Emporia infant battling leukemia
By Brandy Nance
Originally published 01:49 p.m., May 12, 2008
Updated 01:49 p.m., May 12, 2008
Mariana Angelica Martinez was a happy 4-month-old who would exchange smiles with those she met and rarely cried. That was before she got sick with a rare form of leukemia.
Mariana’s mother, Tracey Hansen of Emporia, spoke about the illness that led her daughter to be lifeflighted to Children’s Mercy in Kansas City a few weeks ago. Hansen said she’d taken Mariana to the doctor because she didn’t seem up to par. The doctor drew blood and by the time Hansen got home with Mariana the doctor was calling back and said she had to get her to the hospital immediately because her white blood cell count was dangerously high. She was met at Newman and then flown to Children’s Mercy. Once at Children’s Mercy, Mariana was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, which is a fast-growing cancer of the white blood cells.
Mariana’s first day of her stay at Children’s Mercy included having her blood cleaned, and since then she’s had multiple blood transfusions, Hansen said. Mariana has gone through her first round of chemotherapy and as of last week was on pain medications to keep her comfortable as she was in a lot of pain, Hansen said.
“It’s just very scary,” she said. “It’s very hard. It’s an uphill/downhill process. It’s rough seeing her like this.”
Hansen said Mariana is a fighter despite being hooked up to monitors, on a constant pain drip and having a Hickman catheter (an intravenous catheter most often used for the administration of chemotherapy or other medication) that got infected.
“She a strong little girl,” she said. “If I had not gotten her to the doctor that day she would have never made it.”
Hansen has three other children.
“It’s hard to stay strong when you see her in pain,” Hansen said. “Her (siblings) are very worried about her.”
A fund has been set up for Mariana at Credit Union of Emporia under the name “Emporia’s Little Angel.” Anybody wishing to donate to this fund can send funds to the Credit Union of Emporia, 2711 W. 15th Ave. or call 342-0491.