Believing in a Miracle for Thelma!
Donation protected
Our oldest sister Ruth wrote this:
It's a chilly day in May, 1981, my brother and I are peering over the edge of a
crib looking at our newly born baby sister"”I so clearly remember falling in love with this teeny creature. Thelma Elizabeth. Our baby sister. Such a strong name for such a little one. A very fitting name though.
Fastforwarding 23 years takes me to a day when I received a phone call that left me feeling chilled to the bone. Numb. Nauseous. Cancer. I cannot"“don't want to"“believe it but it's true. Hodgkins lymphoma. Must start chemo right away. Hmmmm. Breathe. Remember to breathe. We'll get through this. We're standing together. She'll be alright. Everything will be alright.
And so our family saga began. It's not an unfamiliar saga"”so many families go through this every year. :-( Cancer. For many it's just a part of everyday life. And it's giving her a chance at everyday life that we're focusing on right now. Since that day when the diagnosis came nine years ago our sister Thelma has taken 5 different kinds of chemo treatments. She's had success with each treatment but only temporary success. The cancer has kept coming back.
Last year in the Spring of 2011 she had high-dose chemotherapy followed by an autologous stem cell transplant. At first the doctors said it didn't work, then after waiting a few months they declared her in remission. Any one that's been through this knows the sigh of relief and disbelief that comes with the words "remission." A part of you relaxes in a big way while a teeny part stays on guard. "Please, let it be true, let it be true, let it be true. Let her be fine. She'll be fine. She'll be fine. She is ok. It worked. Yay!"
In April of this year, 2012, we got a call saying Thelma was going to the ER due to unbearable back pain. Turns out the cancer had spread to her spine and in three days time paralyzed her from the rib cage down. And yet, true to form, true to Thelma, she beat it! She had an emergency laminectomy and doctors were concerned she'd never walk again. But did that stop her? No.
Our sister is actually walking again (with the help of a walker) and getting physical and occupational therapy to learn how to do everything all over again since the damage to her spinal cord was pretty severe. Doctors are amazed at how she has recovered. She is doing it. She is strong. She has a lot to live for.
In 2006 Thelma married the love of her life, Jordan, and two years later they had a miracle baby girl, Sofhia. In the fall of 2010 they had another miracle baby, Ahna. We say miracles because Thelma was not supposed to be able to get pregnant because of all the treatments she has received. But she did. And what a sweet family she has.
We have created this fundraising page in order to help Thelma recover from her latest bout with cancer. While the spinal surgery was successful in removing the tumor from her spine, there is a part that is still left in her chest area, wrapped around her heart and lungs, non-operable. She is currently receiving brentuximab vedotin, a newly FDA-approved chemotherapy designed for relapsed Hodgkins. We are both grateful for this treatment and concerned about it for two reasons: 1) it's not curative and 2) it's causing neuropathy symptoms to get worse.
The good news is that she is a candidate for another kind of treatment that she has never had before"”high doses of IV nutrients designed to kickstart her immune system into beating the cancer the way her system is naturally designed to. We all feel very hopeful about this treatment. It really resonates and makes sense to her and to all of us (her spouse, parents and siblings).
The treatment consists of twice a week outpatient sessions where she will receive high dosages of IV nutrients to boost her immune system, coupled with lymphatic drainage massage and colonics treatments. Unfortunately her insurance will not cover the treatments and we are needing to pay for them out-of-pocket. Each weekly round of treatments will cost $800-$1200 depending on how many sessions/treatments she needs each week.
We are thankful that you are reading this page and ask that you consider donating funds towards her well-being. We've lived through some close calls and have dealt with a lot of issues surrounding her possible death. We know that we will all die someday and when it's our time, it's our time. However, in her case, we just don't see that it is her time to go because she simply keeps on living! And as long as she is alive, we will continue to support her and back her up as she does all she can to live an abundant life.
If you wish, you can learn more about her journey on her CaringBridge blog. www.caringbridge.org/visit/thelmahartmann. To donate, please click on the link above. To get to know her through photos and video, you can visit the FB fan page we've created for her www.facebook.com/GoThelma.
You can also now support Thelma through your purchases at Amazon.com
. When you follow this link and purchase something from Amazon.com Thelma will receive a commission as part of the Amazon Affiliates program.
