
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, April 14, 1994                   TAG: 9404140284
SECTION: NEIGHBORS                    PAGE: E-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: BETSY BIESENBACH STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

READERS EASE FAMILY'S WORRIES OVER TRAVEL

Thanks to this newspaper's readers, Wally and Janis Terpenny of Roanoke County will have one less worry as they help their 8-year-old son, Jason, through his battle with leukemia.

Jason is scheduled to have a bone-marrow transplant at the University of Iowa in Iowa City. He and Janis are expected to be there for three to six months. The family was worried about the long separation because it would have been hard for Wally and their 6-year-old son, Jonathan, to make the 16-hour drive.

They also were concerned about the cost of the plane tickets for Jason, Janis and Wally, who is Jason's marrow donor. Because they don't know exactly when they will be traveling, they can't take advantage of any discount fares. Each ticket will cost $705.

The Terpennys appealed to friends and co-workers to donate frequent-flier miles to offset the cost of the tickets.

Last month, a story about the Terpenny's efforts appeared in Neighbors. The response, Wally said, "has been pretty amazing."

In just a few weeks, the family has collected enough travel vouchers to pay for the initial visits and to allow Wally and Jonathan to visit every other week for the first three months. There have been so many offers of help that Wally has asked potential donors to wait until they find out how long Jason's stay will be. If it is extended to six months, Wally said, they may need the extra vouchers.

Although Wally's health insurance will pay for the operation, some readers sent money. Wally's co-workers at General Electric Corp. collected $1,000 for Jason and Janis' living expenses while in Iowa.

Jason originally was scheduled to undergo the transplant at the end of March, but it was postponed. His white blood cell count was lowered by intensive chemotherapy, weakening his immune system. Consequently, he has a fungus infection, a yeast infection and pneumonia. He has undergone several surgeries to remove the fungus. A catheter that was placed in his chest to supply chemotherapy and nutrition has been replaced several times.

Jason feels bad most of the time and sleeps a lot, Wally said, but things are "looking up a little bit." His white blood cell count improved, and he was feeling more "perky."

Recently, Jason was granted a $1,200 shopping spree at Toys `R' Us by the Make-A-Wish Foundation, an organization that helps ill children. He has been too sick to go shopping, but volunteers from the foundation delivered three of the toys he wanted, and he was "active and happy" that day, Wally said.

Jason is scheduled to have his transplant April 25 if he is healthy enough. His family is grateful to everyone who has helped out.

"It's hard to see the good things in life at a time like this," Wally said, "but there is a lot of goodness left in the world."

by CNB