Ryan: In the Best Hands Possible

Ryan, a two-and-a-half year old with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), is in remission after being cared for at Packard. AML is a relatively rare form of leukemia that is more difficult to treat.

WINTER 2001 - Ryan Tamayoshi seemed like a healthy, happy child. But shortly before his second birthday last February, Ryan suddenly became irritable and clingy, and began losing his appetite. His mother, Jodi, also noticed that his abdomen had become firm and distended.

"I could actually put my finger around what I now know is his spleen," she says.

On February 28, Jodi took Ryan to Packard Hospital, where he was diagnosed with leukemia -- a cancer that affects the bone marrow cells that give rise to white blood cells.

"I was devastated and shocked," recalls Jodi. "We were somewhat relieved when we found out that some childhood leukemias have an 80 percent cure rate."

But Ryan turned out to have acute myeloid leukemia (AML) -- a relatively rare type that causes bone marrow to produce large numbers of abnormal white blood cells, which then invade the spleen and other organs.

"AML only has a 50 percent survival rate," notes Jodi, "so this was devastating news on top of devastating news."

Ryan had been placed under the care of one of Packard's leading pediatric oncologists, Gary V. Dahl, M.D.

"Apparently Dr. Dahl is the AML doctor," says Jodi. "My husband, Craig, and I felt we couldn't be in better hands."

Dahl put Ryan on six months of chemotherapy. By August, Ryan also had undergone more than a dozen blood transfusions to restore the red blood cells and platelets destroyed by chemotherapy. He has been hospitalized several times since February and continues to suffer intestinal side effects as a result of the intensive treatment.

"Chemotherapy puts these kids at a great risk for bacterial or fungal disease," says Dahl. "But, the good news is that Ryan's cancer has gone into remission."

Should his cancer return, Ryan might be a candidate for a bone marrow transplant, but transplantations are most effective in AML if the bone marrow donor is a brother or sister, and preferably an identical twin. It's even more difficult to find donors because Ryan is ethnically mixed -- he's half-Japanese and half- Caucasian. The fact that Ryan doesn't have a sibling makes a successful transplant less certain, observes Jodi, but she is optimistic.

"Dr. Dahl tells me not to look at the statistics, because there are so few kids Ryan's age with AML that the statistics are irrelevant," Jodi adds. "Ryan is an incredible trouper. If there's any good thing, it's that it happened at an early age, so it will be easier for him to rebound. Also, the hospital is a happy place for him. He owns the halls! He likes to go back."

The stress of caring for a child with cancer has taken its toll on Ryan and his parents.

"We do get normal days when Ryan can be at home or back in preschool or back with his play group," explains Jodi. "Normal is a wonderful thing."