Welcome to Martine`s homepage
30.04.99-29.11.03
Hello friends and family who don`t speak Norwegian.
This is Martine's homepage. We will try to put all the latest news here. We will also write just ordinary things here: what we`re doing and things that are happening in our lives.
Martine was diagnosed with Wilms tumor on 31.07.02. The cancer was bilateral (both kidneys), stage IV, and with an unfavorable histology. She had 12 rounds of chemotherapy before her surgery on 21.11.02. The medicines she received were vincristin, actinomycin D and doxorubicin. The surgery went well, and they took away her right kidney + 1/3 of the left one. After analyzing the tumor, they found out that Martine had a very aggressive form of Wilms. Before surgery she was diagnosed with favorable histology, but after surgery they adjusted the diagnosis to unfavorable histology because the tumor consisted mainly of blastemic cells. She then started very intense treatment with chemo, and in February/March she had 24 treatments with radiation: 14 towards her abdomen, and 10 towards her lungs. She responded very well to the chemo, and before she started the radiation they couldn`t see any tumors in her lungs. So, as far as we could see, she was in remission (cancer-free) in February.
She had 8 rounds of chemo after her surgery; they gave her carboplatin, cychlophosfamid, VP-16(etopisid) and doxorubicin.
In June she almost had kidney and lung failure. Her pulse was high, she was breathing very fast, and she was retaining fluids. After a long stay at the hospital, it was decided that Martine could not tolerate more treatment, though she was scheduled to have four more rounds of chemotherapy.
This year the weather has been beautiful in the northernmost town in the world. We have been enjoying it every minute, and Martine and her younger sister, Therese, had lots of fun in their small "swimming pool" in the garden. In the beginning of August we went to Disneyland Paris, and it was such a wonderful trip. Martine was amazed by every little small thing, and seeing her face in Disneyland was fantastic. She met all her "friends": Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Cinderella, Jasmin etc. She rode a big rollercoaster and all the other rides.
September 10th was Martines first control after finishing treatment. Unfortunately they discovered four new tumors in her lungs, so now we have to fight the cancer once again. She started with vincristin and actinomycin d, one week with both and the next week with only vincristin. There is no protocol for her treatment, so they will decide what to do after every control. When she had had six rounds with vincristin, three rounds with actinomycin and one round with doxorubicin the doctors decided to stop this treatment, because the tumors were still growing. She then started with tablets, 10 days on and 10 days off. They consist of etopisid, trofosfamid and idarubicin (familiar to doxorubicin). The day she finished the first round of tablets, she had a ct-scan, and it showed that the smallest tumor in her right lung is still growing. The big one in her right lung was the same as two weeks ago, and the two tumors in her left lung is the same size as when they were discovered 10.09.03. It`s to early to say wether or not the tablets are working . She will probably have a new ct-scan in three weeks.
Martine was supposed to have new scans 2. december, but we never came that far. Friday 28. november she woke up with a fever, and we went to the hospitle. Her white counts were low, and her platelets was 78. She had an infection, but her crp wasn`t that high. So we went home, and had an appointment with a nurse to come home and give her antibiotics. Martine was talking and laughing, and we watched a movie together (shrek). Around six o`clock she wanted to go to bed, and Reidar song two songs for her and she was sleeping. Seven o`clock she woke up screaming, and I went to her and tried to calm her down. It didn`t work, and Reidar came and took her to carry her as she always has loved so much. Her head was hanging just like a small baby, and she felt asleep again. Reidar put her on the sofa, and she threw up without noticing. We called the doctor, he came, and decided that she needed stronger antibiotics. Half past eigth she started to move her arms out in the air and made strange sounds. We called our doctor in Tromsø, and he wanted us to go to the hospitle. There they noticed that her pupils didn`t respond to any light, so they wanted to do a ct-scan of her head. They thougth it could be an unknown methastas, or a brainbleed. The pictures showed a big brainbleed, and they told us there were nothing to be done. We spent the night together with our lovely angel, and at five o`clock in the morning she let it go.
We miss you so angel Martine ballerina!
This page is written by Martine's mum, Marianne.
