Mum thought baby had a lazy eye but it turned out to be rare cancer
A mum who thought her baby had lazy eye has revealed her shock to learn it was actually a sign of a rare cancer.
Becky Flower, 34, from Illogan, Cornwall, welcomed baby Sol, now 13 months, on March 9, 2023, but soon after his birth, Becky and her partner, Damien Stephens, 43, a technician, noticed a problem with his sight.
"His eyes weren't matching," Flower explains. "And the shape of his left eye was changing.
"We went to have him weighed at our community drop-in centre and they mentioned his eye too."
Even though they assumed their son probably just had a lazy eye - common in babies - the new parents took Sol to Camborne Redruth Community Hospital, in Cornwall, to get him examined.
After being referred to the specialist eye department, they were sent to Royal Cornwall Hospital.
Following an MRI scan there, Sol was transferred to Birmingham Women and Children's Hospital for a biopsy, which revealed a tumour had started to grow rapidly behind his eye.
The tumour was pushing on his eye causing it to change shape.
"At this point we still didn't know it was cancer, but because the tumour became so aggressive Sol had an emergency operation to remove it," Flower explains.
"We stayed in Birmingham for a few nights and we went home."
Having returned home after their son's surgery, the family got the call they had been dreading - Sol had a primitive myxoid mesenchymal tumour behind his eye - a rare sarcoma that affects infants.
"We were so shocked when we found out it was cancer," Flower says of the moment they learned of their son's diagnosis.
"Doctors thought it might be a cyst or a strawberry birthmark but they never thought it would be cancer."
In the months that followed Sol, then just five months, underwent four rounds of chemotherapy and seven surgeries, which included having his entire left eye removed in February 2024.
"He also had an operation to remove part of his testicle as the chemo will make him infertile," his mum explains.
Due to its location the surgeon was only able to remove 95% of the tumour, so Sol is about to start proton beam therapy - a type of radiotherapy that uses a beam of high energy protons to target the tumour.
"This is the last roll of the dice, he will have therapy every day for six to seven weeks," Flower says of her son's treatment.
"The chemo is not managing to kill or shrink the cancer at all and a surgery to remove what is left is far too dangerous."
A friend of the family's, Tash, is now aiming to run 5km every day throughout September to raise money for Sol and has already raised over £4,000.
And the family have also started a JustGiving page to support them as they have both given up work to care for their son full-time.
"We haven't been able to work since his diagnosis because, due to his age, he needs round-the-clock care," Flower explains.
"We have already gone through our wedding fund which we had £10k saved for."
Despite his ordeal, Flower says her son has been "amazing" throughout his treatment.
"He has the nickname 'super Sol' as he has smashed it completely," she says.
"He does have bad days where he can't be himself as the chemicals from the drugs have beaten him, but he has been smiling throughout it all."
What is soft-tissue sarcoma?
Primitive myxoid mesenchymal tumour of infancy (PMMTI) is a rare mesenchymal tumour that typically appears in those under 6 months of age.
Mesenchymal tumours are a type of soft-tissue sarcoma, which is a tumour that develops from muscle or soft tissue.
According to the Royal Marsden about 60 children develop a soft-tissue sarcoma in the UK each year and it is slightly more common in boys than girls.
While signs and symptoms can depend on where the tumour develops, the most usual sign is a swelling or lump.
Other symptoms may include:
Blocked nose or discharge
Swollen or protruding eye
Tummy (abdomen) swelling, discomfort or difficulty going to the toilet (constipation)
Blood in the urine or difficulty passing urine
Though the treatment for soft-tissue sarcoma will depend on the site, stage, appearance of the tumour, it typically involves chemotherapy, surgery and radiotherapy.
Additional reporting SWNS.
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