May 28, 2021

Reynianne’s story at New Paltz Center

On May 24, 2021, New Paltz’s Reynianne Martinez started working in the Recreation Department at New Paltz Center on Jansen Road in New Paltz, the same facility where her 58 year-old mother Tami Reynolds lives in long-term care dealing with dementia. But this is a story of a young very courageous woman named Reynianne, a young woman who survived leukemia not once, but twice, and now her strength and commitment she applies to working in the Activities Department at New Paltz Center, where she helps making residents happy helping them to take part in activities at the Center while also seeing her mother Tami, when she can. Her mom and dad divorced when Reynianne was a baby and her dad stayed in Ft. Lauderdale. Reynianne had gone to SUNY Ulster and graduated from SUNY New Paltz earning her a BAS in early childhood education.

At only 36 years old, New Paltz’s Reynianne Martinez has survived two fights with Leukemia (AML), her first began on April 23, 2019 at only 34 years old. Her disease went into remission within a month but had to continue four more rounds of chemotherapy. Reynianne almost made it a year before it came back again on September 11, 2020 and, because of the relapse, she was told that she had to get more chemotherapy and plus a bone marrow transplant. According to Martinez, relapsing with a pandemic going on was very scary as she had no immune system and would have to he pretty much isolated from the world. Reynianne went into Albany Med in October 2020 to start the induction chemo all over again only even stronger chemotherapy than the first time. She stayed 30 days in Albany Med, then went home for about a week and then went into Mt. Sinai in Manhattan following Thanksgiving 2020 to do more chemo again in order to completely wipe out the bone marrow. She had the bone marrow transplant on December 8, 2020 and then stayed at Mt. Sinai Health System for 30 days. Thinking about her mother in New Paltz when at Mt. Sinai, she prayed the whole time that nothing would happen to her mother because she wouldn’t have been able to leave Manhattan to see her. That was not the case so the first thing she did when she came back was set up a door visit to see her mother. Thankfully, her treatment at Mt. Sinai was a huge success. According to Reynianne, she stopped counting after nearly fifty bags of chemo and had many bone marrow biopsies I’ve had, she lost count.

All in all, she has been in remission again since the transplant, and has another bone marrow biopsy coming up in a few weeks on June 11 of this year. Also these days, she travels to Albany to see her main oncologist for blood work. Reynianne is a woman of strength in courage and during this time when her mother has dementia at such a young age and she too has had two strong bouts with cancer, she survives and at the same time, helping the seniors live life in the most positive way possible working at New Paltz Center. I don’t think I’ve ever been more proud of myself than graduating while having cancer and winning that battle, says Ms. Martinez. Now I get to give back to others. Graduation from SUNY New Paltz, May 2019.