With a grateful & humble heart,
Rademacher/Hartmann Families
For those of you who would like to donate directly to the fund rather than using the gofundme website you can make your check out to "The Thelma Hartmann Fund" and mail checks directly to:
OnPoint Credit Union
PO Box 3750
Portland, OR 97208-3750
It's a chilly day in May, 1981, my brother and I are peering over the edge of a
crib looking at our newly born baby sister"”I so clearly remember falling in love with this teeny creature. Thelma Elizabeth. Our baby sister. Such a strong name for such a little one. A very fitting name though.
Fastforwarding 23 years takes me to a day when I received a phone call that left me feeling chilled to the bone. Numb. Nauseous. Cancer. I cannot"“don't want to"“believe it but it's true. Hodgkins lymphoma. Must start chemo right away. Hmmmm. Breathe. Remember to breathe. We'll get through this. We're standing together. She'll be alright. Everything will be alright.
And so our family saga began. It's not an unfamiliar saga"”so many families go through this every year. :-( Cancer. For many it's just a part of everyday life. And it's giving her a chance at everyday life that we're focusing on right now. Since that day when the diagnosis came nine years ago our sister Thelma has taken 5 different kinds of chemo treatments. She's had success with each treatment but only temporary success. The cancer has kept coming back.
Last year in the Spring of 2011 she had high-dose chemotherapy followed by an autologous stem cell transplant. At first the doctors said it didn't work, then after waiting a few months they declared her in remission. Any one that's been through this knows the sigh of relief and disbelief that comes with the words "remission." A part of you relaxes in a big way while a teeny part stays on guard. "Please, let it be true, let it be true, let it be true. Let her be fine. She'll be fine. She'll be fine. She is ok. It worked. Yay!"
In April of this year, 2012, we got a call saying Thelma was going to the ER due to unbearable back pain. Turns out the cancer had spread to her spine and in three days time paralyzed her from the rib cage down. And yet, true to form, true to Thelma, she beat it! She had an emergency laminectomy and doctors were concerned she'd never walk again. But did that stop her? No.
Our sister is actually walking again (with the help of a walker) and getting physical and occupational therapy to learn how to do everything all over again since the damage to her spinal cord was pretty severe. Doctors are amazed at how she has recovered. She is doing it. She is strong. She has a lot to live for.
In 2006 Thelma married the love of her life, Jordan, and two years later they had a miracle baby girl, Sofhia. In the fall of 2010 they had another miracle baby, Ahna. We say miracles because Thelma was not supposed to be able to get pregnant because of all the treatments she has received. But she did. And what a sweet family she has.
We have created this fundraising page in order to help Thelma recover from her latest bout with cancer. While the spinal surgery was successful in removing the tumor from her spine, there is a part that is still left in her chest area, wrapped around her heart and lungs, non-operable. She is currently receiving brentuximab vedotin, a newly FDA-approved chemotherapy designed for relapsed Hodgkins. We are both grateful for this treatment and concerned about it for two reasons: 1) it's not curative and 2) it's causing neuropathy symptoms to get worse.
The good news is that she is a candidate for another kind of treatment that she has never had before"”high doses of IV nutrients designed to kickstart her immune system into beating the cancer the way her system is naturally designed to. We all feel very hopeful about this treatment. It really resonates and makes sense to her and to all of us (her spouse, parents and siblings).
The treatment consists of twice a week outpatient sessions where she will receive high dosages of IV nutrients to boost her immune system, coupled with lymphatic drainage massage and colonics treatments. Unfortunately her insurance will not cover the treatments and we are needing to pay for them out-of-pocket. Each weekly round of treatments will cost $800-$1200 depending on how many sessions/treatments she needs each week.
We are thankful that you are reading this page and ask that you consider donating funds towards her well-being. We've lived through some close calls and have dealt with a lot of issues surrounding her possible death. We know that we will all die someday and when it's our time, it's our time. However, in her case, we just don't see that it is her time to go because she simply keeps on living! And as long as she is alive, we will continue to support her and back her up as she does all she can to live an abundant life.
If you wish, you can learn more about her journey on her CaringBridge blog. www.caringbridge.org/visit/thelmahartmann. To donate, please click on the link above. To get to know her through photos and video, you can visit the FB fan page we've created for her www.facebook.com/GoThelma.
You can also now support Thelma through your purchases at Amazon.com
. When you follow this link and purchase something from Amazon.com Thelma will receive a commission as part of the Amazon Affiliates program. With a grateful & humble heart,
Rademacher/Hartmann Families
For those of you who would like to donate directly to the fund rather than using the gofundme website you can make your check out to "The Thelma Hartmann Fund" and mail checks directly to:
OnPoint Credit Union
PO Box 3750
Portland, OR 97208-3750
Organizer
Liza Rademacher de Unger
Organizer
