Cancer: Mum spotted son's eye tumour when he glanced up at the television

A mum spotted a "white glow" in the pupil of her little boy's eye while he was playing with his toys and found out he had cancer - just weeks before Christmas.

Kirstin Smith, 29, noticed her son, Cian had a "cloudy spot" in his eye as he was playing in front of the TV. She immediately went to her neighbour, a GP, who told Kirstin to go to the optician to get it checked out.

Kirstin then took Cian to an eye clinic in the Royal Aberdeen Infirmary, Scotland - where doctors discovered a mass on his eye. The tot was then referred to the Royal Aberdeen Children's Hospital and medics there suspected it was a retinoblastoma - a rare type of eye cancer that can affect young children.

The diagnosis was confirmed in December 2022 when Cian was transferred to Birmingham Women and Children's Hospital, West Midlands - as Birmingham was the closest hospital that can treat Cian's cancer.

Cian started chemotherapy three days before Christmas last year and has since made the 681-mile trip to Birmingham from the Shetlands 16 times for treatment.

Kirstin, a primary school teacher, from Shetland, Scotland, said: "Cian was sat in the corner of the room playing with his toys, he glanced at the TV and I noticed the white glow in his eye. It was only for a split second of clouded grey and I did a double take and it had gone.

"His tumour was stage D - it was a large tumour - and if we didn't spot it when we did we might not have the same outcome. He is very resilient. He will be impaired due to the damage the tumour did to his eye but we are not at the end of our journey yet so things could change. We are not sure what the future looks like just yet."

After becoming concerned about the white glow in Cian's eye, Kirstin wanted the opinion of her neighbour who is a GP.

Kirstin said: "I knew that I could see the cloud. I sent the pictures to my neighbour and she said if I was concerned I should go see an optician. We were then referred to the Royal Aberdeen Infirmary where they confirmed that Cian had a mass on his eye. They then referred to Royal Aberdeen Children Hospital who couldn't confirm the diagnosis so they sent us to Birmingham."

Cian started his first round of chemotherapy on December 22, 2022, and would go on to have three more. Kirstin said: "Due to my initial thought being that it was something sinister, I was prepared for the news. It was my initial fear and when I took him to the opticians - I said I thought it was cancer. There was a part of me that hoped it would be something less serious; we were devastated by the diagnosis but it wasn't a shock.

After a few months of chemotherapy, the tumour shrunk and Cian started cryotherapy - the local or general use of low temperatures in medical therapy - to shrink it further. Kirstin said: "The chemo was really affecting him, it did manage to shrink the tumour but it was a real hard slog. The good thing about this type of chemo is that it is targeted. He wasn't unwell - it was just a difficult day and the next day it would be like it never happened. Life was relatively normal between chemo sessions."

Cian is still undergoing treatment to keep his cancer at bay but Kirstin says everything is going in the right direction.

Kirstin said: "He is a standard two-year-old - you would never know he is dealing with this. He is a little character, he has just turned two. He is very chatty and learning to speak. He is a bit unsure about new people but we don't know if that is a side-effect of all the hospital treatment. You think about his life experience so far compared to his sister or his peers and it feels like he is really unlucky. When we are away and we are among the other retinoblastoma families we are so lucky compared to them and what they are dealing with - we are very grateful."

The Childhood Eye Cancer Trust (CHECT) urges parents and healthcare professionals to be aware of the most common possible symptoms of eye cancer – a white glow in the eye in flash photo or in certain light, and a squint.    A change in the appearance of the eye or a swollen eye may also be an indication - although often only one sign or symptom is present.

Richard Ashton, chief executive of CHECT, said: “Retinoblastoma is rare, with around one baby or young child being diagnosed in the UK each week. Symptoms can be quite subtle, and children often seem well in themselves which can make it hard to diagnose. In just under half of all cases, a child must have an eye removed as part of their treatment.”