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CENTRAL POINT This yard sale's for a special cause Money will help young family beset by cancer Comment By Buffy Pollock for the Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Buffy Pollock for the Mail Tribune Posted Sep. 11, 2015 at 5:24 PM Updated Sep 11, 2015 at 5:41 PM By Buffy Pollock for the Mail Tribune Posted Sep. 11, 2015 at 5:24 PM Updated Sep 11, 2015 at 5:41 PM » Social News Friends and family of a Central Point mother who delayed cancer treatment to give her newborn baby a better chance will rally on Saturday to host what they hope will be a popular stop amid the Central Point Fall Citywide Yard Sale. The second of two annual sales — one in the spring and the other in the fall — the sale runs, officially, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. But Tammi Coleman, whose daughter-in-law, Tiffany Myers Carroll, is battling stage 4 sarcoma, says her sale will be hawking items, accepting donations and even pushing raffle items and baked goods until the last ray of daylight falls behind the horizon. Coleman said she and other volunteers plan an all-day event, perhaps even with some help from a local radio station or two. The sale will help cover medical and travel expenses for Carroll, but also spread awareness about the type of cancer her family is facing. Diagnosed in July, just weeks after finding out she was pregnant, Carroll, 30, is battling a rare type of soft tissue sarcoma. The mother of two noticed a marble sized lump in her bicep muscle in July, weeks after announcing her second pregnancy and not long after she and her husband, Kris, purchased their first home. "I remember teasing my husband that night that maybe it was a blood clot. Since I already had a doctor's appointment coming up, I showed her while I was there. She said she thought it was just a muscle tear or fatty tissue and just to ice it and care for it like any other muscle injury, and sent me on my way," said Carroll, noting that, by New Year's Eve, the lump had grown to the size of a softball and would warrant a trip to the emergency room. Suspecting, and quickly confirming, a diagnosis of soft tissue sarcoma, doctors urged immediate and aggressive treatment. Fearing for the health of her unborn child, Carroll opted to delay treatment. "I don't think, at that point, it had really sunk in. You know, I was pregnant with my second child and I felt like he must have been telling someone else they probably had cancer," she said. On Jan. 27, Carroll underwent surgery to remove a 5.5-inch tumor, her entire bicep and a major nerve from her right arm. Five months later, baby Owen was born May 20. Within weeks, long-awaited scans showed cancer in the mother's right lung. The same week as surgery was schedule to remove part of the lung, newborn Owen had surgery for a posterior urethral valve and was given a diagnosis of a 40 percent lifetime chance for total kidney failure. With cancer now showing in her left lung, Carroll is hopeful that aggressive chemotherapy treatments — three to four days every three weeks — will improve her prognosis. Not one "to sit and feel sorry for myself" Carroll said she does what everyone should do — wake up every day and live life. Coleman marveled at Carroll's positivity. "She just always has a smile on her face regardless of how sick she feels. She's not one to go, 'Oh, poor me' or 'Why me?' She doesn't even want to know a specific prognosis because she feels like if she knew she might give up," Coleman said. "She just wants to keep fighting and hope for the best outcome." Carroll's mother, Sheri Myers, said the sale had been one way the two moms could support the young family both emotionally and financially. With bills for travel, motels, medical expenses and missed work for Carroll's husband, Myers said the sale would help offset the unexpected expenses and allow the couple to focus on the health of mom and baby. With Carroll unable to risk exposure to germs, her husband is working full-time while caring for the house and the couple's two children. "It amazes me that, with everything they've been through, they've got such a good attitude about everything. Tiffany's only reason for making everything public was to get the word out about sarcoma," Myers said. "I would be in bed all the time crying. She just takes it day by day. Nothing slows her down." Working on sorting and setting up the sale since late Thursday, the two moms will host their sale at 121 Bigham Drive, near the corner of Oak and Bigham, in Central Point. Donated items are welcome throughout the day. The event will feature a bake sale, radio station giveaways and raffle items. For a list of sales posted under the Central Point Fall Citywide Yard Sale, visit www.centralpointoregon.gov . For more information on Carroll's battle with sarcoma, see www.gofundme.com/jjhq2c Buffy Pollock is a freelance writer living in Medford. E-mail her at [email protected] . By Buffy Pollock for the Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Buffy Pollock for the Mail Tribune Posted Sep. 11, 2015 at 5:24 PM Updated Sep 11, 2015 at 5:41 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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