It is not unusual for a child to develop an eye infection, so when concerned parents Paul and Gaylene Robson took their 6-year-old daughter Stella to the doctor, they were told it looked like an eye infection.
The doctor initially prescribed Stella with antibiotics and creams and said that after a few days the infection should clear up. However, Stella’s eyes continued to swell and her left eyelid turned bright red and began to puff up.
At this stage, her mother Gaylene knew there was more going on than an eye infection so she took her daughter to an ophthalmologist for a second opinion. From there she was sent for an emergency CT scan at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, in November, 2014.
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Unfortunately, the scan revealed that Stella has a bell-shaped tumor growing between her eye and her brain. “The tumor was growing into the orbital bone, the bone that surrounds the eye, it was roughly 1.5 cm and shaped like a bell,” Gaylene explained. As a result, Stella was diagnosed with Langerhans cell histiocytosis, (LCH) a rare cancerous bone tumor.
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Stella had emergency surgery to remove the tumor and thankfully surgeons were able to remove the whole growth successfully by entering through a crease in her eyelid. This method of surgery also meant that surgeons were able to perform the surgery without damaging her brain or tissues.
On Christmas Eve in 2014, the family was referred to oncology where Stella underwent 12 weeks of intensive chemotherapy and a year of “maintenance chemo” to make sure the cancer was gone. Speaking at the time, dad Paul said “It was the most nerve-wrecking time of my life. The word cancer, tumor, didn’t mean anything to [Stella], to an adult it’s a conversation stopper, but she just takes it in her stride.”
Image from Gaylene Robson
Stella was finally declared to be deactive from the LCH. Paul explained “It’s not technically a cancer, it’s either active or deactive, you’re not in remission. She’ll have scans every three months for the next few years and hopefully when she’s in year 5 we can go to annual scans.”
Obviously thrilled by the news, Paul said the family are “really happy and hopefully it continues.” He also thanked everyone from the Royal Children’s Hospital for making them feel at home in such unusual surroundings, especially for their children. “The kids wanted to go there, there was never any apprehension. You feel very supported.”
“About nine months in we felt empty after running on adrenaline for so long. RCH had us do a course which taught us how to stop our minds racing and entering dark places and gave us a tool kit to handle stress. As a parent you learn about life and you priorities. I still struggle to talk about it,” Paul explained.
Thankfully Stella is recovering well since her ordeal a few years ago. Her parents say that once she was off the antibiotics she went back to her normal self.
They are also very thankful that Stella has no visible scars or damage to her eyesight.
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