Tyler is learning to see by touch
Michelle Pountney
Herald-Sun
10feb06
TYLER Fishlock is learning to see the world through his hands. A day after doctors removed his remaining eye in a battle against a rare genetic cancer, the gutsy toddler told his mum Georgette he could "see" her through his hands.
"He said: `Mum, is it over, is my eye out?'," Mrs Fishlock said yesterday.
"I said `yes'. He said `I can't see you' and I moved closer to him, he grabbed my face and said `I can see you now'."
That moment was one of relief for Mrs Fishlock and husband Brad.
"It is the start of a new chapter of his life and we will move forward from this," she said.
Just hours after the operation to remove his remaining eye Tyler, 3, was sitting in bed singing the Richmond theme song keeping fellow patients at the Royal Children's Hospital awake.
Doctors operated for 90 minutes on Wednesday to remove Tyler's right eye after a 15-month battle with the eye cancer retinoblastoma.
The cancer had ravaged his left eye so badly it was removed soon after diagnosis.
Despite extensive chemotherapy and radiotherapy, his heartbroken parents last week learned the cancer had also claimed his right eye.
In a bid to stop the cancer spreading through the optic nerve to his brain, doctors removed the eye and part of the nerve in a delicate 90-minute operation.
Tyler is just the fourth child in 20 years at the Royal Children's Hospital to lose both eyes to retinoblastoma.
The fanatical footballer's last words before the operation were "Nathan Brown" in reference to his Tigers hero, who visited with teammate Kane Johnson at home on Tuesday.
He then added "I love you mummy and daddy".
"He's obviously taken this memory from the day before into surgery, which is fantastic," Mrs Fishlock said.
She said the footballers' visit was a precious final memory of sight for Tyler.
"He was ecstatic after the footballers left," she said. "It was just an unreal feeling to see my son so happy – a gift you could never buy to see the happiness on his face."
The couple are amazed at the resilience of their boy – how quickly he has begun to adjust to life without sight.
"Today was a turning point for me," Ms Fishlock said. "Tyler is still going to be able to see me in another way, in a touching way.
"Tyler is a very emotional and loving child anyway and to show his affection through touch is completely natural."
After the operation, the courageous toddler sat up talking to his parents and demanded juice and food to quell his rumbling stomach.
"He sang the Richmond theme song and I think half the ward heard him," Ms Fishlock said.
Proud father Brad predicted blindness would not stop Tyler from achieving in life.
"It's not going to keep him down. It will make him even more determined and he will achieve great things."
Ms Fishlock described their son as a hero.
"We have two beautiful children (daughter Madeleine,
and we appreciate our kids and know in our hearts that Tyler for us is a hero."
Tyler is expected to return home today.
A trust fund has been set up to help fund Tyler's education, continuing medical needs and another family car so his parents can drive him to blind school in Burwood from their Caroline Springs home.
To donate to Tyler's trust fund, quote account name G. and B. Fishlock, Suncorp Metway account, BSB: 484 799, account no. 083 854 523.
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,18095463%255E661,00.html
