Diagnosis: Retinoblastoma

Well it never did so we had him checked out with an eye doctor. She told us he had some retinal detachment and referred us to a retinal specialist in Chico. That doctor confirmed the detachment and also completed an ultrasound and told us about the tumor and the retinoblastoma diagnosis. From there we went to see a specialist in San Francisco for another exam and another confirmation. That was all in 3 days. That 3 days has forever changed our lives. He has had 2 Inter-Arterial Chemo treatments but we were told there is now a second tumor in the same eye.

The course of treatment has been discontinued. His genetics test came back negative for being hereditary, but we are also doing a blood test that is more sensitive and can detect more. He has had one treatment of systemic chemo so far and we are waiting for his next exam on 10/20/15 to hear how well the chemo worked. So far the side effects have been minimal, just some crankiness and he is starting to lose his hair. But then again, he is only 9 months old so we have no idea how he is feeling. He has been such a trooper so far and his sister as well. She is only 2 but has been great. We try to keep her occupied so she doesn't get to bored while we are in the hospital. The staff at UCSF have been wonderful and very helpful. Without then, I think this would have been a lot harder on all of us. I just wish we could have caught it sooner before the tumor was so large and so progressed. But thank God we did find it before it caused him any pain.

– The Smith Family