On February 1, 2012 Ethan was diagnosed with Precursor T-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. It is also referred to as ALL or Pre-T ALL.
Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is a fast-growing cancer of the white blood cells. Lymphocytes are a type of white blood cell that the body uses to fight infections. In ALL, the bone marrow makes lots of unformed cells called blasts that normally would develop into lymphocytes. However, the blasts are abnormal. They do not develop and cannot fight infections. The number of abnormal cells (or leukemia cells) grows quickly. They crowd out the normal red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets the body needs.
Some specifics about Ethan’s diagnosis:
- his blast count at diagnosis was just over 20,000
- his white blood cell count was just over 30,000
- there were no cancerous cells in his spinal fluid
- he was categorized as low-risk due to rapid early response to treatment
- we are told his prognosis is great, with an 90%+ 3 year event-free survival rate
Born in 2005, he has always been our social butterfly. He’s rambunctious, a little flighty, will talk your ear off and loves people. He enjoys Legos, Mythbusters, Star Wars and everything science related.
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