At first, parents Ollie Banks and Leila Gaudry, from Eastbourne, England, noticed a strange light in their 4-year-old son Noah’s left eye. Little did they realize this was an extreme symptom of something far more devastating to come.
The CHECT explains that in addition to swelling, redness, and itching of the eye, retinoblastoma can also cause exactly what his parents saw in Ollie’s eye. According to their website, one of the principle symptoms that children with retinoblastoma exhibit is a “white color in the center circle of the eye (pupil) when light is shone in the eye, such as when taking a flash photograph.”
Their next steps involved taking Noah in to The Royal London Hospital for treatment. The doctors explained that there were two possibilities: either undergoing chemotherapy to destroy the tumor that was growing in his retina or else enucleation, which involves removing the eye while leaving behind the eye muscles.
When it seemed like the six rounds of chemo had done their job, Noah’s parents were relieved. “We felt a wave of relief coming over us as we'd prepared ourselves for the worst case scenario,” Leila told the Daily Mail. The family took some time out to celebrate Christmas, thankful that whatever happened to Noah’s eye, the cancer was not likely to spread to other parts of his body.
However, when they went back for further treatment, they found that the tumor had managed to survive despite all the treatment. Noah’s parents’ first response was anger at what they felt to be the injustice of the situation. However, they faced a decision about what to do next and ultimately chose the option to protect their son from further treatment. “I also wanted the cancer gone and I knew that once his eye had been removed it couldn’t hurt him anymore,” Leila said.
Noah’s eye was removed just two days after Christmas and ended the family’s medical nightmare. “I was truly amazed at how good it looked and how well he coped,” Leila said. “At his first check-up post-surgery he was given the all clear.” Since then, Noah has remained cancer-free and is now 6 years old.
Having a prosthetic eye hasn’t slowed him down one bit. Leila now looks back on the ordeal with gratitude. “I’m relieved Noah had the surgery rather than going through more treatment and it was the right decision for our family,” she said. “Life is so much better and I hope our story can help other families to know that there really is light at the end of the tunnel.”