“It’s a tumour,” the eye doctor told Brenda Burgess. She had taken her 13-month-old son, Isaac, to the doctor because of what she describes as “a funny reflection” in his left eye. She noticed it as Isaac played on the floor with his older brother, Taber.

“Is it benign?” she said, hoping against hope.

“No,” said the doctor. “It’s cancerous. And it will have to be removed.”

“The tumour?” she asked, again hoping for the answer she wanted desperately to hear.

“No,” said the doctor. “The eye.”

Little Isaac was diagnosed with bilateral retinoblastoma, a rare form of cancer of the eye. Doctors removed his left eye — and discovered five tumours in the right. Thankfully, these were treatable. Twice, he travelled with his parents to Toronto for treatment, and then his care was transferred back to Nova Scotia. The Halifax IWK Health Centre had just acquired the equipment for the laser therapy (to burn the tumours) and cryotherapy (to freeze them) that Isaac needed. Best of all, he did not need chemotherapy or radiation therapy, which meant that he never felt sick. In that regard, says Brenda, “we were very lucky.”

At first, Brenda felt “incredibly guilty. I thought I must have done something wrong when I was pregnant. I thought I must have lived a bad life. I would have done anything — anything — to protect my child. And now there was a chance of blindness, of brain damage, even death. It was just the worst feeling in the world.”

Over the next six years, as Isaac continued to grow, he received regular treatment for the cancer. Brenda battled her guilt and her fears by arming herself with information. The love and support of her family and friends, including her husband, Allan, also helped get her through.

When the Canadian Cancer Society’s Relay for Life came to Yarmouth in 2003, Brenda joined the board.

“Isaac was the youngest survivor at the Relay,” she says. “He held the banner during the victory lap. I still get shaky when I think about it.”

Brenda vividly remembers the day that she was given the all clear — Isaac, then seven (he’s now 12), was cancer free.

“You think you’re handling it so well, but when you’re told, you realize that you must have been holding your breath a little bit all the time. A huge weight had been lifted from my chest, and I didn’t even know it was there. On the way home, we bought a huge cake, and we had a big party!”