Diagnosis: Bilateral Retinoblastoma
Austin was constantly getting sick and going to the doctor’s office. The doctors initially told me I was being a hypochondriac but Austin got extremely sick the night of his first birthday. We took him to the doctor’s that day and then to the ER every day for a week. A week after his 1st birthday he was finally diagnosed, “Your Son Has Cancer”…words I’ll never forget.
Austin was diagnosed with Bilateral Retinoblastoma class E in the right eye, and class D in the left. He started his journey that night. Phoenix was not equipped for his situation so for four years we traveled back and forth to Los Angeles Children’s Hospital.
His tumors were so big the doctor there was concerned of it spreading to trilateral or more. Austin underwent 6 rounds of systemic chemotherapy, localized chemotherapy, over a hundred cryotherapy and Laser treatments, and several platelet and and blood transfusions. The doctors thought he had overcome the odds and was going to be able to keep both eyes.
In September of 2015 though and now at 6 years old, Austin came to us and told us he was seeing spots in his eye. We contacted the doctor and they brought him in for an emergency EUA.
They thought the cancer was back and his retina was detached. On October 9th 2015 they removed his right eye. Pathology showed no new cancer, but the old tumors developed cysts that were causing fluid to leak, and were making his retina detach. Before his eye was removed we sat him down to explain everything. He told us if they had to remove his eye he’d be angry. About 2 weeks after the removal though Austin said a prayer at the dinner table thanking God for the doctors who removed his eye; finally he was no longer in pain. Austin now has a prosthetic eye with a Batman pupil! He still has to worry about the left eye and has been declared legally blind, but we’re so thankful for God’s Grace.
This whole situation has shown us what truly matters and what a superhero our son is!
