One and a half year old girl suffering from retinoblastoma, the same type of tumor as Tiago Leifert’s daughter
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OR retinoblastoma It is a rare type of eye cancer that leaves symptoms such as the appearance of a white, opaque area in the pupil. This is what British Danielle Prior, from Surrey, noticed in her daughter, who was only 11 months old at the time.
While feeding Evie dinner, her mother noticed what she called a distinctive “cloudiness” and a “white ring” in the girl’s eyes. Her reaction was to immediately schedule a doctor’s appointment.
Tests were then carried out which confirmed the diagnosis of retinoblastoma, a disease which affects around 40 children in the UK and 300 in the US every year. In Brazil, according to the Ministry of Health, there are on average 400 cases.
According to the Daily Mail, Evie underwent exploratory surgery that confirmed grade D retinoblastoma, an advanced stage of the disease, which had already consumed 3/4 of the child’s vision.
“Before Evie was diagnosed, we thought, ‘Maybe we’re wrong.’ It could be benign or just cataracts,” Danielle said.
“When I learned of the diagnosis, I fell into a black hole until I could find a cure.”
The child underwent six cycles of intra-arterial chemotherapy, which is a concentrated dose of chemotherapy administered directly into the affected eye. It worked.
Evie is currently in remission. In other words, every six months the family must evaluate, through tests, whether the child is completely recovered. “This treatment has a good success rate in other countries and, in some cases, even restores vision, so we are trying to help her,” the mother said.
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Aggravated anxiety
Although the treatment is working, mother and daughter were struck by the severity of the situation. According to the portal, frequent doctor visits made Evie anxious.
“She’s scared and nervous, it really affected her. (…) She doesn’t like strangers and she’s also a little insecure around other kids, it’s horrible,” Danielle said. The woman says the family is trying to regain the child’s trust.
The disease also affects Tiago Leifert’s daughter
In 2021, presenter Tiago Leifert and journalist Daiana Garbin announced that their daughter Lua had retinoblastoma. This week, in an interview with “Pânico”, he explained that the 2-year-old girl is still being treated.
“We don’t consider it in the control phase, technically. With children it’s different. We are still very excited and we still have a lot of butterflies in our stomachs”, he said, as reported by the website of the magazine “Caras”.
After revealing his daughter’s diagnosis, he and his wife created the “De Olho nos Olhinhos” campaign. The action aims to raise awareness of the problem and draw the attention of parents and healthcare professionals to early treatment.
“If I had known about the symptoms, I would have taken my daughter to the ophthalmologist at least three months earlier. It would have been a little better. We got it in both eyes, in group E, which is the worst. In group E, the chances of salvation are very small and thank God we are succeeding”, he underlined.
Other symptoms of the disease
In addition to “cat’s eye” or leukocoria, as the white, opaque area that develops in the child’s pupil is technically called, other symptoms cited by the Ministry of Health are problems with eye movement, reduced vision in one eye, eye pain, larger than normal eyeball and lazy eye (amblyopia).
For diagnosis, every child must undergo the “Eye test” immediately after birth and repeat it frequently up to the age of 5, a period which covers the age group most affected by the disease. The test is made available by the Unified Health System (SUS).
Source: Terra
Ben Stock is a lifestyle journalist and author at Gossipify. He writes about topics such as health, wellness, travel, food and home decor. He provides practical advice and inspiration to improve well-being, keeps readers up to date with latest lifestyle news and trends, known for his engaging writing style, in-depth analysis and unique perspectives.
