Freaking out about my 2 year old sons eyes

[Mama12000]

So i took my 2 year old little boy to the gp this morning after I noticed in certain photos I took on my phone of him that one of his pupils was reflecting white and the other red. No other symptoms I have noticed and his vision seems fine as far as I can tell but I googled and panicked about possible retinoblastoma/ eye cancer as this can be a sign. Anyway I'm now even more worried as when the gp looked in his eye she said " yes I'm concerned I can see white". My son was struggling and crying/ trying to push her away when she was trying to look. She then said " it's hard to look properly when he is struggling. It could be nothing". Im now in a complete panic. The gp said she will refer him to the opthomology clinic. sad. I wanted him looked at straight away obviously after that so I went to the urgent treatment centre at the local hospital and just broke down to the doctor when telling her about it. She phoned paediatrics and they told her this can be common with photographs and it can often mean nothing or could be the angle the photo was taken and to wait on the referral to opthomology so she relayed that back to me but of course I'm still thinking about the gp telling me she could see white in his eye and I'm freaking out. Anyone have any similar experiences/ reassuring stories???. She also looked at the photographs I took at home and saw his pupil was white in a couple but I've also taken more over the past few days and his eyes are both red in the majority of them. Sorry for the long post. Hope it makes sense.

I would try not to worry and push to see a specialist. Hopefully he is fine and he gets seen ASAP. Make sure you chase any appointments.

Yes this is common. My nephew had it in a photo, got investigated at hospital, turned out ok.
It's good you are getting a referral.
Then you will know.

Stay strong there's a good chance he will be fine.

Thank you both. Its reassuring to hear about your nephew @Howzaboutye

My then two year old (now 17) had a similar appointment where the hospital ophthalmologist ran out of the room after examining him, told me that she could see lumps and bumps in his lazy eye, and told me not to leave the hospital. Several hours later, the confused consultant asked me what she was supposed to be looking for as she thought he was fine. He was fine. Lovely ophthalmologist came back and hugged me to say sorry for scaring me - didn’t blame her for caring and taking it v seriously and his eyes were complicated.

@sarahC40 oh that must have been so scary. Glad all was well in the end. Fingers crossed it's the same for my little one then we can enjoy christmas

Have you got an appointment date?

Not yet

Keep checking each week with the gp, to get a date booked

I definitely will. I will probably end up trying to get him seen privately if its taking to long.

My daughter didn't have the white reflection, but often only got red eye in one eye - which apparently can also be a sign. Had her checked out numerous times and they never found anything wrong. Now she's 4 she gets red eye in both eyes.

All I'd say is that it's most likely nothing, but it's a shame the GP wasn't a bit more understanding of how you'd feel.

I'd also say that in the extremely unlikely event it was anything bad, catching it so early would put you in a good position to deal with it. As I said, I suspect it's nothing, as you are getting the red response sometimes. Form what I've heard the optical nerve can sometimes cause funny reflections just due to its position.

I was reading up on this the other week, and white reflection can be totally normal. It's only if a photo is taken absolutely straight on that it's a possible indicator of a problem. Hopefully your appointment will come through quickly for you - if your GP suspects cancer then you should be on a two week wait pathway.

We had the same situation. I took my daughter to a pediatric ophthalmologist (in the US) and all was well.

We had redeye in only one eye several times in photos, is this what you mean? Both kids have mild squints but that's all, no effect on eyesight etc and they can pull the squint in if concentrating.

Hi op, my DD has a condition that causes white eye, we had the diagnosis before we noticed it in photos though. It's not cancer but it is something important, so even if the doctors say there's definitely something wrong, it doesn't always mean the worst.

Have you tried phoning your local Opticians? They may be able to see your little boy sooner and will be more experienced than the gp at dealing with these sorts of issues.

Gosh yes, opticians have a referral pathway to the local opthalmology unit. Might have to book a sight test, but you will probably see a consultant quicker.

Thanks so much everyone for your replys. We Saw a peadiatric specialist on Thursday as I was panicking and he checked the red reflex and said it was there and not to worry and then I got a phonecall to go to the opthomology unit on Friday through the gps referral. The guy put drops in my sons eyes and had a look and said all was well. I was also told its mostly the angle that the photo that causes it rather than something serious but I was right to get it checked. Thanks again.

So glad your son is ok and now you can relax and look forward to Christmas

Ah that’s great news. Have a lovely Christmas.