Dear Shelly and Shaun,
When I read your email to all of us my heart broke. I thought of you today at the funeral and said prayers for each of you as well as all the members of our group here. We are all in shock. I share the sentiments of everyone who has already written to you expressing their deep sadness and grief. To love and be loved by Marty was a gift I shall cherish all the days of my life. He was always a ray of sunshine, in a sometimes very scary and dark world. He pushed each of us to be our best selves, to fight a good fight, to live life to the fullest. The packed he made with his God when he came out of " the bubble" post his bone marrow transplant so many years ago...he fulfilled a thousand times over. He helped anyone and everyone wherever and whenever he could. His generosity of spirit, joy of life, good humor, compassion and humor will never be forgotten. He grounded us, inspired us, even scolded us when needed, He was our chief, our friend, our cheerleader and our faithful companion in navigating CML. He was a lover and a fighter. It is hard for me and others to comprehend what happened the last weeks of his life. What made him surrender. I trust he knew when it was his time. He always spoke of his love for his family. May each of you find comfort in knowing how loved he was and what a difference he made in the world. The light in his light house went out, but his spirit will continue to light our paths .... Love and a big hug to all of you... With tears and 18's, Beth -----Original Message----- From: 'Jeanie' via CMLHope <[email protected]> To: cmlhope <[email protected]> Sent: Mon, Nov 12, 2018 8:26 am Subject: Re: [CMLHope] Update on Marty G I am so shocked and upset as I read this. I have been waiting for an answer to a question I had about my thyroid and since he didn’t answer I knew something was wrong. He was a true fighter and kept us going in our horrible journey with leukemia. He must have been in a lot of pain to give up. I am in pain daily so I know what’s it like to just want it to be over. He was the leader of our pack and I’m So sorry for your loss and ours. My prayers go out to you and family. Our list will never be the same. Love😂😂😂😂 Jeanie My Motto: Faith and Pills With Love Jeanie 🐠free Christian Dx 1/2004 CML Leukemia Started Gleevec 2/2004 Started Tasigna 9/2009 Started Sprycel 11/2009 Started Ponatinib 1/ 2015 15 mg New Doctor--Dr Martine Extermann Moffitt Cancer center sept 2017 Dr Balducci retired Dr Gedia PCD 0 CBL. ABL July 2018 dx with thyroid disease tsh 13 T4-normal t3-normal On Nov 11, 2018, at 6:34 PM, 'Marcie Goodman' via CMLHope <[email protected]> wrote: Dear Shelly and Family, My deepest condolences on Marty’s passing. As so many of us in the group have expressed, Marty was our head cheerleader, a constant source of inspiration, support and love. He gave us a roadmap to navigate not only our illness but, more importantly, our lives. And he shared his challenges with honesty, facing each one with a strength of spirit that was unique. Marty let us know how much he loved you and your children and I know you feel a huge void now that he is gone. Please know that your family is in my thoughts and prayers. May warm memories of happier times comfort you in the days ahead. And may you all be comforted among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem. Marcie Goodman Sent from my iPad On Nov 11, 2018, at 4:24 PM, rszim0702 via CMLHope <[email protected]> wrote: Dear Shaun and family, Would like to comfort you as your dad so often comforted each one of us. No words except what a marvelous, godly and extravagant legacy he left for you. He left it for the cml group as well! The time spent with each of us was his ministry of joy over us all. He will surely be enjoying many rewards in the afterlife. May each of us in this group strive to leave even a portion of such a legacy at our passing. Our immediate reaction is to know what a huge hole will be left in the group and in our hearts. We called him our leader. Please know you are in my prayers. We will remember 18 stands for life and every day is a gift. Wish I could attend his services. I will be thinking of you all. 18's, hugs, bigger hugs, Susan Zimmerman On Nov 11, 2018 1:54 AM, Marty Gartenberg <[email protected]> wrote: Hello everyone - This is Marty Gartenberg's son, Shaun. It is with great sadness for me to say that my father passed away this past week, on Wednesday, November 7th, after having entered hospice care the previous Friday, November 2nd. I know many of you were good friends with him and that he helped a lot of people through this support group. This all started with a bad fall over 7 weeks ago on September 15 in his garage where he fractured his left femur. He subsequently underwent surgery to get a rod implanted in the bone to help it heal. After a few weeks of physical therapy, a checkup showed that one of the screws needed to be adjusted, so he had a second surgery for that to adjust the rod, and add a plate. After having more therapy, a MRSA infection was discovered in the incision wound. He also contracted pneumonia. In order to combat the infection, he had a third surgery on the incision to perform a debridement of the wound and was put on course of several antibiotics. He was admitted to the ICU to be treated for the complications of the infection. Unfortunately, all of this became just too much for him to take. While he did show improvement medically, and eventually went from the ICU into a regular hospital room, he was in a lot of pain, which got progressively worse each day all over his body, and discomfort from the effects of the antibiotics. Eventually, he began denying his food and medication and reached a point where he did not want to continue to fight. Moving to hospice was a painful decision to make, especially knowing how much of a fighter my Dad was through all of the struggles he's been through in his life. But, those were his wishes and we didn't want him to continue to suffer. The hospice care did make him comfortable and he finally passed Wednesday afternoon. After not having had his heart medicines (and others) for so many days, his heart rate was in the 160's, and I guess it finally gave out, but we don't know the exact cause. I believe he passed peacefully, though. He was 74 years old. I am so grateful and blessed to have had my Dad in my life, and I know he touched countless others lives all over the world. His altruism inspired me throughout my life. Please keep him in your prayers and thoughts. His funeral will be this Monday, November 12th at 11:00 AM, at the Beth Israel Memorial Chapel in Boynton Beach, Florida, followed by burial at the Eternal Light Memorial Gardens cemetery at 12:15 PM, also in Boynton Beach. My family and I will be sitting Shiva (a Jewish mourning ritual at home) Monday evening and Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon and evening. Regards, Shaun -- -- [CMLHope] A support group of http://cmlhope.com ------------------------------------------------- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "CMLHope" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/CMLHope --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "CMLHope" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- -- [CMLHope] A support group of http://cmlhope.com ------------------------------------------------- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "CMLHope" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/CMLHope --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "CMLHope" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- -- [CMLHope] A support group of http://cmlhope.com ------------------------------------------------- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "CMLHope" group. 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