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10.01.05
2.nd of january Martine and Therese got a new little babysister. Her name is
Lisa, and the name was the most beautiful name Martine knew. Lisa was 3095 gr.
and 50 cm when she was born.
We would like to wish everybody a happy new year !
10.11.04
I`m so sorry I haven`t written in a long time. Thank you so much for still
checking in on us. We are expecting a new baby in january, and are looking
forward to that. But life is still very hard, and we miss Martine more and more
each day. Therese is becoming more and more alike her big sister Martine. She
talks about her every day. It breaks my heart to know what Therese has lost...
05.05.04
I know we have friends still visiting Martines website, thank you very much. I
don`t write that often any more, I don`t know what to say. Martine recently had
her 5. birthday, and it was hard not having her around us physically. Therese
celebrated her two year-old birthday, she was born three years and two days
after Martine. The weather up here is very good, considering it`s only may. The
sun is shining, and it`s 13 degrees. Sometimes we can have winterstorms at this
time, and lots of snow. This year the gras is already a little bit green .
Therese has started to talk a lot, and she says "Mine"( Martine) a
lot. She wants to watch videos of Therese and Martine every day...
17.03.04
We`ve just got back from Florida. We spent one week on a cruise in the Caribbean,
and that was very nice. The second week we spent in West Palm Beach, close to
Fort Lauderdale. The weather was nice most of the time, so we enjoyed the sun
and the warm weather. But we missed Martine a lot. It feels so empty, whatever
we do something very important is missing..
They say memories are golden,
well, maybe that is true;
I never wanted memories,
I only wanted you.
A million times I needed you,
A million times I cried;
If love alone could have saved you,
You never would have died.
In life I loved you dearly,
In death I love you still;
In my heart you hold a place
No one could ever fill.
If tears could build a stairway,
And heartache make a lane;
I`d walk the path to heaven,
And bring you back again...
20.01.04
In a few days we will see the sun again in the northern most town in the world.
We haven`t seen the sun since 21. november. I just wish our sun could come back
to light up our house. It`s so dark here without her. I`m afraid it will be dark
for a very long time, we miss her so so much. It`s impossible to understand how
much unless you`ve been there too, in the dark...
We received a card a few days ago, with a beautiful poem;
And if I go
while you`re still here
know that I`ll live on
in a different place
behind a veil
through which you cannot see
You will not see me
so you must have faith
I`ll wait till the time
when we can be together again
but until then
live your life to the fullest
and when you need me
just whisper my name in your heart...
I will be there
09.01.04
This is a song that Carola, a woman from Sweden sings in swedish. Two friends of
mine have translated it to english, I think the text is so beautiful. We played
it in Martines funeral. In swedish it`s called " Jag vil alltid alska".
I
will Always Love
Nobody
understands where you went,
But
your crib is now a grave,
I
think you found an open door,
As
children do,
To
a room where you’ll see angels
They
teach you to play, look at you laugh
Oh
if we could come with you
It
is you that I love,
And
sometime silence
Will
give in to song.
Then
my tongue
Will
get the power to sing
That
not a single child
Lives
a life in vain
For
you now wear the heavenly robes,
You
who are mother’s sorrow and treasure,
I
pray tonight:
When
you hear white wings flutter,
Ask
that two angels take your light
Down
to my nightmare’s dark house!
I
will never forget!
Sometime
silence
Will
give in to song.
Then
my tongue
Will
get the power to sing
That
not a single child
Lives
a life in vain.
You
are somewhere hidden.
You
will never be forgotten.
Not
a single child
Lives
a life in vain.
It
is you that I love!
It
is you that I love!
And
sometime tears
Will give in to song.
25.11.03
Christmas is here, and Martine is not. Something is wrong, terrible wrong! We miss
her so, and it`s getting worse every day. We have started to realize that she`s
not coming back. We hurt so badly.
I got this poem from one of the members at a group called DayByDay. It`s a list
where parents who have lost a child to cancer can be a member. Internet is a
fantastic thing. I`ve got so many net-friends, and I`m so grateful for all the
support we`ve received from all over the world. One of our friends,
Cameron, earned his angel wings 9 days ago. I hope Martine, Lowri, Cameron,
Regine and Sondre are having a fantastic christmas in heaven. They have no more
pain. Now we have to struggle further on, without them...
