A local athlete, artist, bakery owner and Winthrop alum, Tamisha Martin had her world flipped upside down when she was diagnosed with Lupus at age twenty.
According to the Lupus Foundation of America, Lupus is a long-term chronic disease that can cause inflammation and pain in any part of your body. More specifically, it causes your immune system to attack healthy tissues instead of infectious ones.
Before attending Winthrop or having any symptoms related to the disease, Martin was working towards her baking and pastry degree in Virginia. After two years and successfully earning her degree, she was ready to take her volleyball skills to a larger court.
“I always wanted to be the hardest working and the best player on the team,” Martin said.
Although she was ready to transfer, Martin did not have a specific campus in mind, but knowing she wanted to be closer to home, she only emailed schools in the Carolinas.
“My brother at the time played [basketball] at Winthrop and he always felt good things, and I knew they had a great volleyball program, so Winthrop was the first place I thought of. Joel McCartney was actually the coach at the time, and he responded within an hour,” Martin said.
A few months after their correspondence, McCartney left to coach at Georgia, so in 2007 Martin joined the Eagles to play for Sally Polhamus. Coming in as the only transfer student was a big adjustment for Martin, but something even bigger began.
“I didn’t know what was going on with my body. I was just getting sicker,” she said.
With unsolved symptoms, Martin continued to push herself on the court, fighting for a role among six freshmen and six returning players. She even continued playing while going through chemotherapy.
“Volleyball is like everything to me. I think that also made it worse, because I was becoming depressed from not feeling well but also trying to play volleyball with a team that didn’t know what I could do,” Martin said.
Eventually, Martin had to leave the team, as her doctors informed her she would no longer be able to play at the collegiate level, especially since it became very challenging for her to walk.
“I remember just having to get tested every week and it kept coming back that my sedimentation rate was high, and we just couldn’t figure it out for almost a solid two months,” Martin said.
Needing to regain some of her strength, Martin started playing for the club volleyball team at Winthrop. Shortly after, she found a Lupus specialist in Wilmington, NC who changed her life.
“He saved me,” Martin said. “[He] found the right medicine cocktail and I’ve been able to coach and play volleyball since.”
That is, until Martin’s kidney function took a dive in 2013. She began dialysis, attending the treatment for over four years until she received a kidney transplant in March of 2017.
“Ever since then my Lupus has been in remission, so I haven’t had any effects, and the kidney transplant has been going well. I have to go to the doctor just once or twice a year just for him to see me. It’s been amazing,” Martin said.
Able to take control of her life, Martin’s first choice was to travel – something she now does twice a year.
“My first stop post–transplant was Hawaii, and I just had the most amazing time. That definitely was my favorite place,” Martin said.
Over the years, she has visited Las Vegas, New Orleans, Miami, Texas and California. When she was in Los Angeles, she even got to be on the game show “The Price is Right,” which was “just everything of [her] childhood.”
On multiple occasions, Martin has made it outside the country, traveling to the Caribbean, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and the Virgin Islands.
“[I am] making up for a lot of lost time because for five years I couldn’t go anywhere because I was on dialysis. You can’t travel because every two, three days you have to be hooked up to the machine,” Martin said.
Throughout her childhood, Martin learned to cook and bake with her mom, and after graduating, she spent eight years working for a bakery.
However, her personal desires of traveling and baking for friends required a flexible schedule. And being an artist before a baker, decorating her own desserts became the perfect mash-up of the two.
“You know you start doing some family members’ cakes, and then you start doing friends’ cakes, and I just found myself at a point where I was working more on cakes for my own stuff than I was for the bakery,” Martin said.
With enough clientele to have a steady career, Martin decided to leave her job and create her own online bakery, Thee Sweet Life.
“I knew that was a part of something I wanted to do and I was finally at the place where I was stable in my health and had the freedom to do what I wanted,” Martin said.
The start of the COVID-19 pandemic was bittersweet for Martin as she was nervous to refund a few wedding cake plans, but she was also able to take a break from her busy baking schedule.
“I was like ‘I’m going to get my life together. I am going to clean and work out and eat, pray and love it.’ Each month there were [more] people over the pandemic [who] just wanted desserts. It actually helped my business grow more. It was surprising,” Martin said.
Although she is always baking for others, Martin’s favorite treat to eat is chocolate chip cookies.
“It’s just a top tier dessert. I love to eat cheesecake [too], but I also love to make it because I have a lot of fun with the flavors and get really creative. I love it all. My favorite part is definitely getting to express my artistic side,” Martin said.
Aside from baking and traveling, Martin loves staying active on the volleyball court, playing in the adult league at the Rock Hill Sports & Event Center. She also has been coaching for over ten years, working with Carolina Juniors Volleyball in Charlotte and other local Rock Hill teams.
Martin tore her ACL back in October 2019, so she returned to the court only six months ago. Working with the Eagles as an alumni mentor is also a proud part of Martin’s life.
“Chuck [Rey] definitely includes the alumni in a lot of things. He’s just been very supportive of me and I appreciate him. He invited all the alumni [in 2019] and allowed me to share my story. I’m always at the games; any chance I have to come to the games, I’m there.“
Despite the curveballs of this last year, with many games and events being canceled, Martin can handle anything after her years of obstacles.
“It’s just about staying positive,” Martin said. “I just have a really strong faith in God and that has gotten me through all of this.”
Photo courtesy of Tamisha Martin
We are so thankful to God for continually blessing our blessed niece!She never said a word that was not faith filled, she actually made us feel that God indeed had this under control. She is one of our family stars *