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while four-month-old
kaden
was seated in his bouncy seat, his mother,
kristie
miller, noticed a white glow in his
eye
which prompted her to research it. ?like many do, i looked it up online. i saw several things it could be: was he blind? was it a lazy
eye
? once i saw cancer, i quit reading,? she shares. as a preschool teacher,
kristie
is all about catching things early, so she took
kaden
to his pediatrician to have his
eye
checked.
kaden
?s pediatrician also thought that the glow in his
eye
could be a lazy
eye
or it could be cataracts, which would require him to have surgery. ?e family was referred to a pediatric ophthalmologist. ?at that time, i did something i never do. i called my mom and asked her to attend the appointment with me. when we got there, they did an ultrasound on his
eye
and the doctor let us know that it was retinoblastoma, and that we were being sent to st. jude. my world just stopped.? by the end of the week, the family was at st. jude, leaving little time to process the news. ?e doctors performed an eua, exam under anesthesia, to confirm
kaden
?s diagnosis. ?ey discovered that the tumor was small, but the retina had already detached. ?we were given two options: chemo and save his
eye
or enucleation, which would remove his
eye
,?
kristie
explains. ?we wanted to do chemo because we couldn?t imagine taking our child?s
eye
. however, once they gave my husband the packet on chemo, he couldn?t even finish reading it. we learned that we wouldn?t be able to touch him while he was doing chemo because we could not come in contact with his bodily fluids.? ?e millers knew that not being able to come into contact with their son would be too hard because that connection was so important in a child ?s development. ?ey also knew it would be difficult to explain to his siblings that they could not hold their baby brother. ?it was a very difficult decision to make. we talked with our pastor because we couldn?t decide on what to do because we couldn?t just take his
eye
. however, our pastor told us, ?you did not take his
eye
, cancer did.? ?at really helped us. when we received the call that our baby was cancer free, we knew we made the right decision,? she shares. live / e x c e p t i o n a l l i v e s by amanda miller now one year old,
kaden
is doing great. he is up to every 10 weeks now on his visits to st. jude where the doctors check his
eye
socket and check his other
eye
for any tumors. ?ey also discovered that
kaden
?s diagnosis is not genetic which is the best case scenario. ?is positive revelation means it is less likely that he will pass this on to his children and less likely for it to develop in his other
eye
.
kaden
has a prosthetic
eye
and is seeing a visual therapist, but he?s always smiling and trying to keep up with his siblings.
kristie
shares, ?i would have my bad days, but how can i even complain when he has been through so much already in his little life? he has definitely been my strength through this.? only 300 children are diagnosed each year with retinoblastoma, and usually it is not caught until they are of toddler age. because of this,
kristie
encourages parents to ?know the glow.? ?e glow is the biggest symptom of retinoblastoma. ?if you know the glow, get it checked. in photos, we sometimes get red
eye
s in the photo after the photo has been taken. for those with retinoblastoma, their
eye
s are white.?
kristie
also tells parents to keep the faith and stay positive because babies are resilient. she shares, ?he?s going to live a normal life. he?ll be able to drive. it?s amazing how far he has come. ?is definitely hasn?t stopped him yet.? ?
kaden
after his enucleation procedure. keeping the faith 5 4 b r p a r e n t s . c o m | a u g u s t 2 0 1 7
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