‘I spotted something in my little girl’s eye while she played — it turned out to be the first sign of cancer’
A mother has revealed her daughter's ‘subtle’ eye cancer symptoms as she warns other parents to stay vigilant.
Three-year-old Isla Palul first showed symptoms during Christmas 2020 after mum Rebecca, 35, noticed her eye moving strangely while she was playing with her toys, when the little girl was 14-months-old.
Rebecca, who lives in Putney, London, with her wife, Charlotte, 36, and their other child, five-month-old Theo, quickly became suspicious of Isla's eye "whizzing" around, and called her GP for a referral.
After weeks of testing, in January 2021, Isla was confirmed to have retinoblastoma – a rare eye cancer that typically affects children under six – in her right eye.
The first sign was worryingly “subtle” – and Rebecca has spoken out to raise awareness to other parents.
“I remember playing with Isla on the floor, and her looking down at a toy then looking up at me. When she looked up, her right eye whizzed out to the side and back again as if it couldn’t focus,” Rebecca told NeedToKnow.online.
“We also noticed her iris would sometimes wobble. Both happened only a few times, they were quite subtle things.
“We assumed she had a lazy eye, and perhaps needed glasses.
“I remember not feeling very worried about it.”
Rebecca took Isla for a check in hospital, at this point still believing she likely just had issues with her vision.
She said: “The nurse put a pair of special sunglasses on Isla. The glasses only had one lens, on the left-hand side, so the nurse could only see what Isla’s right eye was doing.
“Isla was sitting on my knee facing away from me, but with her left eye covered, I could see that her right eye couldn’t focus on anything and was moving about all over the place.
“I remember being really shocked. A doctor came to examine Isla’s eye. I remember her saying to me, ‘Unfortunately, there is a tumour in her right eye’, and being completely blindsided.
“I cried and Isla looked at me perfectly happy probably wondering what was going on.”
Luckily, doctors hoped the eye could be saved, and instead Isla started systemic chemotherapy.
Rebecca said: "Before they could start this Isla needed to have a lumbar puncture and an MRI to make sure the cancer hadn’t spread outside of her eye.
"She also had a port fitted into her chest to make it easier for the chemotherapy to be administered, and for regular blood samples to be taken.”
Isla contracted multiple infections during the six rounds of chemotherapy she received, which meant multiple stays in hospital, but fortunately, the tumour shrank.
And despite her health challenges, Rebecca says brave Isla stayed happy and smiling throughout her treatment.
She said: "Isla battled through chemotherapy like a little trooper, she kept us all going.
"The tumour is now stable, which is amazing [but] there are some tiny tumour seeds which keep appearing and growing in Isla’s eye, so she has needed lots of cryotherapy to treat these.
"Isla has had periods of quite a few months where everything seems to be looking good. However, she's also relapsed a few times."
Since diagnosis, Isla's parents have noticed symptoms that were almost too subtle to spot and are keen to warn other parents what to look out for.
It wasn't until her mums took a photo of Isla using a camera flash post-diagnosis that they noticed the most common symptom of retinoblastoma – a white ‘glow’ in the eye.
The Childhood Eye Cancer Trust says that typical signs of retinoblastoma include a white glow which may only appear in certain lights or a squint, as well as a change in the appearance of the eye or a swollen eye, although often only one sign or symptom is present.
Isla has also been left with slight reduced vision in her right eye, that Rebecca reveals was not obvious before: "Sometimes she struggles with walking down steps and her balance, but it is only when her left eye is patched to help with the vision in her right eye that you can really notice.”
In spite of Isla's health journey, Rebecca insists the young tot is taking everything in her stride, staying busy with gymnastics, swimming and watching Frozen.
And in 2022 she was even awarded a CHECT Champion award from the Childhood Eye Cancer Trust for her bravery.
Although Rebecca hopes that Isla is on the mend, she admits "the unknown is difficult" as they can only wait and hope for continued good news, but support from family, friends and the charity has been instrumental.
Rebecca said: “From the beginning of our journey CHECT have been there to support us.
“The support workers have helped us with practical things like applying for Isla’s blue badge, as well as signposting us to other organisations for a short break last year.
"They have also provided us with never-ending emotional support and advice.”
