Skip to main content

The Glow

As much as I hate to look at this, I needed to create a short post to show you what to look out for in photos of your babies/children.
This photo clearly shows the glow of light being reflected off of Violet's left pupil. This is a photo taken with flash and I want you to know that only photos taken with flash will show you this problem. In an age where many of the photos we take of our little ones are taken with our phones that do not have a traditional flash, this could easily go unnoticed. If you find anything like this in a photo of your child please contact a pediatric ophthalmologist and have them seen immediately. There are a few different things it could be, but they are all very serious.  

I have just over 1600 photos that we have taken of Violet since she was born.  This glow is only in 9 of them. 


Comments

  1. Thank you so much for posting information about Retinoblastoma! My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. I found the article below on www.jw.com, in the May edition of the Awake! magazine. I'm not sure if the entire thing will post, so I hope you go to the website if you find time to read it. The article is entitled, "When A Child Has Cancer":

    "LEARNING that your child has cancer
    can be an overwhelming, even terrifying,
    experience. How often does it occur? According
    to the International Union Against
    Cancer, although “childhood cancers represent
    a small percentage of all cancers, each
    year more than 160,000 children [worldwide]
    are diagnosed and cancer is the second
    most common cause of death, after
    accidents, among children in developed
    countries.” For example, “there are an estimated
    9,000 new cases of childhood cancer
    each year” in Brazil, states the National Institute of Cancer.
    Childhood cancer strikes “a terrible blow
    that afflicts, without exception, all the members
    of the family,” says the book`Amargemdo leito—A m
    ˜ ae eocancer infantil" (At the Bedside—
    The Mother and Child Cancer). The diagnosis
    often means surgery, as well as chemotherapy
    or radiation or both, along with
    their unpleasant side effects. For the parents,
    it brings trauma, giving rise to fear, sadness,
    guilt, anger, and denial. How can parents
    cope with this painful experience?
    A major source of comfort is, of course,
    caring medical professionals. “They can add
    facts that may be encouraging, as well as explain
    and anticipate certain future side effects.
    This information may make the experience
    less traumatic,” says a doctor from New
    York who has assisted many cancer patients.
    Much comfort can also be given by other parents
    of children who have had cancer. With
    that in mind, Awake! interviewed five such
    parents who live in Brazil.
    ˘ Ja
    ´
    ılton and N
    ´
    eia “We learned that our
    daughter had acute lymphoblastic leukemia
    when she was two and a half years old.”
    How long did the treatment last?
    “She underwent chemotherapy for nearly
    two and a half years.”
    What side effects did she experience?
    “She vomited a lot and lost her hair. The
    enamel on her teeth darkened. And on three
    occasions she developed pneumonia.”
    How did that make you feel?
    “At first we panicked. But whenwe saw her
    health improve, we became confident that she
    would be cured. She is now almost nine years
    old.”
    What helped you to deal with this traumatic
    situation?
    “Without a doubt, it was our trust in Jehovah
    God, who ‘comforted us in all our tribulation,’
    as the Bible states at 2 Corinthi-
    When a Child
    Has Cancer
    “I was overcome by feelings of
    hopelessness. I felt as if the ground
    beneath my feet had given way.
    I began to experience feelings of grief,
    as if my little girl were already dead.”
    —Ja
    ´
    ılton, when he discovered that his
    daughter had cancer.
    ans 1:3, 4. Our Christian brothers and sisters
    also gave us marvelous support. They wrote
    letters of encouragement, they phoned, they
    prayed with us and for us, and they even
    helped us financially. Then, when our daughter
    had to be moved to a hospital in another
    state, the Witnesses there provided us with
    accommodations and took turns taking us to
    the hospital. Words cannot convey our gratitude
    for all the support we received.”

    ReplyDelete
  2. The entire article didn't post, and I put the wrong web address down. It is www.jw.org

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Please Join Us In Prayer - CT Scan Tomorrow

I just received the call from the hospital with Violet's appointment time. We will be checking in at 9:30 AM at Seattle Children's Hospital. They let me know the procedure will take approximately 1.5 hours and then recovery from anesthesia will be a few hours. These will be the tests that tell us everything about the stage of cancer. We would love for the tumor to just be gone! If that is not the case, we want to hear that it has not spread anywhere else at all. We want to hear that Violet's life will be saved, her eye will be saved and her sight will be restored. There is a beautiful prayer that went out for Violet by email. We do not even know the wonderful man who wrote it but I thank God for him. The prayer was forwarded to me and I want to share it below: As you have said a personal prayer for the benefit of Violet, lets also come to collective agreement in Prayer for her comfort, healing and above all God's Glory ... Father God, Maker of all things good, c

Violet's Port-a-cath Surgery

We just made it home from Seattle Children's Hospital. Violet's surgery was successful and lasted almost 2 hours. Then, she was in recovery for another 2.5 hours. The first thing we were told when the anesthesiologist and doctor came in was that it took a little longer than expected because they had a hard time finding a vein for the IV. Our poor little baby had her hands, wrists and feet poked and when they could not get any of those to work they ended up shaving some of her hair and getting the line in on her scalp by her temple. My eyes quickly welled up with tears with the news but I then took a deep breath and tried to focus on the fact that she was awake and well ... something to be very grateful for. The doctor let us know that the port was inserted by 2 incisions, one in the neck and one in the chest on her right side. There are dissolvable stitches in place on the skin and underneath the skin as well. The port is stitched into the muscle of her chest wall and the li

Violet's MRI

The day after Violet's exam under anesthesia she was scheduled to begin her next round of chemotherapy. My mom and I went to her scheduled appointment which has always gone like this: labs, appointment with her oncologist and then the chemotherapy infusion. On this day, we were told during her appointment that her ANC had not come up from the previous week so unfortunately, Violet's chemotherapy had to be postponed. Her ANC was in the 400 range and it needs to be over 700 to begin chemotherapy. I was disappointed that there would be a delay in her treatment, but grateful that Violet could get a couple days of downtime before her next appointment. And, this meant that we could go home now and she would get more playtime with grandma! We had a visit over the weekend with my step-mom and my sister from California and it was much needed family time! It was wonderful to watch Violet enjoying more playtime, love and hugs. We were definitely showered with many blessings from them