UPDATE: Sena had cataract surgery on April 5, 2005. Sena has bifocals and can now see much better. She still struggles with very dry eye but loves her new glasses and has a new vision on life-literally. Sena's last visit to the eye doctor showed her acuity at 20/40 with her glasses on! :) Sena is now 5 years cancer-free!! She continues to have eye exams under anesthesia every six months. Please keep my princess Sena in your prayers. We are grateful to all of you.

Sena's story...
Sena was diagnosed with bilateral retinoblastoma at four-months-old. Her pediatrician referred us to an ophthalmologist because she noticed a white reflex instead of red while performing an eye exam at her well-child exam. Sena began chemotherapy four days after diagnosis, on November 6, 2001, her brother's second birthday. Every three weeks, we took her to the hospital at 5:45 a.m. and she would be put under general anesthesia. She would receive laser treatments to her eyes and then after she awoke she would stay over night and receive chemotherapy. Additionally, she had many hospital stays due to fevers, illness, etc. in between each treatment. She also had two blood transfusions due to low hemoglobin. Chemotherapy took a toll on her immune system and after four treatments she had to take a six week break because her white blood cell counts were too low. Her counts came up slightly and chemotherapy was started again but this time it had no effect on the tumors in her right eye and her ophthalmologist recommended enucleation (removal of the eye). The tumor was also covering the optic nerve which meant it could easily find its way to the brain, assuring a limited life expectancy. Sena's right eye was removed March 4, 2002 and she completed chemotherapy one week later. We celebrated that she was a cancer survivor and made vacation plans to celebrate on her first birthday. But, at a routine eye exam two and a half months later, 18 new tumors were found in the left eye. They were in the vitreous (fluid of the eye) and could not be treated with chemotherapy and laser. Radiation was our only option. Sena began radiation on May 31, 2002. Every morning, Monday - Friday, we arrived at the hospital at 8:00 a.m. for general anesthesia and radiation. Radiation went by without incident but daily anesthesia gave us some cause for concern. She completed radiation on July 5, 2002.

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