By Dave Dyer

Staff Writer

John Posey can still remember when his daughter Jenna was diagnosed with cancer. 

“It was back in 1998, right around April and May,” John Posey said. “Jenna was 5 years old at the time, and she was having pain in her legs. The doctors did lots of tests, but she still had trouble walking. After the lab work was done, that was when we found out she had leukemia.” 

John Posey said Jenna was dealing with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), which affects the blood and bone marrow. He said not long after the diagnosis the family was introduced to the Maine Children’s Cancer Program, an outpatient consultation and treatment facility located at Maine Medical Center in Portland. 

The Scarborough Kiwanis club is hosting their 10th annual Gala Ball on Saturday at the Wyndham Portland Airport Hotel to benefit the Maine Children’s Cancer Program. Over the last nine years, the Gala has raised $200,000 toward the program. The event is scheduled from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m.

“My wife Suzanne and I first met with one of the social workers from the program,” John Posey said. “They were able to keep us grounded with the initial shock. Then we met with the oncologists. Everybody there was just wonderful.” 

John Posey said the treatment at the time were trips to both Maine Medical Center and the Dana Farber Institute in Boston, Mass. He said Jenna had to go through a two-year chemotherapy protocol. 

“She had to go through a variety of five to six different types of chemotherapy,” John Posey said. “She also had to have a chest catheter and every 18 weeks, she had to go get a spinal tap.” 

Jenna Posey said she vividly remembered the spinal taps. 

“I was 5 years old at the time, so I don’t have many memories of that time,” she said. “But I do remember the spinal taps.” 

John Posey said he was impressed with how Jenna was able to deal with the spinal taps.

“We would actually have to hold her in the fetal position,” John Posey said. “We would have her look at a cartoon while she was having it done and she would stay so focused on the cartoon. She also insisted on going back to school right after the spinal taps, just to be around the kids like everyone else.” 

John Posey said representatives from the Maine Children’s Cancer Program met with Jenna’s teachers to answer any questions they might have had and to help with the school process while she dealt with the illness. 

“They really helped with the school transition,” John Posey said. “We didn’t know how it would be. Jenna lost hair several times during the chemotherapy process. But she really was just like one of the kids around there.” 

John Posey said Jenna’s room at home had to be converted into a second medical room. 

“Visiting nurses would come over to the house to see her and we had to learn how to administer some of the dressings,” John Posey said. 

After two and a half years, Jenna officially began the remission stage. Ten years have passed since Jenna, now 15 and a sophomore at Scarborough High School, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. John Posey said she gets an annual checkup every year, adding there has only been one set back in the remission process. 

“A lot of study has now been done on her chemotherapy since she went through it,” John Posey said. “The chemo goes through the spine and hits the brain and central nervous system. It affects the executive functions and cognitive effects. Jenna has had some problems working through math problems, but that has really been it and we’ve been able to adapt.” 

Jenna said she and her mom Suzanne have helped give back to the Maine Children’s Cancer Program by making baskets for patients at the facility. 

“We make baskets that have soaps and shampoos and toothbrushes, stuff that people might forget to have when staying at the hospital,” she said. 

John Posey said Jenna’s experience has had an effect on him. 

“It makes you appreciate life a little more,” he said.