The drive is "not for her, but it’s because of her," said Amanda Rosso’s aunt, Norma Zimmerman, of East Amwell Township
By Linda Seida
RINGOES A young mother’s ongoing battle against leukemia, after her earlier triumph over another form of cancer, has inspired a second bone marrow donor drive at Kirkpatrick Memorial Presbyterian Church.
The donor drive will be held from 4-8 p.m. on Dec. 12 at the church at 37 John Ringo Road. Appointments are recommended, but not necessary.
Amanda Rosso, 27, of West Amwell underwent a double-cord transplant last month, a procedure that uses umbilical cord blood, because a bone marrow transplant could not be performed. No match could be found for Mrs. Rosso the wife of James Rosso, a Hopewell Township police officer.
The bone marrow donor drive is "not for her, but it’s because of her," said Mrs. Rosso’s aunt, Norma Zimmerman, of East Amwell Township.
A $4,000 grant from the National Bone Marrow Registry will help pay for the blood tests. Normally the tests are $65 each, but thanks to the grant, the first 100 persons to register will pay $25 each.
"Anyone who can’t afford the $25, they should let me know," Mrs. Zimmerman said.
Some people who want to help, but are prevented by medical conditions from becoming a donor themselves, have offered to sponsor a test for someone else, she said.
Because more minorities are needed in the registry, they will be tested free of charge, according to Mrs. Zimmerman.
"It shouldn’t have to happen to you before you realize the importance," she said. "I could be that one in so many (who needs a transplant). It could be anyone."
Mrs. Rosso’s medical team first tested her immediate family members, then went on to check a worldwide bone marrow registry.
"They couldn’t find a match," Mrs. Zimmerman said.
Umbilical cord blood is an acceptable source of stem cells for transplant in adult patients when a marrow donor is not available, according to the American Cancer Society.
More than 35,000 children and adults in the country are diagnosed with a disease for which a marrow or blood cell transplant is needed, according to the National Marrow Donor Program, whose registry includes more than 5.5 million people. Such transplants require donor and patient to have matching tissue types. Seventy percent of the patients cannot find a match within their families.
Just after Thanksgiving last year, after surgery and almost a year’s worth of chemotherapy, Mrs. Rosso was giving thanks for beating bone cancer.
"I realize that one day can change your life," she told The Beacon last November.
But then, in June, doctors told Mrs. Rosso she had leukemia.
Now, after a week of full-body radiation and a double-cord transplant, Mrs. Rosso is doing well and trying to regain her strength.
"Four weeks ago today, she had it," Mrs. Zimmerman said Friday. "It’s a slow process, getting better. I know she’s just starting to eat. And they got her up for a short walk. Hopefully, she’ll be home by Christmas."
Officer Rosso works three 12-hour days a week, a schedule that allows him to spend time with his wife at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, according to Mrs. Zimmerman.
"He’s had to have missed three to four weeks of work," she said.
On a recent good day, the couple’s 3-year-old daughter, Brielle, was able to see her mother via a Web cam. While both her parents are in New York, Brielle is being looked after by her grandparents, Alice and Norb Rosso of Lambertville.
During the first bone marrow donor drive held in November, about 20 police officers showed up to be tested, both from the ranks of the Hopewell Township Police Department and the state police. Testing for police officers was paid for by PBA 342, Hopewell Township Police Chief Michael Chipowsky said.
For more information or to register for the bone marrow drive, contact Ms. Zimmerman at 397-8892 or church secretary Carol Aron at (908) 782-1177.