WASHINGTON -- Robin Grapa, a 26-year-old Oshkosh resident and aplastic anemia survivor, dropped in on Congress Friday to headline a reception held to raise awareness of bone marrow diseases. While there, she learned that her local congressman, Tom Petri, has decided to cosponsor a congressional resolution calling for adequate funding for diseases like hers.

Grapa's illness, though potentially deadly, has been in remission since 1998. "Seven years after my treatment, I was told that I was in complete remission. And that's when I realized the severity of the disease I have," Grapa said. "For some reason, that's when I realized that I could have lost my life."

That realization caused Grapa to look for a way to call attention to bone marrow diseases, to give hope to people with those diseases, and to celebrate her survival and the survival of others.

She decided to hike across America from Cape Henlopen, Deleware, to Point Reyes National Seashore in California, stopping in major cities for publicity events along the way. Her mother, Patty Laatch, volunteered to join her.

Pictured above are Patty Laatch (left) and her daughter, aplastic anemia survivor Robin Grapa at a reception held for them in Congress on Friday, February 10, 2006

So far, the pair have walked 100 miles, having reached Annapolis, MD. "That only leaves 4,900 miles to go!" Grapa said.