Kiya was diagnosed with retinoblastoma at 8 months old. I noticed a white glow in her eye, and it stopped tracking. She’s had her right eye removed so is blind in that eye.
She’s feisty, and strong which she needs for this journey!Â
Hope session by Waterloo Heirloom Photography | Facebook
Ayla is a happy girl who loves to color, paint and go to gymnastics. She is involved with Children’s Ballet of San Antonio along with her brother Jaylen. She loves unicorns, LOL dolls, princesses and Gabby’s Doll House.
Ayla was diagnosed with bilateral retinoblastoma at 4 weeks old. Her dad and brother had the RB1 gene so we had Ayla tested to determine if she had the gene as well. Tests showed that she does have the RB1 gene. She is happy wearing her glittery pink prosthetic eye.
She had laser treatment and IAC (a type of chemo) and if recall correctly, she also had cryotherapy. We struggled while she was undergoing treatments but we are okay now. Ayla and Jaylen are also Kodas (Kids of Deaf Adults). They speak ASL frequently even though they can hear.
Hope Session by Sarah Lake Photography | Facebook | Instagram
Ryder is the happiest little boy, he laughs and smiles all the time and LOVES flirting with his nurses. He enjoys being stimulated with different books and toys and is starting to move more and more. He truly is one of the sweetest little boys.
Ryder was diagnosed with Retinoblastoma on September 26th, 2022. During a move, a friend that was babysitting Ryder snapped a photo in dim light with a flash on that happened to show a strange reflection in his eye. This friend had seen this 20 years prior and urged us to have him looked at by his pediatrician. He was diagnosed 2 days later.
Ryder is currently going through Intra-Arterial Chemotherapy, we have to travel from Montana to Denver, Colorado for treatment and exams every 2 weeks.
Cancer has created many challenges in our lives -my husband has been trying to work more and more to help medical costs and we have to travel frequently. Ryder also has impaired vision in his right eye.
You truly would never know Ryder is fighting something so serious, He is so strong and happy all the time.
Hope Session by TS Gallant Photography | Facebook | Instagram
Hudson is super silly! He is starting to let his personality really shine through. We didn’t hear his laugh for the longest time, and now his belly laugh makes us grin ear to ear each time. Hudson loves to play with mama and dada, but the tickles are what he squeals for! Hudson loves all things construction, especially the vehicles. He has every truck imaginable, PJs with excavators, and his favorite show is even called Trash Truck.
Hudson was diagnosed with Retinoblastoma in 2020 when he was just 6 months old. His eyes weren’t 100% aligned and I fought hard as his advocate. It was not noticeable to anyone but myself, but I felt something wasn’t right. I brought him to the pediatrician who said everything was fine, but I brought him back 1 week later. The doctor put in a referral for an ophthalmologist, but the appointment was months out. I brought him in a third time a few days later, and that’s when the doctor noticed something with the light of his eyes. She put in an emergency appointment the next day. Two days later he was starting his first chemo treatment.
Since then, he has undergone 7 rounds of chemotherapy, 20+ exams under anesthesia, and laser treatments. Since Hudson was still immunocompromised, when he tested positive for Covid in January of this year, it hit him hard. Hudson had a collapsed lung from all of the damage. Just recently, Hudson became very sick. After a week’s stay in the PICU at Riley Children’s Hospital, Hudson was diagnosed with RSV, Rhinovirus, Bronchiolitis, AND Pneumonia. All of these things would not typically put a child in the hospital on oxygen, but they did for our special warrior.Â
Hudson does not have vision in his left eye, as the tumor takes up the entire space. He may have some peripheral vision, but not much. He also has a prescription in his remaining sighted eye. Hudson has to wear protective glasses in order to keep his right eye safe from injury. Hudson does not have any depth perception and regularly falls as a result.
Cancer has truly changed our lives. We aren’t able to go out and do normal activities that many children can do for fear of illness. We are cautious about going anywhere inside with larger crowds, and even outside with larger crowds. Hudson hasn’t been exposed to the world as other children have been. As a third-grade teacher, I took all of 2020-2021 unpaid leave off to be with Hudson during his treatments. With his recent ER and 7-day PICU stay, we are struggling financially.
Hudson is determined, strong, resilient, and brave. He is a fighter!
Hope Session by Stoneking Photography | Facebook | Instagram
Selena was diagnosed in January 2021 with retinoblastoma. She exhibited no signs except a lazy eye, other than that she was completely fine. She had her right eye enucleated and received 6 rounds of chemo to kill what was left in her optic nerve. She has been in remission since October 11th!
Hope session by All Stages Photography | Facebook
Asher was diagnosed with Retinoblastoma in October 2016, three weeks after his first birthday. His left eye had always been a concern of mine. His first pediatrician dismissed my concerns and reassured me that eyes in infants are not symmetrical. By the time he was 10 months old, it was clear something was not right. He had a lazy eye, but the way it was presented was not typical. If he looked in any direction, his left eye would move in the same direction but lag behind. At his 12-month wellness check, his new pediatrician found that he failed the red reflex test. She was unsure what was wrong based on the presentation, but she referred us to a pediatric ophthalmologist.
Three weeks later, the ophthalmologist told me he could not diagnose it, but my baby definitely had cancer and we needed to go to Duke immediately. After our appointment at Duke where his cancer was confirmed, it was clear he needed to be treated at Wills Eye Hospital and CHOP in Philadelphia. His ocular oncologist, Dr. Carol Shields, had us review flash pictures that we had taken with our phones. In hindsight, we were able to see the white glow in pictures dating back to when Asher was just 6 months old.
He had 6 intraarterial chemotherapy treatments. This is a revolutionary delivery of chemotherapy through the artery that is feeding the tumor. Like with an angiogram, a catheter was inserted through his femoral artery and threaded up to the ophthalmic artery where the chemo drugs were delivered for about an hour. He was sedated for 6 hours after each procedure to ensure he would lay flat on his back to allow his artery to heal. In addition to these treatments, he has had several laser and cryotherapy treatments performed during his exams under anesthesia (EUA). Because of the location and nature of his tumor, his follow-ups included frequent EUA until recently. He also required sedated MRIs every 6 months until last year.
Because his diagnosis was so young, his cancer diagnosis was one of the establishing factors in our family. He and his brothers don’t know a life that is any different than cancer life. We are fortunate that he does not remember any of his treatments. Anesthesia, blood draws, and follow-up appointments have just become a normal part of life. I did quit my job and stayed home with him for four years.
We were just given the news that he is now in survivorship, and he has graduated to annual visits to Philly. This is huge!
Hope session by Shannon Anderson Photography | Instagram