This article appeared on CecilWhig.com
(a Cecil County, MD publication)
January 5, 2011
by Jacob Owens
By the time Jeana Moore crossed into Cecil County on Dec. 30, she had traveled more than 4,200 miles from her home - on foot.
The 58-year-old Deer Park, Wash.-native began her journey 14 months ago and will end it in New York City in the embrace of her granddaughter, who inspired her in the first place.
Jada Bascom, Moore's 3-year-old granddaughter, was born April 16, 2007 with acute myeloid leukemia, a deadly form of cancer in which normal white blood cell production is prevented inside of the bone marrow.
"Right after Jada was born, a nurse noticed red dots on her arms, a sign of AML," Moore said. "It's really an adult disease that rarely affects newborns, but we were just the exception I guess."
At 1 month old, Jada was diagnosed with AML and only a week later began the first of five rounds of chemotherapy, Moore said.
"After her second round of chemo, when she was 2 months old, one of the experimental cocktails she was given caused the capillaries in her liver to collapse," Moore said. "If it weren't for her doctor and a gracious Italian pharmaceutical company with an antidote, she would have died."
At 5 months old, Jada had undergone four rounds of chemotherapy, but the cancer remained. One of the most difficult days of Moore's life came when the family's oncologist told them that Jada would need a bone marrow transplant to survive.
"Everyone in our family took a test immediately," she said. "Unfortunately, only 30 percent of the time is a family member a bone marrow match. It left me feeling very impotent because I couldn't actively help Jada. We had to depend on the kindness of a stranger."
The family and their doctors would have to find a donor with the exact same proteins within their DNA in order help Jada. They searched the National Bone Marrow Registry looking for a match but none was found.
They then moved to the international registry and of 11 million donors in the system, they found a lone 30-year-old German man who would be Jada's savior.
On Nov. 27, 2007, Jada received the marrow in a successful transplant procedure and five months later was able to return home. She is in remission and off of immune suppression medications.
Moore began her Seattle to Los Angeles to New York journey on Oct. 19, 2009, with the intention of increasing the number of bone marrow donors in the U.S. by spreading Jada's story.
Moore said being on the road for more than a year has been difficult as she has missed two Christmases, Thanksgivings and birthdays with her family, but in the end the sacrifice has been worth it.
"We've signed up 3,484 donors so far and found at least five matches through more than 60 donor drives that we know of," she said. "After going through Jada's illness, we knew what it means to get a match."
She is aiming to arrive at LaGuardia Airport in New York City on Jan. 27, where she will meet up with Jada, her daughter, Issa Bascom, son-in-law, Kyle Bascom, and a special guest.
"Jada's donor, Torsten Huber, of Germany will meet us in New York," she said. "He began to get curious after his donation since he was only told that the donation would benefit a young American child. So he found us online and matched information through our registries."
When asked how she thinks the meeting will go, Moore said, "It will be a pretty raw day, but in a special way."
For more information on bone marrow donation and Jeana Moore's journey, go to www.stepstomarrow.com.
