It’s been a long and bumpy road for the Acosta family.

At just six months old their son Ryan was diagnosed with a rare childhood cancer. His family said thanks to the science of bone marrow transplants and Ryan’s donor, their son is alive and going great.

“Ryan had juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia Its JMML,” said Jess Acosta, Ryan’s mother.

This is a rare form of childhood cancer. Only 25 to 50 kids are diagnosed with it each year. Jess Acosta Ryan’s mom said that it is not easy to diagnose. If it wasn’t for Ryan coming down with a fever, they wouldn’t have known he had it.

“He had a fever so we took him to the ER and they drew blood and his white blood cell count was 90,000 and healthy at max is suppose to be 15,” she said.

“I remember holding him rocking back and forth saying to him you don’t have cancer and then after that it’s just three days of blank,” said Daniel Acosta, Ryan’s father.

Once these first time parents realized the magnitude of their situation, their life began to spiral out of control.

“Blood tests and breathing treatments and you just hold on for a little while,” Jess said.



After a week of chemotherapy, Ryan needed a bone marrow transplant. After two months of searching for a donor, they found a match and on May 9th he had his transplant.

“Every cell that is being made is the donor's marrow regenerating cells entirely,” Jess said.

It’s been a little over two months since Ryan had his transplant. He has an internal catheter to deliver medicine to his heart but they say overall he is doing great.

“Seeing him happy and healthy and out of the hospital have been just amazing,” Daniel



And they have a message for his donor.

“Thank you. You saved our son's life there is nothing in this world we could do to repay you,” Daniel said.



You can help Ryan by visiting their blog at thefamilyacosta.blogspot.com.

