55 transfusions and an unshakable smile of a Naperville teen

Jenna McKeown has a string of beads that tell a story.

Her story.

They catalog everything she's gone through over the past eight months - from the 97 overnight hospital stays and 55 transfusions to being home for the holidays and celebrating the 100th day after her lifesaving bone marrow transplant.

Each color and shape represents a different milestone for the young Naperville resident - whose 18th birthday is today. Hospital stays are yellow, chemotherapy treatments are white and transfusions are red.

The first bead is an anchor, to mark her diagnosis with a rare, aggressive form of acute myeloid leukemia. But there's also the "dorky little hair bead" for when she started losing her hair, the "breakup bead" and "bumpy beads" to remind her of when she encountered "bumps in the road."

"It's so nice to have something to look back on," McKeown said. "I don't know how many bumpy beads I have, but it's a lot."

She also has an "Angel" bead to remind her of the day the mom of her "next door neighbor" at Comer Children's Hospital at the University of Chicago offered up her children's cord blood if it would help.

"The support for Jenna has been remarkable," her dad, Jerry McKeown, said.

The treatment On Oct. 27, 2009, 17-year-old Jenna went to the doctor feeling under the weather. Her blood work came back abnormal and the next day, she was diagnosed. The most unpredictable of storms had rolled in on the McKeown family - but their daughter just kept dancing in the rain."Through all my treatment - being in the hospital or at home - there really wasn't that much time left for being depressed," McKeown said. "I wasn't upset most of the time, I was really happy." Treatment started immediately and her first round of chemotherapy hit the hardest. Even though it sent the cancer into remission, she had to go through two more rounds before she could receive her bone marrow transplant.Through it all, McKeown battled extreme reactions to the drugs and transfusions. Hives made her feel "like I was turning into a cactus with prickly things poking into my skin," an 18-hour nosebleed resulted in a few blood transfusions and rigors - an intense shaking brought on by high fevers - put her in the hospital too."It really starts rocking your whole body," McKeown said of the rigors. "It feels like your bones are rattling." She also dealt with various infections, but the worst was probably the respiratory reaction that landed her in the pediatric intensive care unit, with no recollection of the entire day."I think God gives you this filtered memory so you can look back and think it wasn't that bad," her mom, Amy McKeown, told her.The supportMcKeown doesn't cry when she talks about her treatment, she's very matter of fact. But she does get emotional when she recounts all the love and support that poured in when people heard the news.Friends and teachers at Benet Academy in Lisle wasted no time. They packed the chapel for a special Mass the morning after her diagnosis - a gesture that still brings McKeown to tears.People started coming out of the woodwork to encourage her. Around 2,500 joined a support group on Facebook - many of whom she doesn't even know. A Benet alumnus from the 1960s whom she's never met sent her a letter, and elementary school teachers she hadn't seen in years made her a blanket and had their students send her cards."Those sentiments really meant a lot to me," McKeown said. "It's just nice to be able to post everything around your room to remind you of everyone thinking of you."Her lacrosse teammates made signs for her and wore orange patches on their jerseys - the color of leukemia awareness - and orange wristbands began circulating around her school almost immediately.McKeown and her dad can go on and on remembering all the impromptu fundraisers held in her name. The elementary school kids even got involved and had a "crazy sock day" where they could donate money to dress out of uniform. All the money went to relevant charities."Everyone jumped in on the support immediately," McKeown said, her eyes welling up. "It's been a very good experience spiritually just to see how many people love (me)."Her parents have been there every step of the way, too. When McKeown says she looked nothing like herself after losing her eyebrows and eyelashes, and that she spent hours in front of the mirror getting used to her new appearance, her dad comforts her."What's hard for you to understand," Jerry McKeown says, "is you totally looked the same to us." Her almond-colored eyes well with tears again.The gift of life When McKeown's family members were ruled out as potential bone marrow matches, Benet rose to the occasion yet again - planning a huge blood drive and bone marrow donation event at the school in cooperation with Lifesource.The Chicago-area blood center came prepared, but not prepared enough.Despite running out of supplies, it managed to collect 270 units of blood and around 200 bone marrow donation registrations, Jerry McKeown said. "To think that I alone went through 55 transfusions - and at the drive we collected five times that - that's only four or five kids with serious health issues," McKeown said. "Some people just don't realize cancer patients need blood."Shortly after the drive, McKeown had a match. But because of the time frame and how long it takes to run tests and get people entered into the system, it's unlikely her match came from the drive."If it only works out for one person, it'll help someone," McKeown said. "I'll be supporting (the registry) my whole life."The family thought of it as a "pay it forward" drive to raise awareness of how many area families are facing similar struggles."There is so much need for additional donors," Amy McKeown said. "With every additional donor, it just increases the odds that someone will find a match.""Until it touches your lives, you don't know its impact," Jerry McKeown said.Hoping to help in the future, the spunky teenager asked her doctors if she could be a donor someday, but they told her transplant recipients aren't eligible. Next February - a year after her surgery - she'll be able to meet her donor and she can't wait."It's a very selfless act," Jerry McKeown said of the woman who donated for a second time, "to do (that) for someone you don't know or know anything about."The road aheadMcKeown may have passed her 100-day marker more than a month ago, which she celebrated on May 22 by walking the survivor lap at the American Cancer Society's Relay For Life at Wheaton Warrenville South High School, but she still has a long way to go.She's been on special diets, battled infections and had to wear a mask in public, which she hated more than losing her hair, eyebrows and eyelashes. Right now, she is getting over a bout of shingles that she picked up because her immune system is so weak. She also awaits a second round of immunizations because her blood cells are brand new. Through it all, McKeown has done her best to live like a normal 17-year-old. She was not only able to go to one senior prom, but two. She even went through physical therapy to make sure she would be strong enough to dance the night away. And the honor student needed to finish up only two classes to graduate.When she walked across the stage, everyone in the gym stood and cheered in one last gesture of support. McKeown said she burst into tears.Now that she's somewhat in the clear, McKeown is planning for the future. She will attend St. Mary's College in Notre Dame, Ind., in the fall and begin working toward a degree in nursing. She's had her eye on the medical field since she was little, but was afraid the endless hospital stays and needle pricks would keep her away. Right before her diagnosis, in fact, McKeown was supposed to shadow a family friend who's an oncology treatment nurse at Northwestern Memorial Hospital."I guess I got more than I asked for as far as shadowing in oncology goes," she said. "But it just made me want to be there to help people, to be on the other side of the bed."McKeown has a passion for life and a captivating sparkle in her eye. Without the transplant, her warm, cheery smile would be a memory. But now she gets to celebrate two birthdays: July 2, 1992, and Feb. 11, 2010. She was faced with the end, but instead saw a journey. She was given an inch and she took a mile."I just had this feeling like 'there is no way this is the end of my life, I haven't done anything yet,'" she said.True20001339Jenna McKeown recently celebrated her 100th day after a lifesaving bone marrow transplant.Paul Michna | Staff PhotographerTrue <div class="infoBox"><h1>More Coverage</h1><div class="infoBoxContent"><div class="infoArea"><h2>Stories</h2><ul class="links"><li><a href="/story/?id=391076">Bone marrow registry sets up shop at Naperville Ribfest<span class="date">[07/01/10]</span></a></li></ul></div></div></div>