“While you hear this all the time with tragedies, it is so true, we never thought in a million years it would happen to our child or us,”
Meet Drew Giuliani:
When three-year-old Drew was just 9-months-old, his parents, Heidi and Tony, noticed a slight glow in the pupil of his eye. They also noticed that his left eye appeared to be lazy and it would frequently fade up and to the left. At first they thought he may just need glasses. Their referral to a pediatric ophthalmologist gave them a diagnosis they had never anticipated– their son had Retinoblastoma, cancer of the eye.
Fearing the Worst
These young parents were devastated when they heard the word “cancer.” They couldn’t help their minds from going down the path of loosing a child. “While you hear this all the time with tragedies, it is so true, we never thought in a million years it would happen to our child or us,” Tony said.
The pediatric ophthalmologist referred the family to the University of Minnesota Amplatz Children’s Hospital to seek treatment as he indicated that “the best of the best” were there. There Drew underwent treatment and surgery to destroy the cancerous tumors that were present. The little boy who loved Elmo and Pooh, made it through his initial treatment.
A Cancer that Continues to Grow
Retinoblastoma has the tendency to grow new tumors until the child reaches the age of six. True to this disease’s tendency Drew did have a reoccurrence and there is always a possibility for future tumors developing. If a new tumor pops up, the eye surgeons will use a combination of laser and freezing therapy to destroy them. Drew will continue to be seen at the U of M for many years on an every two to three month basis until he reaches the 6-year milestone.
A Promising Outlook
Though he will be monitored for new tumors for years to come, his outlook is looks promising. Tony and Heidi hope that his vision will remain the same that that Drew will be like any other person that can read, write and drive a car. He will be the one with glasses and people will not know half the story of. They won’t know he beat cancer when he was just a little boy.
-http://www.childrenscancer.org/stories-of-hope/kids-stories/drew.html
Follow Drew's blog for updates: http://drewgiuliani.blogspot.com/
GO DREW!
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