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フェイスブックへの投稿をきっかけに、子供のがんを早く見つけた母親のエピソードがアメリカで伝えられている。

目の中に光のようなものを発見

その母親とは、テネシー州の街、Knoxvilleに住むJasmine Martinさんだ。

彼女はある日、生後17カ月の娘、Sariyahちゃんの目の中に小さな光のようなものを発見したという。

やがて7月30日には、その光は月のように大きくなっていったため、JasmineさんはSariyahちゃんの写真をフェイスブックに投稿。すると「がん性」の病気の可能性があるとのコメントが寄せられたそうだ。

そこでJasmineさんは、Sariyahちゃんを小児科病院へ連れて行くも、医者からは特に異常はないと診断される。

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Last Thurs I noticed the glow in her eye was drastically larger and looked like a white hole. I’ve noticed it over the past few wks but it was small, and only showed at certain angles. I regret it now, by not thinking anymore of it. I just had a feeling she needed to be seen. Her dr got her in and said it was nothing serious. She said they’d just done an eye exam at her well check, but they did another one. She said her red reflexes were good, and googled stuff on cloudy eyes. I still wasn’t reassured, call it a mother’s intuition I suppose. But she referred her to an ophthalmologist. However, she let me know it would take weeks if not longer. The next part of the story is nothing short of a God story. A doctor/friend from work saw the photo I posted and messaged me. She reached out to an eye doctor and she wanted to see her immediately Monday(today).All weekend it felt like I was just holding my breath. “She has a tumor in her eye, and there’s a lot of seeds in the back.” It was like I was sitting outside of my body in that moment. The rest was a blur, and friends from work walked over and played with riyah while I talked with the doctor. St.Judes wants us there today, so we can meet with a doctor that specializes with retinoblastoma in the morning. She said I need to plan to stay for a week. I’m scared, confused, angry heartbroken and everything else. I’m upset her pediatrician said it was all fine, but now I know they just don’t see it that often. When this is over I’ll do my best to make sure there’s more awareness and education, so that all parents will be taken seriously should they ever notice it in their child’s eyes. Out of 14yrs of working in the hospital I’m always the one making appointments. I’ve seen parents completely undone as doctors have delivered heartbreaking news. But today it’s appointments being made for my own child, it’s me coming completely undone. We are on the way to St.Judes & have childcare set up for now. Unfortunately Jeff will still have to travel back and forth, but he’s staying with us as much as he can. We have no clue what to expect until the mri, so please just pray for her. Sariyah Rose is a fighter.

A post shared by Jasmine Martin (@raisingthemartins) on Aug 3, 2020 at 1:29pm PDT

病院に勤務する友人に写真を送付

しかしJasmineさんは何かがおかしいと思い、眼科医に診てもらおうとするが、予約が取れるまで数週間かかる可能性があった。

そこで彼女は、病院で働く友人にEメールでSariyahちゃんの写真を送付。すると友人が写真を医者に見せてくれて、病気の可能性があると指摘され、すぐに「St. Jude Children’s Research病院」へSariyahちゃんを連れて行ったという。

そして診断の結果、Sariyahちゃんは「両側性網膜芽細胞腫」と診断された。

「網膜芽細胞腫」とは毎年200人から350人の子供がかかる、稀な形態の「がん」で、一般的に5歳前の子供において発症すると言われている。

がんは色彩や光を感知する「網膜」の中で成長し、片目または両目に影響を与える可能性があるが、全体の3分の2は片目だけかかるそうだ。

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I spent most of yesterday trying to process everything, and wanted to wait until I could talk to the doctors today. You may not remember but she had a tiny spot in her left eye in the beginning that they used laser treatment on. Since she has bilateral retinoblastoma we knew there was a chance of tumor recurrence at any time in both eyes. But everything was going good, the tumor in the right eye is shrinking and we were so excited. Which is why yesterday was a gut punch for us. They have found a spot in the left eye. At this time they don’t know if it’s a tumor or something else. As doctors they have to prepare us for everything including the worst case scenario, which is that it could put her at risk of vision loss in that eye. We are so early in this but EUA days are mentally draining, because you just never know what they are going to find. It’s hard and it’s scary. If I allow myself to really think about it, if something happens to the good eye, then there’s still so many risks with the right eye. It’s a never ending battle of what ifs right now. A complete stranger on social media told me this is the risks of eye cancer and to expect the possibility of blindness. But that’s so easy to say to someone on the outside looking in and quite frankly you just don’t say that, because yes I know that but it’s still hard. No one wakes up wanting their child to lose their vision. But I won’t allow my thoughts to go there, I’ll try to fix my vision on the One who is good. I’ll keep praying, pleading, and asking others to pray for a complete and miraculous healing that only God can do. And after talking with the doctor I feel a little more relieved. They are so proactive and whatever it is, it was caught early. They are doing a FULL work up which will give us answers moving forward. However, we won’t have answers for a few weeks. Everyone knows how hard waiting can be, so I ask that you please pray it’s nothing serious at all. And she did great with the chemo which means she is COMING HOME TODAY! THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRAYERS!! 🎉Chemo course 3/11 is DONE, baby girl isn’t playing around!She’s handling it like a boss, with a smile on her face & God’s grace❤

A post shared by Jasmine Martin (@raisingthemartins) on Sep 24, 2020 at 11:20am PDT

治療を受け、病院を退院。しかし…

Sariyahちゃんはレーザー治療を受け、9月には退院し、自宅へ戻ることができた。

しかし懸念も残っている。Sariyahちゃんの右目にあった腫瘍は縮んだが、レーザー治療を受けた左目の小さな点が再び戻っているという。

Sariyahちゃんの場合、早期に治療を受けることができたようだが、Jasmineさんは娘の右目にはまだ大きなリスクがあるとし、今後も終わりのない戦いが続くと語っている。（了）

出典元：GMA：Social media helps mom spot rare cancer in her baby’s eye(10/12)