In the Fall of 2021, our lives changed forever. My son Kaiden-Lee received a diagnosis for Autism, non-verbal. Then, a few weeks before Christmas, a new concern developed. As I was changing Kaiden-Lee’s nappy on the sofa, he looked up at me and I noticed a white reflection in his right eye. It shocked me so much that I shouted for his dad (Steven) to come and look at what I was noticing. He too saw the strange glow in his eye. We were concerned but did not know what we saw. We assumed it was just a one time strange occurrence. A few days later, I noticed it again in the same eye. Now I knew there was an issue, so I rang his doctor and explained the Glow I was noticing. We were given an appointment for the very next morning.
When the doctor examined Kaiden-Lee, he was very concerned. We were told to take him to the hospital’s eye department. About an hour later I had a call from the hospital explaining that they were referring Kaiden-Lee to Birmingham Children’s Hospital for more tests.
We traveled to Birmingham the very next week and met with Mr. Joseph Abbott, a consultant ophthalmic surgeon and clinical lead. Kaiden-Lee had an MRI scan under anesthesia. The MRI lasted about an hour but felt like forever. Soon I had my boy back in my arms. Several doctors and nurses came into the room. They gently explained that Kaiden-Lee had Retinoblastoma (RB), childhood eye cancer. His case was unilateral, only in his right eye. This eye had a large tumor at the back of his eye.
We were given options for treatment. After careful consideration, we decided the best option was for Kaiden-Lee to have his right eye removed (enucleated) and have an artificial eye put in place. This was a very difficult decision .
Our hearts felt like they were ripped out. All we could do was cry. We had never heard of RB before. I kept saying, “Why him, why Kaiden-Lee?” We travelled back home to Hereford to reunite with our other three children and come to terms with his diagnosis.
A few weeks later, on the 31st January 2022, we traveled back to Birmingham for surgery. This day happened to be Kaiden-Lee’s second birthday.
On 1/2/2022 Kaiden-Lee had the three hour surgery to remove his eye. It was the longest day of our lives! Surgery was successful and he spent a week in the hospital recovering. It was difficult, as this was during Covid. Only one parent could be in the room at a time. But Kaiden-Lee recovered very well! Soon, he was running around the ward and back to himself. It was amazing to see!
One week after surgery, he had his eye bandage removed. I did cry, but all we could think about is that our boy is still here with us! That is all that mattered.
The doctors who performed the operation explained to us how they needed to send his eye to be tested to see if he needed chemotherapy. Once again, my heart sank. But just a few weeks later, we received the best news ever! Kaiden-Lee didn’t need chemotherapy. His cancer was not genetic.
We felt so relieved! Our boy was finally over this difficult period of his life. He is now five years old and doing amazing! He does not let his artificial eye bother him at all. We couldn’t be more proud of him!
We are so very grateful that we recognized the Glow and acted on it! We are also very grateful for all the doctors along the way that led us to his recovery. Especially the staff at Birmingham Children’s Hospital. They were all amazing and we couldn’t have gotten through all this without them!
