{"id":6409,"date":"2024-03-25T15:10:00","date_gmt":"2024-03-25T14:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ver-ooginoog.nl\/bibliotheek\/oh-yeah-im-looking-with-just-one-eye\/"},"modified":"2026-09-10T14:42:51","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T12:42:51","slug":"oh-yeah-im-looking-with-just-one-eye","status":"publish","type":"library_pt","link":"https:\/\/ver-ooginoog.nl\/en\/library\/personal-stories\/oh-yeah-im-looking-with-just-one-eye\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cOh yeah, I\u2019m looking with just one eye!\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2024-03-25T15:10:00+01:00\">25 March 2024<\/time><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Diagnosing the cancer in his retina was quite a challenge. After Elmer was born, the doctor at the well-baby clinic noticed that the retina in his eye was missing. But the family doctor said there was nothing wrong with him. Still, the well-baby clinic kept insisting. Eventually, they went to a local ophthalmologist who referred them to the Rotterdam Eye Hospital. The conclusion after countless tests: no retinoblastoma. Liesbeth remembers it well: \u201cAround Elmer\u2019s first birthday, his pupil suddenly turned white. Now we knew for sure that something was wrong. We had to go to the VUmc in Amsterdam. There, it quickly became clear that it was indeed retinoblastoma. Elmer underwent surgery right away. One of his eyes was removed, the other was treated with radiation, and he received chemotherapy. That eye eventually developed very well. He can see 100 to 120 percent with it.\u201d      <\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Treatment<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In total, his intensive treatment regimen lasted about 9 months. They traveled from Zeeland to Amsterdam on Wednesdays. Elmer received treatment on Thursdays, and on Fridays they could return home. On those days, they stayed at the Ronald McDonald House. Whenever Elmer experienced side effects from the chemotherapy in between treatments, he could usually go to the hospital in Goes. The oncologist there was in close contact with the retinoblastoma team at VUmc. \u201cThe doctors in Amsterdam are truly top-notch,\u201d Elmer and Liesbeth say in unison. \u201cAfter Elmer\u2019s eye was removed, we were referred to Fr\u00e9d\u00e9rique Bak, who fitted him with a prosthetic eye. To this day, Elmer continues to visit Fr\u00e9d\u00e9rique in Breda\u2014to our complete satisfaction\u2014for checkups on the prosthetic eye and to be fitted with a new one.\u201d       <\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">To school<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Once he started school, things didn\u2019t go so well. \u201cElmer much preferred to be outside. He had little interest in letters and numbers. He had to repeat second grade, but after that, we didn\u2019t want to let him struggle any longer\u2014especially given his medical history,\u201d says Liesbeth. Elmer went to a special education school. From there, he moved on to a vocational high school and then progressed to vocational education (MBO). \u201cWe\u2019re very proud of how far Elmer has come\u2014from special elementary education to passing the MBO 3 final exam as a certified gardener. We\u2019ve always focused on what he needed.\u201d Elmer agrees that this support has been invaluable. At school, but certainly also at home. For example, he had to know 40 plant names in Dutch and in Latin. Liesbeth turned that into a memory game. Liesbeth says, \u201cHis grades in plant knowledge shot right up with this memory game. It\u2019s those little things. It helped him take another step forward. He\u2019s turned out well and has built a solid foundation.\u201d           <\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Driver&#8217;s License<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI don\u2019t really notice that I\u2019ve had retinoblastoma,\u201d says Elmer. \u201cI\u2019m very used to having only one eye.\u201d That changes when he starts taking driving lessons. \u201cWhile driving, I noticed that I had to look extra closely and turn my head faster and farther.\u201d \u201cAnd the CBR required a medical certificate, an additional visual field test, and an eye exam at the optometrist\u2019s,\u201d Liesbeth adds. \u201cWho do you need to see for that, and what\u2019s required?\u201d It was quite a quest for the family. Elmer: \u201cThen you suddenly think, \u2018Oh yeah, I\u2019m only seeing out of one eye.\u2019\u201d In the end, the whole ordeal\u2014including all the additional costs\u2014had to be repeated when he wanted to get his trailer license. That\u2019s because those exams are only valid for 1.5 years. \u201cThat\u2019s when we decided to go ahead and get the tractor license right after that. Now we\u2019re all set,\u201d Elmer and Liesbeth laugh.           <\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Safety First<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Elmer is currently training to be a landscaper. That means he works a lot with garden waste, which can sometimes cause splinters to fly off. \u201cFrom a young age, I\u2019ve been taught to always wear safety goggles. Sometimes my coworkers take it lightly. But I do it for my own safety. My family taught me to be extra careful with my good eye.\u201d    <\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Small steps<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Elmer feels completely normal and is therefore hardly bothered by the illness he\u2019s had. He was even a member of the youth fire department for years! Liesbeth says, \u201cWe sometimes hear that we\u2019ve done a good job raising Elmer. That\u2019s nice to hear. We\u2019ve always been open about his illness and handled it as normally as possible. That\u2019s the advice we want to share with other parents. Focus on your child and what he can do and needs. Make sure he gets the right support. You\u2019ll get there one small step at a time.\u201d  <\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Box<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Opkikker<\/strong><br \/>When Elmer was four years old, he was invited by <a href=\"https:\/\/opkikker.nl\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the Opkikker Foundation<\/a> to an Opkikker Day. A program was put together with his parents that met Elmer\u2019s wishes. That day, he was able to completely forget about his illness for a while. \u201cOur whole family, including Grandpa and Grandma, got to come along, because Grandpa and Grandma had been such a huge support and help to us during his treatment.\u201d After that, the family served as ambassadors for this charity for quite some time. \u201cWe collected old cell phones and empty bottles so that other children could also enjoy an Opkikkerdag. \u201cOne day, the mayor even stopped by my elementary school with 700 old cell phones from the city,\u201d Elmer recalls with a laugh.      <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Elmer was diagnosed with retinoblastoma at age 1. He is now 19 and has his life on track. Elmer and his mother, Liesbeth, look back on his childhood. \u201cI don\u2019t really notice that I\u2019ve had retinoblastoma,\u201d Elmer says. \u201cI\u2019m very used to having only one eye.\u201d      <\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":6410,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_daextauttol_enable_tooltips":""},"library_cat":[113,123],"class_list":["post-6409","library_pt","type-library_pt","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","library_cat-personal-stories","library_cat-retinoblastoma"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ver-ooginoog.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/library_pt\/6409","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ver-ooginoog.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/library_pt"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ver-ooginoog.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/library_pt"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ver-ooginoog.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ver-ooginoog.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"library_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ver-ooginoog.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/library_cat?post=6409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}