We are humbly and desperately asking for donations in the treatment of Billie's fight against cancer.
On April 16th, Billie, at just 5 months old, was taken in for an eye exam because her parent's discovered a few concerns about her mismatched eyes and discrepancy in pupil size.
Within moments, the ophthalmologist looked at her right eye and knew she was blind and her retina was fully detached.
Within 16 hours, a mass was discovered via ultrasound, she was admitted to the hospital, where she underwent an MRI and a surgical exam under anesthesia. It was discovered that Billie has end-stage grade D retinoblastoma, a very rare cancer, and zero chance of vision restoration.
Billie's best chance of survival and a healthy life requires enucleation, where her entire eye will need to be removed and replaced with a prosthetic. If cancer is found in the optic nerve, she will need chemotherapy, as well. She will also require genetic testing to determine if a gene mutation will put her at risk for future cancer recurrences and if her future children will also be born with this cancer.
Billie will need a lot of support, as well as 2 MRIs each year to check for cancer recurrence.
Her and her family have an incredibly long journey ahead of them and ask for any donations you feel led to provide. Please share this near and far and help baby Billie have the best chance of a long, and healthy life.
May Update:
we have learned that Billie does NOT need chemo! This is great news. But we are still awaiting genetic testing results which will give insight into whether this was a sporadic (random) occurance, or if this is a germline mutation which means Billie would be considered high risk for this same cancer returning in her left eye AND high risk for future cancers anywhere in her body. This is a huge deal.
Right now we have 3 more exams, lab work and appointments scheduled just for the next 2 weeks, and continued appointments throughout the summer that we know of. This will only continue, and the bills are piling in and insurance is already sending over things they will not be covering.
Thank you for your help giving our daughter life saving care. Please consider continuing to share as we need all the support we can get. Even $1 makes a difference!