Molloy women make Jackie feel better, and vice versa

She's only 7, but Jackie Poeggel moves emotional mountains. She has inspired the women's basketball team at Molloy College to a calling that has impacted their lives.

"I tell people she is the most amazing human being I ever met in my life, and she's only 7,'' senior forward Caitlin Wheeler said. "She impresses me more than anyone I've ever met. She's almost a grown-up in a little kid's body.''

Poeggel, a second-grader who lives in Lindenhurst, is in remission from acute myeloid leukemia. Molloy, through Friends of Jaclyn, an organization dedicated to helping children with life-threatening diseases, "adopted'' Jackie, but no one expected the boundless optimism they discovered in this child.

During a ceremony at the college to officially introduce Jackie to the team, the child's mother, Cyndi, explained all that her daughter had endured since her diagnosis on Christmas Eve 2006.

"[Jackie] was sitting on the lap of one of my teammates,'' Wheeler said. "She [the teammate] started to cry. Jackie didn't say anything, she just put her hand on her to steady her, with a sense of maturity like an adult would look at you when you were a little kid, and calmed her.''

Jackie's struggle has been waged for most of her young life. "I recall the diagnosis as if it was yesterday,'' her mother said. "Jackie had sinus infections for three months, then a virus, then another sinus infection. It was a non-stop battle to various doctors trying to get some answers.

"Then Christmas Eve, once again, she was running a low-grade fever, but this time she also had a sore in her mouth, and while she was sitting on my lap, I watched a bruise form on her arm.

"I telephoned her pediatrician, who directed us to Winthrop University Hospital's emergency room for bloodwork. I honestly thought we would be out in two hours, in time to make it to the store for last-minute Christmas shopping. My daughter Kristina was at her friend's house, so it was just me, Jackie and my oldest daughter, Heather, in the ER.

"I was watching them set up a room across the hall. I knew that a family was going to receive bad news, I even told Heather. I did not know that family was ours. When the nurse came in and asked if I could go with her, I was in shock. I remember turning to Heather, telling her to stay with her sister [Jackie, who was sleeping]. I walked in the room; there were two nurses and one doctor. The doctor turned to me and said, 'There is no easy way to say this, so I am going to blurt it out and we will go from there - your daughter has cancer.'

"Cancer?

"Our lives after that point have never been the same . . . We entered a parallel universe that I did not know existed. A part of me still wishes I didn't.''

Three months after the initial diagnosis, Jackie was transferred to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. "Jackie went through hell and back,'' her mother said. "On two separate occasions she was in ICU fighting for her life. Thankfully, she won. We made it through and we went home, but sadly, that did not last for long. Five months later, Jackie relapsed. This time Jackie had leukemia in her marrow and we would learn that she also had three leukemic tumors in her brain, called chloromas.

"We lived at the hospital for four straight months, where Jackie received regular chemotherapy in both her peripheral veins and by lumbar puncture. Jackie needed a transplant to survive, but there were no suitable donors on the registry. Jackie is half-Pakistani, and unfortunately, they are very under-represented on the registry.

"She was running out of options, and then two unrelated cord-blood donations were found. Jackie received an unrelated stem cell transplant on May 12, 2008, following total body irradiation. Jackie had to remain in Philadelphia for 90 days post-transplant. We returned to New York in August of 2008.

"Jackie has remained in remission but has many post-transplant complications, with more expected in her future. Jackie suffers from learning disabilities, she has developed graft vs. host disease [GVHD], attention deficit disorder [ADD], low bone density, which could inhibit her from playing sports, endocrine issues, the list goes on. And she is expected to develop a secondary cancer later in life due to the high-dose chemotherapy she received as well as develop cataracts due to the radiation . . . Jackie still endures needle sticks, IVs, bone marrow aspirates, spinal taps as needed and routine MRIs to monitor her disease. I thank God every day that she is in remission.''

But not enough time has passed to declare her cancer-free. "No,'' her mother said, "she is not a survivor yet.''

But Jackie does lead an active life. "She just started piano lessons, she's a girl scout,'' her mom said. ``She participates in food drives and [fund-raisers] for bone marrow transplants. She's in a holiday stocking campaign so other kids in hospitals can have a stocking. Jackie has never complained about anything, ever. She does everything that is asked of her. She is always thinking about others.''

Molloy basketball is a big part of her life. "Jackie just loves spending time with the team and it helps her get through her medical treatments,'' her mother said. "Last week, Jackie had an echocardiogram and had to wear a heart monitor for 24 hours. Leaving the cardiology appointment, she was totally bummed but instantly perked up when I told her we were going to see HER team at practice.

"At practice, Jackie tried to shoot some hoops while the team ran some drills. Then, after practice, all the girls were playing with her, laughing with her . . . She quickly forgot she was wearing a heart monitor. I could go on forever, but no words could ever express what we have benefited since we met the team. Our lives are fuller and Jackie now has a larger support team that she never had before.''

The inspiration goes both ways.

"For someone who has been through so much pain and adversity in her life, Jackie is the most happy as well as heartwarming little girl I have ever come across,'' Molloy sophomore guard Courtney Dolnick said. "Her smile lights up a room, and she makes you appreciate what is really important. I just met her and she has already made a huge impact on my life.''

Jackie, in comments relayed by her mom, said she enjoys the time spent with the basketball team.

"It helps me forget about all the bad stuff,'' she said. "Through all the pain I have something to look forward to. I love how they treat me like a princess. I look forward to going to basketball games, which I never thought I would. I can't wait for my mommy to bring me.''

Wheeler said Jackie's presence has had a profound effect on the team. "There's a difference between motivation and inspiration,'' she said. "Every team is motivated, but we have inspiration due to having Jackie at our home games. We have Jackie cheering for us. Knowing what this little girl has been through, it's way more than anything we are going to deal with on the court.''

At the games, Jackie sits underneath the basket during warm-ups, stands with the team for the national anthem and visits in the locker room after the game. The relationship is not temporary, all involved agree. The bond will be unbreakable.

"She is ours forever and forever,'' Wheeler said.

Cyndi Poegell added, "I would like to thank every single person that was there for us in our darkest moments and those that are still with us today. I would like to thank Friends of Jaclyn for matching us with the Molloy women's basketball team and I would like to thank the team for giving my little Princess the royal treatment.''

Jackie has a saying that has resonated with every team member. "She calls it 'faith, trust and pixie dust,' '' Wheeler said. "I guess I want to be optimistic, but there's always the chance that something bad could happen. I'm so nervous that something bad is going to happen to her again, but if you wait for something bad to happen, it's bound to happen, so you just have to look for the best. Hope for the best and that's what happens.''

The team filled a jar with pixie dust to present to Jackie, but she already had plenty of her own. It is represented in the hope in her heart for herself and others.

For the team, there is that fervent hope that the chair under the Molloy basket, the one for Jackie, will never be empty.