Marsha Deeken Krone, a native of Argyle and graduate of Fatima, recently completed a 255-mile bike ride across Missouri in support of By the Mile, Be the Match in her ongoing battle against myelofibrosis, an uncommon type of bone marrow cancer that disrupts the body’s normal production of blood cells.

“This was an incredible experience,” said Krone, who now lives in Peoria, Ill. “I had not shared my plans with many people because of the terrible ‘doubt monster,’ but I did this for me and for Be the Match.”

Bradley suggested his mother participate in the By the Mile, Be the Match fundraiser last year and she quietly undertook training through the fall, winter, and spring.

Krone got a little help with the Facebook effort but it was a bit of a shock when she inadvertently posted the page.

“I panicked,” she said. “I thought, ‘what did I do?’”

The next morning she awoke to see that $310 had already been donated. “That was quite amazing,” said Krone. “It worked out the way it was meant to.”

Now that she was committed, Krone took on the project wholeheartedly. “If you think you want to do something, try it,” she said. “You can do more than you think you can. It’s fear telling you that you can’t, and you have to fight against that.”

The trip began in Kansas City on Sept. 9 and ended in St. Louis on Sept. 12, and Krone was joined by her son, Bradley, his wife, Ashley, and Tom Banas, 76, father-in-law of her daughter, Emily.

“I couldn’t have done this trip without them,” said Krone. “Having our family members surprise us in Jefferson City was so awesome.”

The group traveled 70 miles that first day and saw some amazing examples of Missouri life, including two snakes, one of which jumped in the air.

“I’m sure it was because I was screaming like a baby and flapping my arm like a wounded birdy!” Krone wrote on Facebook as part of her journal entries. 

When Krone left Jefferson City on Sept. 11, she and her family left early to get ahead of a 5K walk scheduled to cross the Missouri River Bridge that day.

She also had some great encounters with people along the way.

Krone learned a lot about the Lewis and Clark Trail. 

“We met an awesome group of women on the trail,” she said. “When they heard why we were biking across Missouri they emptied their pockets with joy! They donated $140. It was quite the joyous experience and certainly a highlight of the trip.”

At the end of the journey, the group decided to go an additional 2.5 miles to the edge of the Mississippi River. “I was floored to see at the end of our 255-mile trip, standing proud and tall, at the water’s edge was the Shrine of Our Lady of the Rivers,” said Krone. “ And posted on the shrine was the Memorare Prayer. Each day my Fitbit alarm goes off at 3 PM to remind me to say this prayer. I felt the prayers of all my family and friends and thank God for showing me that I can do hard things … if only I try!”

Krone has long been an activist for causes such as this and has been specifically attuned to the needs of Be the Match since being diagnosed with myelofibrosis six years ago. 

She currently takes an oral chemotherapy drug morning and night in an attempt to try to normalize her blood. 

This is not, however, the first time Krone has been faced with a blood disease.

When she was a young mother with two small children 32 years ago, Krone was diagnosed with essential thrombocythemia, a disease in which bone marrow makes too many platelets. 

Platelets are blood cell fragments that help with blood clotting, and having too many platelets makes it hard for blood to clot normally. 

Krone explained that at the time, the only treatment was chemotherapy but she took part in experimental drug therapy at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

“It gave me an extra 26 years but some doctors have said that experimental drug may have caused the myelofibrosis,” she said. “I don’t care. I got many good years with my family.”

Myelofibrosis causes extensive scarring in bone marrow, leading to severe anemia that can cause weakness and fatigue. Bone marrow scarring can also cause individuals to have a low number of blood-clotting cells called platelets, which increases the risk of bleeding. 

Myelofibrosis can happen on its own (primary myelofibrosis) or it can develop from another bone marrow disorder (secondary myelofibrosis).

“It’s not genetic in nature but a genetic mutation,” said Krone. “There is a gene that causes it to happen and the hope is to find out how to make that gene do what it’s supposed to do.”

She added that immunotherapy would be much easier compared to stem-cell or bone-marrow transplants.

Two cousins have blood cancer and Krone took part in a University of Arizona study to determine if something in their genes makes them more susceptible to it.

“I am always willing to try studies,” Krone said.

Finding a match is difficult, even among siblings. A patient has a 25% chance to match with a sibling. In this case, while Krone’s two sisters match each other, neither is a match for her.

Familial matches are not the only possibility. “Anyone from anywhere in the world can be a match,” Krone said.

Some people with myelofibrosis have no symptoms and might not need treatment right away. Others with more serious forms of the disease might need aggressive treatments right away. Treatment for myelofibrosis, which focuses on relieving symptoms, can involve a variety of options.

Krone is in the group that doesn’t need immediate treatment but she continues to search for a match.

“If it comes to the point where it’s try or die, I’ll use one of my children,” said Krone. “They’re a 50 percent match, which is better than nothing. There have been cases where a 50 percent match worked, and others where a 100 percent match did not. There are a lot of variables.”

In the event Krone finds a match or has to rely on her children, the recovery is a long, hard process.

One of the most successful hospitals with this type of transplant procedure is in Seattle, Wash., and another has seen success in Jacksonville, Fla.

On the heels of a successful bike ride, Krone is thrilled with the support she’s received.

Instead of asking for a per-mile pledge, she asked for tax-deductible donations.

“I thought if I raised $500, that would be great,” said Krone. “I had to keep increasing my goal because of all the generous people who gave to this project.”

Marsha’s husband, John, works for Caterpillar, which agreed to match the total donations. That means Krone’s effort raised $10,000 in 32 days, nearly $40 for every mile on this trek across the Show-Me State.

Krone continues to support the program. Donating marrow can give someone a future — a chance to overcome leukemia or other life-threatening diseases. Thousands of people of all ages in need of a transplant won’t make it without the help of others.

Everyone has the power to help: join the registry, make a financial contribution, volunteer, donate umbilical cord blood, or spread the word.

Krone said she is proud of putting herself in a position to fail and being okay with not being able to complete the bike ride. “Life isn’t always about finding success,” she said. “You have to try and give it everything you’ve got.”

For more information on myelofibrosis, visit https://my.bethematch.org.