Ryan O'Neal tells of leukaemia battle
Actor Ryan O’Neal today broke his silence over his battle with leukaemia and told of his shock at learning he had the disease.
The Love Story star was diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukaemia less than a month ago and today said he was being given a treatment which seems to be working.
He had only completed work on his latest film, People I Know, which also stars Al Pacino, days before he received the diagnosis and was now being treated in Los Angeles.
‘‘I’m on something that seems to be working,’’ he said. ‘‘I’ve only known about it for three-and-a-half weeks.
"What a shock. It buckled me.’’
O’Neal said he initially had a sore stomach and only discovered he had the disease after doctors carried out a series of tests - and was told on his 60th birthday.
‘‘I just had a pain in my stomach - it hurt,’’ he said.
‘‘They examined me, tested my spleen and discovered my white cell count was enormous.
‘‘My doctors at Cedars-Sinai (hospital) are going to try an even newer medication next week.’’
The actor, who had a stormy 17-year relationship with Farah Fawcett, one of the original Charlie’s Angels, had stayed silent about the disease and refused to appear on American television to discuss it.
‘‘What am I going to say - I’ve got it?’’ he said.
‘‘I didn’t even announce it in the first place. This is some switch for me.’’ O’Neal said he had received support from his friends, including Ali MacGraw, his Love Story co-star, whose character ironically died from leukaemia in the film.
‘‘She said to me ‘I hope you didn’t catch it from me’,’’ he said.
The disease causes cells in the bone marrow to become cancerous and produce large numbers of abnormal white blood cells which crowd out the healthy cells in the marrow.
Most treatments, including radiation and chemotherapy, can only stem its progress, meaning it can only be cured with a bone marrow transplant.
The star also had roles in The Main Event, A Bridge Too Far and What’s Up Doc and is the father of actress Tatum O’Neal, who has vowed to help him with his battle with the disease.
He has vowed to continue to work and still exercises regularly at the Los Angeles gym he owns, he told the newspaper.
‘‘I had just finished doing this movie with Al Pacino,’’ he said.
‘‘I hope it’s not my last. It was such a good experience.
‘‘Al is such an amazing person - so dear, a good man, loving.’’
O’Neal plays a fading Hollywood star in the film, which has not yet been scheduled for release.
‘‘He’s a fading movie star who lives in Malibu - they didn’t have to look far,’’ he said.
And he vowed to tour to promote the movie when it is released as long as he is fit.
‘‘I’ll go out on the road with it,’’ he said.
