Family staying hopeful after newborn boy’s eye cancer diagnosis

MONTREAL (CITYNEWS) – Alyssa and Brady Cook say their lives were turned upside down when their newborn infant was diagnosed with a rare form of eye cancer.

The Cooks are trying to remain hopeful, but they are afraid their baby Mason will completely lose his vision. The family regularly travels from their Edmonton home to Toronto, where Mason is undergoing treatments.

They say the last month has been a complete whirlwind.

“Of course, you never expect it to be cancer,” said Brady. “But about a week after those questions, we then realized that our son had cancer in both eyes.

“At three months old, we’re getting ready for his third round of chemo.”

Mason was just five weeks old when the diagnosis came, shortly after Brady was changing his diaper and noticed unusual spots in his eyes. (Credit: GoFundMe/Brady and Alyssa Cook)

Mason was just five weeks old when the diagnosis came, shortly after Brady was changing his diaper and noticed unusual spots in his eyes.

“When it transitioned from ‘this might be a developmental thing’ to ‘it was in fact retinoblastoma and he had to remove his eye,’ things got real pretty quick for us,” said Brady.

Mason now has a prosthetic left eye. The baby is receiving chemotherapy every three weeks at SickKids in Toronto so that his right eye may be saved.

“Our life got turned upside down,” said Alyssa, who is originally from Montreal.

His parents say their little boy has been in such good spirits. His attitude is even helping them through the difficult treatments.

“We were standing beside him just moments before the chemo was administered,” said Brady. “He looked up and gave us our first real smile. A moment like that I’ll cherish for a lifetime.”

Mason was just five weeks old when the diagnosis came, shortly after Brady was changing his diaper and noticed unusual spots in his eyes. (Credit: GoFundMe/Brady and Alyssa Cook)

The Cooks aren’t strangers to adversity. Alyssa was just nine years old when her mother died of breast cancer. Brady’s brother died of bone and lung cancer at 22.

“For me, it was really initially hearing the word cancer and chemo,” said Alyssa. “Those are hard for me because my mom went through those things, it brought back a lot of memories for me.”

The family is trying to keep positive through the difficult time. Mason will need to be followed monthly in Toronto for the next two years.

“We’re fighting to make sure that he has a long, happy and healthy life,” said Brady.