My name is Felicia Martinez-Garcia. I am the youngest of Lisa's three children. I have two brothers; Trini and Ryan. I also have a daughter of my own, Aaliah, my mom's first and only grandchild. I am very close to my mom and these past few months have been very difficult for her and for those who love her. I wanted to take a moment to tell you about my mom and ask for your help in her fight against Cancer.

My mom is 45 years old. She is single. She grew up on the West side of Saint Paul with three younger siblings; Auggie, Gil and Paula.  My mom has always been very competitive, she grew up playing basketball and softball. She even hooped her own brothers on occasion!
 
For the past 8 years my mom has worked at Mission Foods as an inventory clerk.  When she isn't working, she loves spending time with her granddaughter, nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles and extended family. My mom has instilled the importance of spending quality time with those we love the most.

For the last year and a half my mom has walked two miles back and forth from work every day.  On occasion she mentioned having an uncomfortable feeling in her left leg.  She figured she must have pulled a muscle due to her consistent walking.  In June of this year the pain was noticeably worse and my mom scheduled a doctor appointment.   After numerous tests, it was discovered she had a tumor in her leg. At first the doctors weren't sure whether or not the tumor was cancerous.

On July 1st, 2015 my mom was diagnosed with Stage 2 Sarcoma Synovial Cancer. Sarcoma Synovial Cancer is a non-genetic, rare, soft tissue cancer that affects 1-3 in a million people per year. It's most commonly found in the legs or arms.

The day before my mom started chemotherapy, she decided to proactively cut 18 inches off her hair. She donated her hair to Locks of Love.

On July 9th my mom started her first round of chemotherapy. By July 30th my mom had lost all of her hair. She started her second round of chemotherapy on August 6th. My mom has been in and out of the hospital twice; both times for extreme pain in her leg. My mom tried to go back to work after the first round of chemotherapy, but her body wouldn't cooperate. She was forced to take a leave of absence. My mom spends most of her days sleeping, resting, and trying to drink fluids. Every day tasks are a struggle. Even though she can't eat, she has no energy and no hair, she still has a smile on her face and a positive outlook on life. If someone asks her how she's feeling, she always says "I'm good", "I'm OK". Right now my mom's mentality is that this is a temporary bump in her journey of life. She looks forward to her fourth and final round of chemo in October. She will have surgery sometime in October to remove the tumor. Then she hopes to be back on her road to a speedy recovery and get back to doing what it is she loves to do.

As you can imagine, the medicals bills are mounting. We would appreciate any amount of financial support you can offer to make this journey less stressful on my mom.

Thank you in advance.

Sincerely,

Felicia


*Here 4 the Win*