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If Natalia’s grandmother did not like to look at photos of her granddaughter for hours, and her mother believed doctors more than her own intuition, the girl might be dead! Disregarded by the ophthalmologist, the spot in the girl’s eye turned out to be a very dangerous tumor.
When Natalia was two and a half years old, her grandmother noticed that in all the photos of her granddaughter one eye glistened with a greenish glow. She shared her discovery with Natalia’s mom. Since then, Mrs. Iwona has been watching her daughter’s eyes more and more often.
– I noticed that when Natalia looks up to the light, there is a brighter glowing dot in her pupil. Initially, it was greenish, then white – he says. Concerned parents took the child to an ophthalmologist. The doctor was in a hurry. She looked into Natalia’s eyes and said that the light was reflected in the pupil and that she had no wonder – says Mrs. Iwona.
Symptoms of retinoblastoma
For a week, my parents felt reassured. Then Natalia’s mother noticed that the dot in her eye was getting brighter and brighter. She was still checking if the girl could see well. When they were looking at their favorite books, she would cover her daughter’s unchanged eye and ask for the names of the animals in the picture. Natalia named pictures correctly. Mrs. Iwona asked all her friends who visited her if they could also see the change in her daughter’s eye. They saw.
After three months, the pupil was almost white and the child began to tilt his head as if he wanted to look at objects with one eye, always the one without the white dot on the pupil. Mrs. Iwona once again took her daughter to an ophthalmologist. This time the doctor said it was a growth or glaucoma and referred the girl to the hospital. – In the hospital, they found out that it is some kind of growth that can be very dangerous. Therefore, it will be best to use the help of specialists at the Children’s Memorial Health Institute in Warsaw – recalls the mother. Before scheduling a visit to the Center, the hospital faxed the results of the preliminary diagnostic tests. Back then, Iwona had not seen that the doctors suspected a cancer in her child.
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Diagnosis at the Children’s Health Center
Children with suspected cancer do not wait in line to be admitted to the Children’s Memorial Health Institute. They are accepted immediately. – After a week we were already at the ophthalmology clinic at the Center – says Ms Iwona. – Before arriving by phone, they told us that we had to be ready for a more or less two-day stay in Warsaw. We were a week – he adds.
The ophthalmologists from the Center examined the girl long and thoroughly. She was put to sleep so that the fundus of the eye could be examined.
– I remember that when the doctor told me it was cancer, my heart stopped for a moment. The husband only asked if the daughter would see. The doctor replied that one eye might need to be removed. Tears were running down my face and I couldn’t control it – says my mother. After that, everything happened very quickly. Straight from the clinic, Natalia came to the CZD oncology ward.
Rare diseases in children
– Retinoblastoma is a rare childhood cancer – explains prof. Danuta Perek, provincial consultant in the field of pediatric oncology and head of the Oncology Clinic at the Children’s Memorial Health Institute. – In Poland, there are 22-27 cases of new cases each year. Since the disease is so rare, doctors do not suspect the disease when diagnosing a patient. They are more likely to assume it could be a tapeworm larvae (toxocarosis), toxoplasmosis, or a birth defect. Meanwhile, before starting the diagnosis of more common diseases, it is best to exclude those rare, but extremely dangerous – warns prof. Perek. Cancer in children develops very quickly. Prof. Perek explains that some of them can double their weight in a dozen or so hours. Moreover, they are usually very malignant neoplasms that metastasize. That’s why every day counts. Especially since children respond well to chemotherapy. Therefore, a quick start of treatment gives a chance of almost 100% success.
– In the case of early detected retinoblastoma, we have 98 percent cures. Unfortunately, a tumor that is initially just one cell may grow so large that the eyeball ruptures. As it grows larger, it can metastasize the brain, bone marrow and bones. Then the chances of a cure decrease – explains the doctor.
Chemotherapy in the treatment of cancer
No one wastes any time at the CZD oncology department. The doctors working there have extensive experience, because the most difficult cases from all over the country come here.
On the second day of her stay at the Center, Natalia was given chemotherapy. – I was completely broken and lost. My husband stayed in a hospital hotel, I stayed with my daughter in the ward – recalls Ms Iwona. Natalia did not know what was happening. She was curious about the new place and she was enjoying the stay in the hospital well. After chemotherapy, she was fine. After a week of treatment at the Center, she returned home diagnosed with retinoblastoma, without metastases. Doctors informed the mother that the decision whether to remove the eye would be made in three weeks. Now you have to wait and see how your body responds to the treatment.
Cancerous tumor breakdown
– It was the worst week of my life. In the Center, I cried all night because I couldn’t sleep. Only after my return did I realize how I lost weight during this time. I realized that I didn’t eat anything from my nerves – recalls Ms Iwona. After returning home, she felt relieved for a moment, but each day she and her husband examined Natalia’s eye many times. “It was like a miracle,” she recalls. – Within three weeks of chemotherapy, the white spot on the pupil was gone. As explained to parents by prof. Perek, the stain was a translucent tumor that was growing inside the eyeball. As a result of chemotherapy, it began to disintegrate and shrink. When Natalia came back to Warsaw for a second chemotherapy, the spot in her eye was no longer visible.
Removal of the eyeball
Prof. Danuta Perek explains that if the tumor disappears, the child’s vision can be restored. Sometimes it is necessary to remove the eyeball to save a life. You have to get rid of all cancer cells. The child is then fitted with an eyeball prosthesis, which looks almost like a healthy eye. The other eye remains fully functional, explains the doctor.
Doctors from CHD believe that Natalia’s treatment is going very well. – After the second chemotherapy, we will do detailed research and make further decisions – says the professor. He adds that, unfortunately, not all children come to us at a time when they do not have metastases yet. Sometimes they come too late. – Meanwhile, early diagnosis is the most important thing in the case of cancer – emphasizes the professor.
Mrs. Iwona is of good cheer. He tells everyone that if something disturbs the mother, she must follow that voice, even if some doctor thinks otherwise.
Text: Halina Pilonis