Mom Shares Baby’s Eyes One Day Before Brain Cancer Diagnosis – ryan

A heartbroken mom has shared what her son’s eyes looked like one day before he received a brain cancer diagnosis.

Dina Anpilogova posted the alarming footage on TikTok (@dinaanp), where her baby’s eyes are rapidly moving from side to side.

Concerned, she took Elijah to the ER, but was sent home by doctors with the reassurance that his eyes would go back to normal. Unsatisfied, Anpilogova made an appointment with her pediatrician, who referred them to a children’s hospital in Seattle.

Before the change in his eye movement, Anpilogova told Newsweek he had experienced other symptoms, such as inability to gain weight and projectile vomiting after eating.

“No matter what we did—we changed the feeding, we changed formula, fortified formula with breastmilk—nothing helped.”

Health-care professionals deemed this behavior “normal” for a two-and-a-half-month-old, “but my mommy heart knew something was definitely wrong,” Anpilogova said.

Elijah underwent testing at the children’s hospital where they discovered tumors in his brain—a bigger one in the middle and another smaller one at the back of his brain. He was officially diagnosed with a low-grade glioma.

According to the American Brain Tumor Association, a low-grade glioma is a type of slow-growing brain tumor that arises from glial cells, which support and protect neurons. These tumors are considered grade I or II and are generally less aggressive than high-grade gliomas.

The symptoms in children depend on the tumor’s location, size and rate of growth, but may include headaches, nausea and vomiting, seizures, vision problems and changes in behavior or personality.

“Due to the placement of the bigger (one), doctors are unable to do surgery because if they touch any of the nerves that are surrounding the tumor, he could potentially go blind or become paralyzed for life,” Anpilogova informed Newsweek.

Elijah has had two surgeries so far. One was to collect spinal fluid for testing and the other to put in a central line where he will receive chemotherapy.

After posting her clip on TikTok to spread awareness, Anpilogova told Newsweek that the community has been supportive.

The clip, which has been watched by 3.1 million users, received an outpouring of prayers and support for Elijah.

“I’ve had a lot of mothers (and) fathers message me privately and say they have similar stories or thanking me for spreading awareness, asking me questions about my son’s diagnosis (and) giving them some kind of place to start from to ask questions when they go to the doctors,” she said.

Anpilogova, who has become a stay-at-home mom to take care of him, said Elijah has his ups and downs, but has gained two pounds after starting chemotherapy.

His eyes also stopped moving from side to side, which is a sign that treatment is working. While there’s no way to completely remove the tumor, chemotherapy should reduce it in size.

“Our family is coping with this as much as we can. We have a very great support system due to his diagnosis,” Anpilogova said.

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