Cancer patient endures pain, bankruptcy, and remains optimistic

photo courtesy of Ely Moyle

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Adelina Márquez wears a cast on her left arm after undergoing a bone marrow transplant July 31. She is a cancer patient and said she likes to meet other cancer patients who are ?pessimistic about it because I can see I motivate them when I talk to them.?

MIDVALE — Adelina Marquez, 40, a cancer patient of short stature and with big enthusiastic eyes, gave me a warm welcome to her home, where a candle was lit next to the images of the Virgin of Guadalupe and Saint Jude Thaddaeus.

At the beginning of her interview with the Intermountain Catholic, she gave me a list of nearly 20 relatives who have died of cancer.

"The last one I saw ill when I used to live in California and was pregnant with my daughter (now 22), was my cousin Nacho. I saw him agonize. The medicine did not help him with the pain," said Marquez.

With such family medical history, it was very possible cancer would strike home, she just never thought she would be next.

"I learned I had cancer seven years ago during my annual papanicolaou test. I had some symptoms: bleeding, tiredness, swollen legs, and bruises all over my legs. I still couldn’t believe it," she said.

While hearing the news that she had cancer, Marquez could only think about her children and parents.

"My brother had recently died in an accident. My mother’s father had died too; she was suffering a lot. I didn’t know how to tell her."

Mayra, Marquez’s daughter, said she admired her mother’s ability to think about others instead of herself amidst her pain.

"We learned about the illness three or four days before Easter and my birthday was going to be in May, so she said she was going to celebrate my Quinceañera (In Latin-American culture, a Quinceañera is the celebration of a girl’s 15th birthday and a rite of passage into womanhood) even if it was the last thing she’d do. She planned it in less than 21 days."

Marquez tries to keep her spirit uplifted, but her illness has brought many struggles for her and her family. Her cancer started in the ovaries and the uterus; it then spread to her right breast, back, and bones. She has undergone 11 surgeries and many chemotherapy and radiation sessions.

"I was very scared of chemotherapy. But I didn’t expect it to be this hard, this ugly. They take me to a hospital room that is more like a living room. Then I sit on a chair by myself. It looks like I am getting serum. Then it starts to run through my body – it is like venom – and it hurts a lot. I get headaches and I get chills. I don’t want to eat and I get hot. I feel like I’m burning and I feel it in my bones. I get desperate and my blood pressure lowers," said Marquez.

Radiation therapy in preparation for a bone marrow transplant is even more painful.

"I get in a place that kind of looks like an x-ray machine that sends rays to the part that is being treated. I can hardly breathe in there and I have my ears covered. I can’t open my eyes either because they are covered as well. My therapy started with eight minutes of radiation, and the most I’ve had has been 28 minutes."

Besides the therapies and the many surgeries, Marquez also takes around 17 pills every day. And none of this is cheap.

"We accumulated a debt of approximately $1.5 million in little more than three years. Part of this is because last year my husband signed some insurance papers without knowing he was basically giving up the insurance; so, I was getting treatment without any insurance. In 2003, we lost our home and everything. We went bankrupt."

Marquez now has insurance (which only covers up to a certain amount) but said she and her family are still having a difficult time paying the hospital bills along with their home expenses. The hospitals automatically deduct 25 percent of her husband’s paycheck and she has not been working much due to the pain. Marquez said she has worked only three days in past three months. She is afraid the hospitals will deny her service but she also worries about the things she has been denying to her children because of the lack of money. Marquez said her son Manuel has not been going to school because they have not paid his high school registration fee. She and he made an appointment with a school official to get authorization for a monthly payment option or an alternative.

Marquez said that situations such as this one motivate her to get better.

"To have one of my children not be able to go to school really frustrates me; but I think, ‘God will help me get better so I can work and give my children a better life.’"

Marquez has always been a hard worker, sometimes she would even work double shifts, said her daughter, Mayra.

"I admire her. I’ve known people who have been given the same news and they don’t last very long."

On July 6 and 31, Marquez received a bone marrow transplant. She said she prepared herself by going to Mass at St. Therese of the Child Jesus Parish in Midvale and receiving the anointing of the sick.

"I felt at ease when Father Martin Diaz (pastor) pressed my head. I didn’t want him to let go. I felt I had more strength, more courage."

On the day of the transplant, "I was calm. My husband was nervous, but then he said that after seeing me calm, he calmed down too," said Marquez.

It is too soon to know whether the operation was successful. Meanwhile, Marquez said she has good and bad days. On Oct. 18, the doctor will conduct a test to determine what will follow the transplant.

"I am optimistic," said Marquez. Whenever possible, she attends different support groups. She has even participated in a number of relays.

"I like to see people going through the same experience. I even like to see people who are pessimistic about it because I can see I motivate them when I talk to them."

Marquez and her family have bore the burden of cancer, but they have also seen the other side of the coin. They have experienced the love and care of family, friends, neighbors, and even strangers.

"My friends Adriana Ortega and Baltazar Pantoja, their children, and his sisters, have held yard sales and car washes to help me pay the rent. Sometimes they get here and check the fridge. When they see there is nothing there, they bring food. Also, a lady paid $100 for a car wash. I didn’t know her or anything," said Marquez.

"I ask God to bless them. I am always asking him for these people," she said.

For information on how you can help Adelina Marquez, please call (801) 330-2932.