Retinoblastoma

"There are approximately 350 new diagnosed cases per year in the United States. Retinoblastoma affects one in every 15,000 to 30,000 live babies that are born in the United States." http://www.retinoblastoma.com/frameset1.htm

That's not many! However this is a condition that affects my cousins little girl.

Macy was under a year old when she was diagnosed with Retinoblastoma, a cancer of the retina. At first it was unilateral, meaning in one eye. By the time she was two years old it had become bilateral. Macy had to have both of her eyes removed by the time she was two years old. In there place there are now some prosthetic eyes that matched hers.

She is now 5 or 6 years old. She uses a cane to walk with and reads braille. Just last year this wonderful, strong little girl played baseball! Yes, you read that right, I said she payed baseball! They used a special ball that made a whistling noise. She was on a team of little kids that could see. She loved it! Just not enough to play this year. My son was the same way though. Baseball is a pretty slow game. And little kids, like these two, lose interest quickly and become board. So I don't blame her there.

This little girl is the strongest little girl that I know! She sets her mind to do something, and she does it! Just this Christmas she asked to have a camera. Well, no one can say no to her so of course she got one. And from what I hear, she has taken at least a couple of shots where the people are right in the center of the picture! See what I mean. She CAN do anything she wants to. Having no sight doesn't slow her down!

Any ways, Jimbo's interest in getting the word out there for his cause got me to thinking. What if I can do something to get the word out about this condition as well?! I know what you are thinking now, especially if you know his blog. But no! I don't carve wood. So I can't make you a nice, pretty crochet hook. And I doubt that I will have time to make anything to auction off or to give away as a prize. But I thought I would put the word out there for those few people that might read my blog. Maybe one day I will get around to holding a contest something like what Jimbo is doing on his blog. But I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you.

So here are some links that you can go to, to find out more about Retinoblastoma. The first link is where you can find some stories about the survivors as well as information about the condition. The second one is where you can find some information that is easier to understand(for me at least). The other two are just some links that I found by googling.

http://www.retinoblastoma.net/about.html
http://www.retinoblastoma.com/index.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retinoblastoma
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/types/retinoblastoma/


Thanks for reading!