Jeannie Martini

Welcome family and friends. We want the people who care about Jeannie to be informed of her health status. Until recently, Jeannie was very active, working on her lactation consultant internship, substitute teaching, spending time with grandchildren, as well as maintaining her full social schedule. In mid-October, she began to feel ill and it was determined she needed her gall bladder removed. The surgery went smoothly and she returned home. However, she did not recover as expected and on Christmas Day was admitted to Lakewood Hospital in Staples.



She underwent testing and was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma, a type of blood cancer. She is currently receiving chemo and corticosteroid therapy in the St Cloud Hospital. This particular course of treatment will not cause her to lose her beautiful hair (a frequently asked question), but often comes with other unpleasant side effects (e.g. nausea, fatigue, tingling in extremities).



Since arriving in St Cloud, she was admitted to ICU for labored breathing. She improved and was returned to the oncology unit for a brief time, but elevated sodium levels and labored breathing required her admission to an intermediate care unit, where she is as of the time of this writing.



Her sodium levels have returned to near normal, but has started an antibiotic regimen for a suspected lower respiratory infection. Low hemoglobin levels may require a blood transfusion, and her levels continue to be monitored.



The short term goal is to address the acute issues and to move her back to the oncology unit. The long term goal is to address the cancer. Multiple Myeloma treatment is a field with continual innovations and increasing survival times when interventions are properly targeted to the individual. We are hopeful.



Thank you for taking the time to read this and know you are an important person to Jeannie and her family. If you are wondering how to support her at this time, she would love to hear from you. Feel free to leave messages on this site or any other way you feel comfortable. She enjoys hearing about what is happening in your lives, how your children are doing, and even about your boring family vacations (really, she loves it). Knowing people are praying for her is much appreciated and a great inspiration to her. We will send another update when we have more information. Love to you and yours.