Barring any DRASTIC Divine Intervention, I am OUT of the baby making business!
(My last, literal, "childbearing year" was 1998.)
But my sisters are not!(Well one is, possibly, but she still has little ones...) And neither are many of my friends.Considering that, I received an email today that made my "everybody should know about this" ice-cream thing seem incredibly trivial.
The email is about a condition called retinoblastoma. It is a cancer of the eye, the retina actually, that can show up in young children.
What to do? Take pictures of your kids. Not only does photographing your children preserve memories and make you feel like "a good Mommy" but they can also save your child's life. You know that 'annoying red-eye' thing you often get when taking pictures of your children? Well, turns out there is a use for it;
"A white reflection in a child’s eye [rather than the normal red] could be a sign of cancer.
Several eye conditions can cause a reflection like this, but the most serious is retinoblastoma, an eye cancer affecting only babies and young children."
I can't seem to upload the picture here but this is a link to examples of what you should look for.
Here is a link to a good brochure by retinoblastoma international.
Yes, retinoblastoma is fairly rare but 'rare' NEVER equals impossible. It happens that one little boy at our church lost an eye to retinoblastoma. Besides, it seems like a pretty easy thing to check for.
Where's your camera?
