Forres baby boy’s eye-cancer battle
Mum and dad help little Fraser cope with the rigours of chemotherapy
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A couple at Forres are helping their baby son to cope with chemotherapy after a rare cancer left him blind in one eye.
Fraser Smith, who is five months old, is having treatment after being diagnosed with retina blastoma, a form of eye cancer.
He was born on June 14 and his delighted parents, Graham, 26, and Kelly, 29, at first did not suspect anything was wrong.
The family, who live in Drumine Road with their daughter, Shay, 2, and Kelly’s other children, Kelsey, 11, and Ryan, 8, noticed a problem when they looked at photos of Fraser.
His grandmother, Judith Smith, 57, said: “His eyes were rolling quite a lot but we just thought it was a squint, then, when we took photos, his eyes always appeared white.”
A health visitor doing a routine eight-week check-up suspected a more serious problem, and Graham and Kelly took their son to Forres Health Centre.
Dr Eric Janousek examined him before referring him to Dr Gray’s Hospital in Elgin, where he was further referred to specialists at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.
As well as a five-week course of chemotherapy in Aberdeen, he is also receiving monthly laser treatments and cryotherapy, which involves freezing the tumours, at a specialist unit in Birmingham.
There are only two hospitals in the UK which treat the cancer and Fraser makes the trip with one or both of his parents, or another family member.
His grandparents, Judith and Michael, who live in the town’s Glenelg Road, have provided support to the family since Fraser was diagnosed.
His grandmother said: “He has no sight in his right eye, but has partial sight in his left eye as there were only two small tumours there.”
Judith said the amount of chemotherapy he received depended on his body weight, and that so far he had been quite sick as a result.
She said the family was hopeful of a full recovery for Fraser, although he would need to have check-ups until he was seven.
Judith said: “We have got to look at the positive, that it was picked up very early. So far there has been some improvement, but anything can be expected in the next few weeks.
“The specialists won’t decide what to do next until the chemotherapy is over.”
Judith said the family was planning a number of events in the new year to raise money for Clic Sargent, a charity which raises funds for children with cancer.
She said: “When I saw children in Aberdeen Royal Infirmary who are so brave despite having cancer, it made me want to help.
“We really want to start making young couples aware of this cancer as we didn’t know anything about it until my grandson was diagnosed.”
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