It was a discovery that broke a mom’s heart but saved her son’s life.
When Julie Fitzgerald learned that you can detect eye cancer in your child by taking a picture and checking whether a white, opaque matter (known as “white eye” as opposed to the photographic fault called “red eye”) can be seen in the eyes, she quickly snapped a photo of her precious baby, Avery. Much to her shock, the tell-tale signs were there!
They immediately brought the baby to a hospital to have him properly checked and diagnosed. Sadly, the doctors confirmed that Avery has eye cancer and the tumors are now covering as much as 75% of his left eye.
The solution was rather drastic: Avery’s left eye has to be removed immediately else the cancer will spread to other parts of his body, most especially his brain!
So, within weeks after the discovery, Avery was taken to surgery where his left eye was removed. The family is hoping that all of Avery’s cancer cells have been removed and that the child would live cancer-free for the rest of his life.
Julie feels sad seeing that Avery only has one eye yet happy that despite having a one-eyed son, he is still very much alive and able to be with them. What good would it be to have a child with both eyes if he would just die of the cancer after a few more months?
Watch their touching story here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QlcNXvyRRA
Eye Cancer in Infants
Almost always, eye cancer in infants is called retinoblastoma. It is a rare but rapidly developing cancer that affects infants; though this can also occur in older people.
This type of cancer could be easily detected in screenings done for newborns, depending on the extent of the tumors.
If discovered and treated early, prognosis is often good, especially in developed countries where cure rates are as high as 95 to 98%, with statistics showing that as many as nine out of ten sufferers growing into adulthood.