Our son, Ryan, was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia on March 3, 2007, at the age of 22 months. He was diagnosed as standard risk- high and embarked on a 3.5 year long course of consecutive chemotherapy, which he finished on July 3, 2010 (our wedding anniversary). Ten days later, on July 13, 2010, he was diagnosed with Relapsed Leukemia. During cytogenetic testing for his relapse diagnosis, they discovered that he has the t(1;19) translocation- a high risk genetic marker for leukemia. Ryan should have been treated on a high risk leukemia protocol all along (instead of standard risk), but they weren't able to find the translocation until relapse. He is now being treated as a very high risk case.

Ryan underwent extremely aggressive chemotherapy this summer in order to get him back into remission. This extremely caustic course of treatment required 28 straight days as an inpatient, followed by 6 more days as an inpatient after
a 3 day break.

We are in the process of preparing him to once again enter the hospital as an in-patient, this time for at least 6-8 weeks while he undergoes an unrelated bone marrow transplant. This transplant is intended to cure him. We were incredibly lucky to be able to find an extremely generous donor who is a perfect 10/10 match for him.

Ryan will enter the hospital on Sunday, November 8, 2010, for pre-conditioning treatment for his transplant, which includes 4 days of total body radiation and 1 day of aggressive chemo before receiving his life saving transplant a few days later.
When he is feeling well, Ryan is an extremely happy, adventurous and loving little boy. He has four older siblings who all dote on him. Ryan loves playing with Legos, cars, trains, and most recently, he has discovered video games (which will come in handy when he is hospitalized and recovering from his transplant). He’s fascinated by bugs, dirt, the fishies at the koi pond at City of Hope, and likes playing with our four dogs and cat. He also loves the outdoors and spending time with his family and friends. Ryan is an exceptionally brave little guy and he has taught us so much about living life and loving to the very fullest. He is our hero and the apple of our eye.

Our family would like to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your tremendous outpouring of love and support while we face these difficult times.

To read more about Ryan and our family, you can visit our blog at:

http://thecomptons.typepad.com/straightouttacompton/

The Talbert Family Foundation will donate 100% of the monies received in this fund to Ryan and his family