Moms love taking photographs of their babies and capturing every sweet moment. Andrea Temarantz is no different than other moms that adore their sweet babies. While looking through some photos of her baby, the Arizona mother noticed something odd on one of the pictures she took of her son. She noticed something like a flash spot on her son’s Ryder’s left eye. Her motherly instincts made look into it and she’s very glad that she did because it turned out to be a rare form of cancer.
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At first she blamed her phone’s poor quality, but she is very glad that she didn’t ignore it because her child was diagnosed with retinoblastoma, which is a rare form of eye cancer. Ryder’s diagnosis was confirmed during his 4-month check-up. The child, who also has Down syndrome, was left with two options: removing the eye or getting chemotherapy, which could potentially put him at risk for developing another form of cancer.
Ryder’s parents did some research and learned of a third option. Traveling to New York’s Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center for an intra-arterial chemotherapy session. This procedure targets the affected blood vessel behind the eye through a 6-foot long catheter, which enters through his groin. The procedure is done once a month for three months. Ryder is currently undergoing the procedure, which is said to cure 99% of patients without having to remove the eye. To date, the hospital has treated over 1600 children using this method and not one child has died from this cancer.
According to the American Cancer Society, retinoblastoma develops early as babies grow in the womb. Eyes have cells called retiboblasts that divide into new cells and fill the retina. At a certain point, these cells stop dividing and develop into mature retinal cells. Retinoblastoma occurs when retinoblasts continue to divide and grow out of control.
This isn’t the first time a parent has caught this form of cancer through a photograph. The family is keeping followers updated on a Fundrazr campaign called Ryder’s Retinoblastoma Battle #PrayForRyder, sharing their story to other parents that might be affected by the same form of cancer. Retinoblastoma is the most common eye cancer in children, which typically develops before the age of 5.