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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To think my baby has eye cancer

36 replies

cheesemumma · 14/04/2017 17:05

I feel sick i need advice. In a few pictures my baby has had a white pupil on photographs. I googled it and it's scared me silly.

Has anyone had experience of this? Any advice? I'm so worried I'm going to cry. Going to doctors tomorrow. I'm praying it's not so bad!

OP posts:

TheWitTank · 14/04/2017 17:09

Calm down
It is very very highly likely there is absolutely nothing wrong at all with your baby. Google is awful for terrifying people so step away from your computer and stop looking for a diagnosis. You will only get the worse case scenarios pop up.

January87 · 14/04/2017 17:09

You're doing the right thing going to the doctor, it could be nothing but it could be something x

Chocolatecake12 · 14/04/2017 17:10

I do know someone who noticed something wrong With her babies eye but I don't think it was white pupils...... her baby did have eye cancer but was treated successfully and she's now a teenager.
You are doing the absolute right thing by going to the gp. Make sure you show the dr the photos.
It's always best to err on the side of caution and hopefully this will be nothing but best to get it checked out. Try not to worry. (Easier said I know...)

Mari50 · 14/04/2017 17:10

More often than not this is a false positive sign, it's usually the optic nerve that's been picked up by the camera flash and gives a white reflex rather than the retina which gives the usual pink. I've seen loads of children referred with this and there's been nothing wrong. Please try to relax x

Isadora2007 · 14/04/2017 17:11

"The retina, at the point of the optic disc (end of the optic nerve), contains no rod or cone cells, so it cannot process light. When a camera flash hits the optic disc directly, light is reflected back, causing the pupil to appear white even though the eye is healthy. As smartphones frequently capture pseudoleukocoria, they are not the best tool for monthly red reflex screening photos."

ineedamoreadultieradult · 14/04/2017 17:11

I hope the Dr can put your mind at rest tomorrow. For what its worth I know many stories of people being scared silly by exactly this and its turned out absolutely fine in all those cases.

brasty · 14/04/2017 17:11

This website explains the common causes of this. Eye cancer is a very very rare cause of this, with only 50 new cases diagnosed a year. So you are right to get it checked out, but it is very unlikely to be cancer.

chect.org.uk/about-retinoblastoma-2/what-causes-white-eye/

LoveMyLittleSuperhero · 14/04/2017 17:11

I think that looks to me like your camera is attempting to automatically correct red eye (photographer) when cameras do this automatically if the red is too bright they can correct to grey/white instead of black. Good that you are going to the doctors to get it checked but please try not to worry I honestly think it looks like a camera issue especially soon as it is in both eyes not just one.
Have you used the same camera for all the photos that are worrying you? Is there any way to check if it has a red eye removal tool active?

helensburgh · 14/04/2017 17:12

Eye specialist here.
Definitely get checked asap but 99.99999% of the time these are artefacts from cameras on phones.
Also could be a need for glasses in one eye , a lazy eye .
Hoping it's nothing. Post back.

Isadora2007 · 14/04/2017 17:12

wechope.org/retinoblastoma/white-eye-glow-in-photos-how-and-when-to-act/

This website is very informative. You're right to get it checked out but don't panic.

ScouseAT · 14/04/2017 17:12

I'm sure it's fine and it's just luck of the light but always best to get it checked out if it's going to save you being worried. Not sure if there's any experts on here but I find a a fb group called kids in specs uk very good for any questions to do with eyes. Lots of parental experience and eye/vision experts. Good luck.xx

upinthesky · 14/04/2017 17:12

You're doing the right thing and I understand you being worried, but just to calm your anxieties a little bit, my sister noticed the same thing on my niece and was beside herself just like you, she went to the doctors, they did tests and it was absolutely nothing.

Definitely get it checked out but rest assured that behind all the horror story's on google there will be lots of people like my niece who had absolutely nothing wrong with them.

Original poster

cheesemumma · 14/04/2017 17:15

Thanks for your replies. I'll try and take a deep breath and get some rest tonight. It just is so scary. I'm hoping I'm over reacting. My phone and hubby phone but not the same type. Fingers crossed that's what it is.

OP posts:

GloGirl · 14/04/2017 17:15

It's obviously a good idea to be going to the doctor but the way I understand it the flash bounces off the back of the eye so if there is something behind the eye it reflects differently.

Camera needs to be straight on, in your picture it is taken almost side on so not a totally even view giving it more of a chance to show up differently.

There are a lot of people who have had this show up and nothing at all has been wrong (I'm on a few Facebook eye pages) so it's ok to be concerned and make an appointment but don't think something is definitely wrong

shouldwestayorshouldwego · 14/04/2017 17:16

Being in both eyes is a good thing because it is less likely that both eyes are simultaneously affected.

Thisways · 14/04/2017 17:20

I had the eye cancer as a child so I know a lot about it.

As others have said, it's very, very unlikely to be anything sinister but it's important to get it checked out. I noticed the photo is taken at an angle, this can sometimes cause a white glow, as well as a number of other less serious reasons (a turn in the eye for example).

All the best.

iloveanicecake · 15/04/2017 17:41

My son had this issue in photos, certainly from age 2. Checked out by top specialist (we had private healthcare at time). It wasn't cancer, but astigmatism. He is fine, just has 6 monthly checks. No glasses or anything, he is now 7.
Best of luck, don't panic. xx

Devilishpyjamas · 15/04/2017 17:44

Looks like both eyes? So extra unlikely to be anything.

My eldest had a white eye in a photo - I showed the photo to my youngest's consultant (he was under an eye consultant) and she says straight away it was just the angle it had been taken.

Crunchymum · 15/04/2017 17:45

Did you manage to see the Dr?

SimplyNigella · 15/04/2017 17:58

This link is really helpful chect.org.uk/about-retinoblastoma-2/whiteeye/

Please try not to worry. Retinoblastoma is really rare with only around 50 children diagnosed in the U.K. every year. DS was diagnosed at 8 months so if you have any questions then I might be able to help.

Etymology23 · 15/04/2017 18:12

Retinoblastoma is usually in one eye rather than both, and there's white in both, so I would think (as said before) that it's likely to be an artefact. However, I would definitely get it checked out.

Thisways · 15/04/2017 21:04

It's not true that retinoblastoma is usually in one eye and rarely in both eyes. The genetic form is almost always in both eyes.

Thingsgettingstranger · 15/04/2017 21:12

How did it go?

2014newme · 15/04/2017 21:15

I know someone this happened to yes. I'm assume you went to Dr today how did it go? (yes they will see you out of hours for this)

Graceflorrick · 15/04/2017 21:20

If photos usually display eyes as normal/red but occasionally white, it's more likely to be the angle the flash hits. Don't worry OP

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