CENTER – On Saturday, July 20, a beautiful benefit lunch was held to help Cora Martinez with her medical and transport costs.
Martinez was diagnosed with Medulloblastoma Cancer. According to the National Cancer Institute, Medulloblastoma affects children more than it does adults. It causes brain tumors. If caught early, and with appropriate treatment, according to the Cancer Institute, many people can achieve long-term survival.
The lunch was a Frito pie plate, or enchilada plate, and included a drink and dessert for $12. The lunch was held at La Sierra Bar, 380 S. Worth St., Center.
Martinez's daughter, Marina Hurtado, was with her mother, along with her sisters and other children. People hugged and wished Martinez good health throughout the lunch. Approximately 50 people attended the lunch.
Hurtado talked about what her mother has been through and what is to come treatment wise. The cancer usually starts in the cerebellum, the part of the brain that controls muscle coordination, balance, and movement.
"When I first moved back here, I would see my mom getting dizzy and not being able to balance or being able to function on her right-hand side. My mom was also experiencing severe headaches. We went to the emergency room in the middle of January in Salida, and that was where they found liquid on her brain. They sent her from there to Colorado Springs, where they found two tumors towards the bottom of her skull, near her spine,” she said.
Hurtado said that they did surgery on her mother to relieve the pressure that had built up in her brain from the liquid. Her mother was doing good for about a month but then started getting sick again.
"She was starting to react the same way, like she did before the surgery. She got worse. She was hardly able to walk or talk. She was hardly able to do a lot of things," Hurtado said.
Martinez was flown to Denver for a second surgery.
"They had to put a catheter in her so that the fluid could drain out and it wouldn't just stay there. The catheter really helped her, it relieved all of the pressure and the swelling and whatever else was going on in her head. Later on, they removed it. They kept my mom in the hospital for a while to make sure she was okay after that too," Hurtado said.
Hurtado said they told her mother that she would have to undergo radiation treatment, which she has already done for almost 5 weeks, and then chemo to try to kill the cancer cells and stop the spread.
Hurtado said they want to give her mother nine sessions of chemo.
"It will be a heavier chemo, is what we have been told. They want to be sure that they get all of the cancer," she said.
Hurtado said that if the tumor didn't go away with the chemo, the doctor said they would try another procedure to help her mother.
"As far as we have been told now, she is doing great. She's doing good other than the side effects that she has been having from the radiation," Hurtado said.
Hurtado said that her mother should get about a month between the radiation and chemo.
"I am glad she is getting a break. She is trying hard for her grandbaby, too. I want to tell my mom that I love her, and that we are all fighting for her. She needs to keep fighting. She has a lot of people who are there for her and supporting her. I want to thank my mom for all she has done for us throughout our lives, now it's our turn to be there for her too," Hurtado said.
Martinez said she was grateful for everyone that came to her lunch, and she was hopeful.
"This is a lot to endure,” she said with tear-filled eyes. "I am so grateful for all of the community members who showed up, and so grateful to my family for being here for me today. I would not be able to go through any of this without them. I probably look better than I feel, but I am doing it. I am so grateful for all of the support I have been given."
Rose Quintana attended her lunch and said, "Cora's a good person. I hope that God helps her through this fight. We know she is strong enough to win. We are here to support her for her lunch today, and we will support her for anything she needs."
