As a parent, we are always looking out for our children to ensure that they are okay and healthy .
Whenever we notice something that appears off or wrong, we want to make sure that it is taken care of, seen, and diagnosed before things get worse. Sometimes, doctors will say there’s nothing wrong, but we know our children oftentimes better than anyone else .
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Pippa Branch and her husband Glenn noticed something about their daughter’s eye one day.
Pippa shared she had noticed that her daughter, Amber, would squint a lot in one of her eyes. Her left eye was constantly squinting at moments, especially when she took photos.
Pippa and her husband decided to take Amber to the doctor.
The doctors told Amber’s parents that the squint was “normal,” according to Tyla . As any parent would, Pippa kept her own eye on her daughter’s squinting issues to ensure nothing else changed.
However, not long after, there was a “glow” in her eye.
Whenever they took photos of Amber, she began to have a random “glow” in her left eye. It was also pretty noticeable whenever Amber took a bath. Pippa and her husband took her back to the doctor.
Doctors recommended Pippa take her to an eye doctor.
After seeing an eye specialist, Pippa was devastated when she found out her daughter had a very rare form of eye cancer called retinoblastoma, which Pippa had never even heard of before.
Retinoblastoma is a type of eye cancer that is predominant in children.
The cancer is usually diagnosed in children 5 and under, but still can occur in adults, as well. It develops in the retina and some of the symptoms are a “white color” at the center of the pupil and a “glow” when taking a photo with a flash.
Pippa shared that she didn’t know how to handle the diagnosis at first.
“At this point, I was in pieces as the cancer nurse specialist phoned us to talk through the process, where they gave us the options of chemotherapy or the potential reality of having her eye taken out,” the mom told NeedToKnow.Online.
Amber went to several hospitals to get answers for her daughter.
Doing many tests and examinations on Amber, they finally realized that she wasn’t able to see anything out of her left eye. The doctors shared that Amber may have a lesion in her eye, too.
Doctors ended up finding a tumor.
“They had to do an eyesight test, which confirmed she had no vision within that eye and then they put eye drops in to dilate. After undergoing general anesthetic, they had a look inside where they saw the tumor and from there, they recommended her undergoing chemotherapy as soon as possible,” the mom said.
The mom shared she was scared to even look things up online.
As all of us know, the internet can be a scary place when things are going wrong in our lives, especially medically. When we have some illnesses, everything online always says that we’re going to die.
Instead of scaring herself, Pippa said she had to keep going forward.
For the sake of her daughter, Pippa decided to push on and ensure her daughter had all the support she needed. Amber began chemotherapy and was responding rather well to the treatments.
There were, however, fears of relapse.
As she got older, Pippa said that things got harder because she needed to go under general anesthesia—which Amber hated. However, she was able to undergo 17 rounds of chemotherapy before changing her treatment program.
Then, she completed three sessions of intra-arterial chemotherapy.
“This was given through her thigh, which was threaded through into her eye and gave a direct form of treatment. After three sessions of this, we were told she didn’t need any further treatment,” Pippa shared .
In March 2022, Amber was declared in remission.
“It was a really special moment watching her and she was quite overwhelmed by the occasion, as the bell was loud and the nurses were clapping. I think around three weeks later, we actually were able to process everything – despite the moment being incredible, we finally had an understanding of our new reality,” the mom said.
Amber now has a new quality of life.
Pippa shares that their family considers Amber to be their “little superhero” and now, Amber also sees herself as special and important. After going through all of her treatment, she feels she can do anything.
Pippa thanked all of the doctors who helped Amber, and also the charity Spread a Smile.
Pippa shared that throughout her daughter’s treatments and time at the hospital, Spread a Smile was there to spread good vibes and cheer to their family constantly.
