My Story

Hi my name is Jaymie Martinez.

When I was 23 years old, I was studying at university, when my life was suddenly put on hold. I was diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia, a cancer of the blood. I desperately needed a bone marrow transplant to save my life. When we found out my only brother was not a bone marrow match, I was given 9 months to live.
I started high dose chemotherapy immediately.

The side effects were awful. I lost all my hair, my finger nails peeled off, my skin was covered in blue and purple rashes. I had tubes coming out of my chest and arms. I was constantly nauseous and vomiting. I couldn’t walk, talk or eat for days. I was placed in isolation and was given a drip of pain killers and a morphine patch on my back to deal with the pain. The chemo was so strong, it burned the outer layers of my eyes and I was completely blind for 3 days.

I spent 6 months fighting for my life but the chemotherapy wasn’t enough to kill all the cancer cells in my body. When all hope seemed lost, my doctors approached me with the option of an experimental stem cell transplant from a baby’s umbilical cord. I was all out of options.

After five rounds of high dose chemo and 3 days straight of full body radiation, I received my stem cell transplant on January 10 2006.

That was over 11 years ago. The road to recovery was long, but so worth it. Everyday I am absolutely grateful to be alive. Every single day is a gift. I am blessed to live a happy and healthy life today.

My life was saved by complete strangers that donated their baby’s stem cell. If not for my stem cell transplant, I wouldn’t be here today. Please sign up today, you have the power to save someone’s life.