CHRISTMAS IN HEAVEN
'Tis Christmas in heaven what a beautiful
sight!
I want you to know
everything is all right.
The crib is adorned with brilliance of the
star;
Wisemen have come from
near and far.
I've met all our dear ones who preceded us
here;
The reunion was lovely, an
event full of cheer.
And tonight we'll all gather in reverence we'll
kneel,
For the babe in the cradle, up
in heaven is real!
I think of my family that I left behind,
And I pray that your Christmas
is as blessed as mine.
Please shed no more tears for my soul is at rest,
Just love one another and live
life to its best.
Yes, it's Christmas in heaven, so I've heard them
say.
Yet, Christmas in heaven
happens everyday!
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29.11.03 time:05.07
Martine is no longer figthing.She felt asleep this morning, and is now an angel in heaven. We miss you so...
28.11.03 Grandmother Arnas birthday!
Well, here we go again. Martine woke up this morning with a high fever, and lots of pain in her stomach. Her bloodcounts are very low, especially her white counts. So she started with antibiotics again, 3 times a day. She`s not feeling very well.
23.11.03
Aunt Liv Hildes birthday!
This weekend have been really nice. Martine started taking tablets with
antibiotics saturday morning, and that is so much easier than going to the
hospitle twice a day. We celebrated Thanks giving this saturday.My sister and I
realized that if we were going to have Thanksgiving together we better do it now,
because my sisters children were healthy this weekend. And Martine is feeling
very well at the moment, so why wait..? We had a wonderful dinner at my sisters
place, and Martine actually ate a little bit turkey.
Today we had dinner at Reidars sisters place, celebrating her birthday. We have
also been in the city watching the official opening of the "christmas-street".
The streets had been decorated for christmas, and today they put on all the
ligths for the first time. Martine was so excited.
21.11.03
Martine started taking the tablets last monday, as scheduled. She`s feeling very
well most of the time, but is a bit more tired than normal. She`s still standing
on two types of antibiotics. Yesterday we had to change the tube going in her
nose down to her stomach. There were no back-flow and we couldn`t put anything
in either, so we had to. Martine hates it, and so do we. But now when its done,
we can hopefully relax the next 7 weeks. We also have problems with back-flow
from her porte, so she has to take bloodtests from her finger.
Yesterday we drove to our hut, to pick up Martines skis. The snow came back
yesterday, after melting away the last couple of weeks. She wants to go skiing
later on today. Therese is spending lots of time together with her aunt Liv
Hilde, Reidars sister. She is playing with her cousin, Jakob, who is at the same
age as her. It seems like they have lots of fun together.
16.11.03
Martine slept very well last nigth, and woke up as a new person. Her father took
her to the hospitle for more antibiotics, and when they got back home she wanted
to go out and climb in the mountain... We called her cousins Helene and Fredrik,
and they`re all outside playing at the moment. Her bloodcounts are also
improving every day. Crp today is 159, white counts 10.7 (three days ago they
were 1.8) and platelets 211. I`m a little bit surprised of her counts improving
so rapidly, and think that maybe some of the alternative treatments we do migth
help.. Anyway I`m so happy that Martine is finally feeling better, and have the
energy to play. Tomorrow she`s supposed to start on another round with tablets,
and I hope the doctors decide to do so.
15.11.03
Martines
grand-grand mother is 90 years old today.Happy birthday!!!!
Martine is still feeling very bad. She has a high fever, and lots of pain in her
stomach. The last couple of days she has been sleeping most of the time, except
when she`s screaming of pain. She is maybe feeling a little bit better today.
Her bloodcounts are very good, actually they`re all normal except for the crp (tells
whether or not she`s having an infection in her body). On thursday it was 302,
normal is less than 5. Today it was 275. She is standing on 5 different types of
antibiotics, and I think that`s what`s causing the pain in the stomach. She also
had an ultrasound of her kidney and stomach, and it came back fine. Maybe better
than fine, because her remaining kidney didn`t look so small any longer (one
year ago they cut away 1/3 of her left kidney). It looked like it had got bigger,
and that is fantastic. Her kidney is also working very good, and has improved
the last months.
