Retinoblastoma: Help Baby Wise Please

Hi all, I am helping a dear friend raise funds for her baby.
Please read story below: 

Ninongs and Ninangs/ Titas and Titos, friends,

We are undergoing a very difficult time in our parenthood lives and we need all your help and support.

Wise has been diagnosed with Retinoblastoma (a rare cancer in the eyes). He will undergo MRI this Monday to know the extent of the tumor. We are now in contact with a specialist in manila for retinoblastoma and might fly to Manila this week.

We regret to inform you that we will be cancelling the christening of Wise this 4th of April, as much as we want to celebrate we need to prioritize the health of Wise though we will still continue the Baptism rights with our family.

Having said that, we count on your prayers and financial support as this will be a very expensive treatment plan, we do not know the exact amount yet but we are knocking on your kind hearts to share any blessing that you could spare.

Wise, Mama and Papa

Backstory:

Last 25th of February, I took a video of Wise with a flash, it showed opaqueness on his Right Eye. I thought it was just a reflection, but paranoid parents as we are, we searched google for the reasons of whiteness in the eyes. Congenital Cataract and Retinoblastoma are the two closest diagnosis for this kind of symptom that we found.

I brushed it off because I was in denial and I was afraid of the result.

Jonas convinced me to find an opthalmologist to have it checked put our minds at ease.

March 16 — unable to sleep, I searched facebook for pedia opthalmologist and provided them the video I took. They replied the morning after and was ask to find a pedia opthalmologist here in cebu (those Opthalmologist I messaged were from Parañaque and Manila), they were kind enough to help me find and refer to some of the pedia opthal here in Cebu.

March 19 — we got an appointment to see Dr. Loren Ong of Aces Eye, Wise was seen and diagnosed with Retinoblastoma with the help of one of his colleague (was not able to get his name). He said, Wise has a tumor and instantly I know he is referring to Retinoblastoma but he said that this is not 100% sure and that we still need to see a retina specialist to confirm. And we are also welcome to see a different optha for 2nd opinion.

We contacted back some of the helpful doctors who were willing to help and provided us with some referrals for Oncologist Specialist for Orbital/Eye, sadly all Retinoblastoma Specialist are only located in Manila.

We contacted Dr. Honey Teo (Orbital and Ocular Oncology and Reconstructive Surgery) of St Lukes Medical Center referred by Dra. Kristine Corpus-Velasquez, she asked us to see a retina specialist and to perform 2 tests: 1. B Scan (Ultrasound) and 2. Orbital and Cranial MRI with contrast under IV sedation.

March 20 (earlier) —— we went to Chh Mandaue to see Dr. Jeffrey Lim, a retina specialist and he diagnosed Wise with Retinoblastoma, he performed B Scan Ultrasound to see the mass. He also commented to us that having a retinoblastoma at the age of 4 months was very rare. Normally the symptoms will show up at the age of 2 years old and above. He also mentioned that if the tumor will not be remove then we might see a life expectancy of 6 months. In his opinion, we have two courses of action. Chemotherapy or Enucleation (removal of the eye). Laser was out of the option because of the size of the tumor.

This Monday, we will be having the MRI and once Dr. Teo will see the result, she will provide options for Wise’s treatment, depening on how big the tumor is and the extent the damage.

We were saddened and still in shock with the news. We were hopeful that it wasnt retinoblastoma but we need to face the fact and tackle this hurdle head on.

We are putting our trust and faith in God that he will give Wise the strength he needs to sustain any neccesary treatment. We are also praying for guidance and strength in this new journey that we are in.

We are so proud of Wise as he was so brave during all the examinations he had.

We are humbly asking for all your prayers and financial assistance as the treatment and expenses in Manila will be very costly.

Thank you for all of those who already sent their warm support and financial assistance. We couldn’t express our appreciation and gratitude to all of you.

For those who are willing to help, here are the details once again:

Name: Danica Ursabia
BDO Bank Account: 006990147619
Union Bank: 109657369317

Gcash: 09171500484
Name: Jonas Palmos

or you can directly donate here. 

If you can also share this to all of your friends and family who are willing to help.