Wednesday, September 28, 2005

Belen man struggles with cancer

Clara Garcia News-Bulletin Staff Writer; cgarcia@news-bulletin.com

Belen According to the American Cancer Society, more Americans die each year from lung cancer than from breast, prostate and colorectal cancers combined. Approximately 173,770 new cases of lung cancer were diagnosed in 2004, accounting for 13 percent of all new cancer cases.

On April 1, 2004, Erminio "Sam" Martinez of Belen was one of those cases. His doctors at the time told him he had three to six months to live, but more than a year and a half later, Martinez continues the fight for his life with every breath he takes.

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Martinez, who is now on oxygen full-time, is hard pressed and is determined to win his battle — but as the days and weeks pass, it gets harder and harder, he said. Today, Martinez sits on his hospital bed situated in his living room waiting and wondering.

"It's all in God's hands now," Martinez said. "I don't know what I'm going to do — I just know that I can't give up."

Giving up is not an option, says Martinez's wife, Rebecca, who continues to stand by her husband's side tending to his every need. Although she has her own medical problems, Rebecca Martinez says she will always — no matter how bad it gets — love and care for Sam.

"This day is a good day," Rebecca Martinez says. "Today he's OK. Today is a good day for Sam."

While Martinez quit his lifelong habit of smoking two months before being diagnosed, he suspects there were several other factors that led him to this disease — including the fact that he had been shot in the lung as a teenager and had a pre-existing pulmonary condition.

With every breath, Sam Martinez tries to find the strength to speak. Through hacking coughs and incessant wheezing, he tells the story of the day he was shot in the chest 37 years ago for a mere $14.

"I was working the late shift at a gas station near Interstate 25 and Gibson," Martinez remembered. "I wasn't even supposed to be working that day; I came in because another guy asked me to."

Martinez, who was two days shy of his 16th birthday, remembered that two men approached him and ordered him to give them the keys to the register. As he struggled to pull the keys from his pocket, one of the men shot him square in the chest.

"I didn't realize I was shot until I reached over to get my cigarettes from my pocket," Martinez said. "I noticed there was some blood on my fingers."

The bullet, which almost took his life, was removed a year later along with a quarter of Martinez's right lung. It wasn't until years later that he began feeling ill, feeling that it was getting more and more difficult to breathe.

Throughout the years, Martinez has had several bouts with respiratory distress, but he was finally diagnosed with COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) in the mid-1980s. COPD is a slowly progressive disease of the airways that is characterized by a gradual loss of lung function.

For years, Martinez coped with the disease, but was put on disability because it was hard for him to function. Now, Martinez says he can barely function at all.

When he was first diagnosed with lung cancer last year, the size of his tumor was about that of a silver dollar. While chemotherapy and radiation helped to reduce the size of the malignancy for a time, Martinez said it has now grown three times the original size.

"Now, he's even having a harder time breathing because of the size of the tumor," Rebecca Martinez said. "The doctors have told us he's in the last stages of the cancer. He's only has 4 percent capacity in his left lung and the cancer has taken over the right one.

"He's still fighting and I'm going to fight right alongside with him," Rebecca Martinez said. "We can't give up — I can't give up on him. If he's willing to fight, so am I. I know he would do the same for me if I was in the same situation."

For the past year and a half, the Martinezses have not only struggled with Sam's health, but they've also struggled financially. It's almost impossible to pay their monthly expenses, which doesn't even include the additional medical and travel costs.

"We just don't know what we can do," Rebecca Martinez said. "We don't have much, but we have each other. We're trying to get by, but it's hard — it's impossible to pay everything when we don't have anything."

Anyone who wants to help the Martinez family can donate money to an account, which has been established at The Bank of Belen. The account number is 95008364. For more information, call Rebecca Martinez at 864-1301.

* See Cancer, Page 9A

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