11.11.03
Martine has had a lot of pain the last 24 hours. She feels pain in the area
where the urine comes out, and a little bit further back too. It`s not a urinary
infection, but the doctors don`t know exactly what it is. It could be some kind
of bacteria, or fungi. Her counts are still very low, white 0,2, platelets 60
and neutrophils 0. She also has a fever, and doesn`t feel very well. But her
breath sounds very nice, and she doesn`t complain about any pain in her chest or
lungs. I have a feeling that these pills are working...Please let them work!!
09.11.03
Today Martine woke up early, so excited because of "fathers-day". She
had made Reidar a very nice card, and a green (his favourite colour) heart to
hang in the window (glass painting). We woke Reidar up, and she served him a
fruitsalad and a glass of applejuice in bed. She also played music for him on
her new piano, and danced ballet. A couple of hours later, she was suddenly
tired and wanted to sleep. She was a little bit warm, but I thougth that maybe
she just needed a little nap. Well, she was still warm when she woke up, so we
had to go to the hospitle. This time we went to the hospitle in Hammerfest, and
that is so much easier than going to Tromsø which is 40 minutes away by plane. She had a bloodtest done, and her counts were very low.Her white counts
was 0,2 , platelets was 117 and HB was 11. So she started on antibiotics, and we
were allowed to go home for the nigth, and come back in the morning for more. I
feel a little bit anxious because she was very warm when we got back home. But I
gave her paracet, and before she went to bed she was dancing ballet again. I
just hope that since the tablets are so effective against her bonemarrow, they
will also be effective against her tumors.
Please sign our guestbook. It`s so nice to know who is dropping by.
06.11.03
The ct-scans showed that one of the four tumors are still growing. The big one
hasn`t grown since the last scans, and that`s good. The doctors don`t think that
the tablets have been showing their effect yet, so we pray they will stop the
progress of the disease. Martine is feeling very well today. She had a
bloodtranfusion in Tromsø, and that helps a lot.
The doctors are not very optimistic about the situation. They talk about how we
would like to do things if the cancer continues to grow. I hate it, hate it, hate
it.
01.11.03
Martine is doing fine. She hasn`t been complaining about her chestpain lately.
Two days ago she deceided that she wanted to celebrate her non-birthday, like
they do in Alice in wonderland. So we did. We had a cake with candles (she was
actually 4 and a half that day),and my parents, Reidars parents and her aunt and
uncle came. Unfortunately no kids could come, because there are so many
kids who have a fever called "skarlagensfeber". So we have to be
careful for a while. Therese migth have it, because she woke up with a cold
yesterday and her apetite is no good. At the moment she is staying at her
grandparents house.
A few days ago Martine jumped down from a chair. She hurt her foot. She
stills complain about her foot, and it looks like it`s getting worse. Maybe we
have to check it up...
27.10.03
The winter has for certain arrived, and today it has been really windy. The car
had almost disappeared in all the snow, so we didn`t go outside before tree
o`clock. Luckily Reidars sister, Liv Hilde, had the guts to go out in this
weather, so she came for a visit. The electricity were down a couple of times
today, so it has been really cosy with all the candles. Martine is feeling very
well, but has been complaining that it hurts in her chest a couple of times.
Hopefully we can start with the tabletts tomorrow. They consists of etoposid
(VP-16), Idarubicin and Trofosphamid (I think..). This is probably our last
hope, beside of a miracle. They just have to work!!!
24.10.03
Today is Sondres funeral.
The tumors is growing. The ones in her right lung has become one big tumor, and
the two small ones in her left is the same as before. She will start taking
tabletts as soon as her counts rise.
20.10.03
Martine is not feeling that well. She is not having a fever and thats good. I
guess it takes some time to get the infection out of her body. She has her
cousin, Helene, sleeping over here tonight. They are playing so nice together.
Today we received some sad news. One of our hospitalfriends, Sondre, died
yesterday of leukeumi (blodcancer). There are no words for such a sad thing.
