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Back in 2014, Jade Bell was thrilled to be celebrating Christmas with her eight-month-old daughter, Tyraah Bell-Lama. Bell, of course, commemorated the occasion by taking many photos of her daughter.
But when Bell went to get the photos produced, she noticed something odd.
There was a strange white glow behind Tyraah’s eye. Tyraah’s vision was also weaker in this eye.
Concerned, Bell took her daughter to the doctor to get an eye scan, praying the entire time that the scan would reveal nothing.
Unfortunately, the scan and preliminary blood work done on Tyraah revealed something “serious.” “But [the doctors] couldn’t tell me what it was exactly,” Bell recalled.
On Christmas Eve, the family finally received Tyraah’s full diagnosis. She had retinoblastoma, a form of cancer that begins in the retina and is more common in children than in adults.
“Christmas Day that year was really strange. We went to my nan and granddad’s house in Reading and everyone was very subdued,” Bell described. “There just wasn’t anything to celebrate. At that point we had no idea what the future held.”
She only revealed the news to the family after all the celebrations and festivities had been finished. Just a few days later, Tyraah returned to the hospital to begin her first of six rounds of chemotherapy treatment.
Doctors – and Tyraah’s family – were thrilled to see that the first round of treatment was ultimately a success.
However, Tyraah was plagued by health complications and side effects as treatment continued. as treatment continued. It was a long journey of spending many months in and out of the hospital, but now, two years later, doctors can say with confidence that Tyraah is cancer free.
She still has to return to the hospital for check-ups, but her health has dramatically improved and the family couldn’t be more excited to be celebrating with their healthy daughter – and two other children this year.
