Kids grow up very fast, so parents do all in their power to spend as much time with them as possible before they become grown ups who have families on their own. Taking a bunch of photos of their bundles of joy is just one way of making all the unforgettable memories last.
Josie Rock is a devoted mom who would do anything for her children. One day, as she was taking pictures of her 4-month-old baby Asher, she noticed something off on one of the photos.
“I was just taking pictures of him and the lighting happened to change in our room, the flash caught the reflection, and his eye was glowing white,” Josie told Fox News. One would say it was just the light and wouldn’t think something serious could be going on, but Josie’s motherly instinct told her something was wrong.
“I knew right then and there that Asher had cancer. It was chilling, to say the least. He was just a baby,” she added.
She recalled reading of a case where parents discovered their son had retinoblastoma, a disease in which malignant cancer cells form in the tissues of the retina, after noticing “the glow” in the eye on a photo. In order to be sure, she took more photos of Asher and showed them to her colleagues at the hospital where she works as a nurse. They thought it was nothing to worry about, but she decided to trust her gut and took the boy to the pediatrician.
“I remember the color drained from her (the doctor’s) face after she did the proper examination,” Josie said. “She turned the lights off and looked at his eyes and said, ‘Something’s not right.’”
Sweet Asher was officially diagnosed with retinoblastoma and had to undergo a surgery to remove the tumor.
Today, Asher is 7 years old. Over the years, he was forced to visit the hospital numerous times so that doctors could run a bunch of tests. The doctor who treats him, Dr. Thomas Olson, pediatric oncologist and hematologist at the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, says these things can be subtle.
“He finished chemo in 2015. The problem with retinoblastoma is it can pop up in other places. Over time, he had a few new ones pop up and they were lasered.”
Josie believes that every parent out there should no the signs. She says she will never stop advocating if that means saving someone’s life.
“The way I see it, if it saves just one other child from having to go through what my son has, then I have done my job as a cancer parent,” she posted on Facebook. “I will never stop advocating for these children.
“Once you are placed in shoes, such as mine, and the millions of other parents of children suffering (and many losing their battles), then you’ll really understand our passion.”
We are very happy everything turned out for the best for Asher all thanks to his mom and her instinct that she decided to follow and trust.