment matters". I was reassured by the neurologists and neurosurgeons that watching and waiting was the best course of action, but we still felt that it would be important to get a second opinion. We scheduled another MRI for November, and proceeded to look for a second opinion. We had heard about the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, Arizona, from a friend who had gone through brain surgery there several years ago. The Barrow Institute is known for some of the world's best neurosurgeons, and requested a second opinion from one of their top surgeons. His prognosis was that it indeed looked like a cancerous grade 2 glioma, and he was convinced it was time sensitive and needed to be taken care of quickly — that is, he wanted to operate on it and felt confident that it could be done.

By God's grace, I was able to get on Joel's work insurance and we scheduled the surgery for January 2024. The surgery lasted 6 hours and was successful, in that I did not come out of surgery with what surgeons call a "deficit"—a permanent, physical (or mental) problem due to the surgery. However, the surgery did not help the doctors identify exactly the type of tumor that I am dealing with. Therefore, my husband and I were given two options: radiation therapy or "watch-and-wait". My surgeon recommended the watch-and-wait approach, as he was certain that radiation would cause more problems than doing any good and the surgery biopsy came back that it is a slow growing tumor.

As I write this, we are working to navigate our future for my family regarding my health and the costs associated with my high insurance premium, MRI's every 6 months, bloodwork every few months and neck therapy to help with issues associated with the surgery. One of the decisions we've had to make is to put our house up for sale, in the event another surgery or radiation is in the future. My husband also will be taking on a second job, to offset health costs. But in all things the Lord goes before us. As we move from one place (the house and where we live), He has opened up an opportunity for another. We are accepting a position overseas, to work with friends who run an international school in Norway.

We never thought such an opportunity would come, but our friend's have need for Christian help and my husband works remote with his first job, and since my tumor is stable, we thought how could we not go and do ministry abroad? I know it will have its challenges, as my symptoms come and go and I often get tired, but I'm excited for what God has in store for our family as we get to help and be a refreshment to someone else. I will continue my care in the US and come back for MRI's and visits with my older children who remain in the US. I will also have the opportunity to meet the local neurosurgeons and be under their care as well—in case of an emergency.

My faith in God and His Son Jesus has always been a part of my adult life, and this situation has certainly challenged my faith. It has grown and stretched me and taught me what is valuable. I believe that God is a God of miracles, and one way or another His hand is moving, not only to heal me but also through the kindness and graciousness of those around me. I'm praying that my unique trial will serve as a testimony of His love and power.

I will be continuing a blog on my website to keep you updated on this journey I'm on. It'll give you an opportunity to get to know me better and my progress, and it'll give me an opportunity to get to know you through comments and chat. I will update that here.

Please consider going with me on this journey by giving financially to help me pay for medical expenses.