17.10.03
We had a great trip to Disneyland Paris. Martine and her friend Jenny Marie had
so much fun. We had a paper that helped us to avoid all the queues, so they did
lots of things lots of times. Especially the rollercoaster and the pirattrip was
a succes. This time we met more of the Disney characters, and some of them really
paid Martine lots of attention. She loved it, and gave them big big hugs and
kisses. The day we were going home, Martine started to get sick. The fligth back
home was hard, and when we got to Tromsø, she had a fever. The pictures showed
and infection in her lungs, so now she`s getting antibiotics. She got the
doxorubicin yesterday, instead of wednesday. Now we`re all back home, and
Martine is feeling very well. I`m so glad we did the trip. We had so many things
to do all the time, so for a few moments I forgot what was going on in our
lives.
09.10.03
I hate to write this, but the tumors hadn`t been shrinking. The big one had
actually grown 5 mm, and there were a little bit more tumor there behind.On
wednesday next week they will start giving her doxorubicin, so lets pray for
that one to be effective. Well, yesterday we ordered a new trip to Disneyland
Paris, and we`re leaving tomorrow. Martine said tomorrow is her luckyday,
because then she`s going to Disneyland. One of my friends, Merete, and her
daugther is going with us. Martine is so excited.
07.10.03
Tomorrow we`re heading for Tromsø, for chemo and ct-scans. Martine is feeling
very well, and her bloodtest results came out fine. We`re hoping and praying for
good results, and by that we mean shrink!
05.10.03
Today we`ve spent most of the day together with some friends. They have two
children, age 4 and 6, so Martine had a great time playing with them both. She
loves dancing and singing, and at the moment her favourite song is "Kids in
America" by Kim Wilde. I think she heard that song for the first time in a
movie, and now we have to play it all day long. I`m hoping and praying for good
results at her next scans, wich are on wednesday. I want the tumors to shrink!
shrink! and most of all disappear!
03.10.03
Martine had a fever this night. She wasn`t sleeping very well, and I think she
has caught a cold. She had a bloodtest done, and it showed an infection in her
body. The doctor told us to just wait and see, because she had no fever today.
In the afternoon she was playing with her cousin Helene, so I hope she`s fine
tomorrow. The weather isn`t that good, it`s very windy. It`s also getting colder
and colder every day now, so maybe the snow will show up very soon.
01.10.03
She had her vincristin as scheduled, and everything went very well. It`s
actually the first time they put in the needle in her porte, without her
screaming/crying. She laid there watching tv, and afterwards she said that it
didn`t hurt at all. My brave little lovely daugther. Her bloodtests were nice
too, so let it please continue this way; good, good, good. We had another nice
day; Martine and her cousin Helene had fun, playing all day long.
30.09.03
Today we have been doing a lot of things. Martine had a sleepover guest, Anita,
her cousin. They played most of the day. We had dinner at Reidars parents house.
When we got back home, my sister, her husband and their three children visited
us. It`s so nice, because two of the children, twins, is the same age as
Martine. One of the twins, Helene, is our sleepover guest this night. Martine
gets her food in a tube going through her nose. It`s working all right, so now
we don`t have to think about how much she`s eating( or how little). Tomorrow she
will have vincristin, and then next week they will do a ct-scan. We have finally
got some pictures at this webpage, thanks to Martines uncle Toto. There are some
other pictures if you go to the link called "Dagbok".
27.09.03
Martine still feels fine,
but she doesn`t eat very much. She might need a tube in her nose down to her
stomach so that we can feed her. She says she wants to because the food
doesn`t taste good.
26.09.03
Today Martine got a wig.
The colour is blonde, and it`s with long hair. We didn`t think of getting one
the last time she lost her hair, but after her hair started to come back this
summer she has been washing it and fixing it several times a day. So even though
she won't wear it a lot, she can have long hair when she wants to. She was so
excited, but she didn`t like when the hair came in front of her face. She has gotten
used to how easy and comfortable it is with no hair.
24.09.2003
Today my aunt, Tante
Helle, who lives in Israel, went to Jerusalem. She had one of Martine's paintings
with her, and she put it in the "wall" ( I don`t know how to write all
this in english, so I have to check it up with a friend). I just want to thank
my aunt so much for taking the risk of going to Jerusalem.