Mum-of-three Jamie-Lee Schmitzer was snapping images of her beloved four-month-old baby girl when she noticed something sinister about her toddler’s right eye in early 2017.
The 31-year-old from Taree, New South Wales gazed at the photo taken and saw young Ivy-Mae’s blue eye to be a different darker colour with a prominent white glow in the iris.
At first, she dismissed what she had seen but as a few months passed the iris continued to darken and Ivy-Mae seemed irritable by constantly rubbing her eye.
After visited the local doctor, she was told what was occurring was ‘normal’ and physicians weren’t concerned, but Jamie-Lee wasn’t convinced and went to get a second opinion from an eye specialist.
But after blood tests and MRI scans young Ivy-Mae was diagnosed with epithelioma (an abnormal growth that covers a layer of tissue) in September 2017, at nine months, as the dark colour was the sign of a tumour growing in her eye.
The 31-year-old from Taree, New South Wales gazed at the photo taken and saw young Ivy-Mae’s blue eye to be a different darker colour with a prominent white glow in the iris (pictured)
After blood tests and MRI scans young Ivy-Mae was diagnosed with epithelioma (an abnormal growth that covers a layer of tissue) in September 2017 at the precious age of only nine months, as the dark colour was the sign of a tumour growing in her eye
‘I knew babies’ eyes have a tendency to change colours as they grow, but this seemed strange so I went to get her checked right away,’ Jaimie-Lee told Daily Mail Australia.
After visiting the second doctor, she was referred to another eye specialist at the Westmead Children’s Hospital in Sydney who detected and diagnosed Ivy-Mae.
Jamie-Lee said the whole prognosis took a few weeks and was difficult moving the family back and forth for appointments between Sydney and Taree.
‘Hearing the news about the tumour was absolutely devastating and in the moment my partner and I were in shock’ Jamie-Lee said. In order to save Ivy-Mae’s life, the eye needed to be removed
‘There were a lot of tests and MRI scans done on the eye – doctors initially thought she had a parasite but they ruled this out pretty quickly,’ she said.
‘Hearing the news about the tumour was absolutely devastating and in the moment my partner and I were in shock.’
In order to save Ivy-Mae’s life, the eye needed to be removed as it was too dangerous to conduct a biopsy to determine whether the tumour was cancerous.
‘Because it was so close to the optic nerve, the surgeons were worried it would spread,’ she said.
‘I questioned whether removing her eye was the right thing to do but trusted the doctors.’
‘I questioned whether removing her eye was the right thing to do but trusted the doctors,’ Jamie-Lee said
On November 23, 2017, the surgeons removed Ivy-Mae’s right eye and inserted a ‘conformer’ (part of a fake eye)
While the eye needed to be removed, Jamie-Lee and her husband knew they had made the right decision otherwise the cancer could’ve spread to other parts of her body
The day before the surgery on November 22, 2017 Ivy-Mae’s eye completely changed colour from a blue to a darker shade as the tumour was ‘killing the iris’, and Jamie-Lee knew they had made the right decision to go forward with the surgery.
‘She was so cranky the morning of the surgery but I wanted to make sure she felt comfortable, so I was the one who took her into the surgical room,’ Jamie-Lee said.
‘I was softly saying ‘you are my sunshine’ as she slowly drifted off to sleep before the surgery, and it was really hard watching her little eyes close and knowing when she wakes up part of her will be missing.’
After little Ivy-Mae woke up from the surgery she had a ‘rough time’ as she was allergic to the morphine pain medication but piped up a few hours later.
Once the eye had been removed, a biopsy was conducted on the growth and was determined to be cancerous.
Once the eye had been removed, a biopsy was conducted on the growth and was determined to be cancerous
Despite the surgery, Ivy-Mae still has her eyelid and can blink and cry as she normally would with her natural eye
The diagnosis was deemed to be extremely rare because this type of cancer has a tendency to grow on the skin, rather than in the eye, and was also developing a type of bone growth within the tumour itself.
To this day Jamie-Lee said she questions why and how the cancer occurred, but has been left with few answers.
Despite the surgery, Ivy-Mae still has her eyelid and can blink and cry as she normally would with her natural eye.
To replace her eye, doctors inserted a ‘conformer’ into the eye socket with a prosthetic eye ‘cap’ on top, then placed a bandage over the eye to maintain the pressure.
Jamie-Lee said the ‘hardest part’ was waiting in anticipation to remove the bandage and see how the eye looked.
‘I’m all about positivity and trying to show her that different is beautiful, because she knows she doesn’t look like other kids and I want her to feel like that’s okay,’ she said
A few months later once all the swelling had reduced doctors fit Ivy-Mae for a prosthetic eye, which she needs to wear to help with the growth of her eye socket.
Today Ivy-Mae is almost four years old and is living a ‘happy life’ as she normally would compared to any other child.
She has learnt to ride a bike, plays with her dolls and carries on because she’s only ever known life with one eye.
‘I’m all about positivity and trying to show her that different is beautiful, because she knows she doesn’t look like other kids and I want her to feel like that’s okay,’ she said.
‘I’ve caught her looking at herself and the eye in the mirror, but she turns to be and goes: “Mum, different is beautiful, isn’t it”.’
Jamie-Lee said she feels like she and her partner are raising a strong little warrior and have shared Ivy-Mae’s story on Instagram to raise awareness.
‘I’ve spoken to so many parents since and so many are unaware that cancer can occur in the eye and what to look for,’ Jamie-Lee said.