MIDLAND, Texas — In honor of June being National Cancer Survivor Month, NewsWest 9 wanted to highlight a story of true healing.
Miguel Orozco is a three-year-old boy who suffered from a rare and life-threatening eye cancer called retinoblastoma when he was nine months old. Today, he sees the world through clear eyes.
"It's unbelievable, that a child who has four tumors in his eyes can see," said Miguel Orozco's mom Berenice Orozco.
Four tumors, from the rare cancer retinoblastoma, which can lead to blindness without proper treatment.
"When they told me that something you know was irregular, I didn't really think much of it, just kind of brushed it off until we saw the specialist," Berenice Orozco said.
She was sent to a specialist in Lubbock and then one more in Dallas until she got a definite answer on her son's diagnosis.
"They told us he doesn't have two tumors, but he has four tumors, two in each eye," Berenice Orozco said.
Hearing the word tumor for the very first time, she didn't know what to think.
"I was like, 'OK, what do we do?'" Berenice Orozco said. "Once we got in the car, it was just instant tears that came. It's just we've never been through anything like that. Not even in the family, have we experienced any type of cancer and we just didn't know what to do, what our future looked like."
Once she met the expert medical team at Children's Health in Dallas, it was a sight for sore eyes. She knew there'd be a chance for Miguel to keep his sight.
"There was an instant trust and we said OK to all the processes," Berenice Orozco said. "This was nothing we've experienced, so, we know y'all know what y'all are doing. You do what you have to do to save my son's eyes."
At only nine months old, Miguel underwent six months of chemotherapy, but the cancer kept coming back. It was clear something more had to be done.
"They introduced the intraarterial chemotherapy and they said OK, this is what must be done to save his eyes," Berenice Orozco said.
This time, the tumors were gone. For good.
"When they told us that he was cancer free, we couldn’t believe it," Berenice Orozco said. "We had spent a year and a half long process so we’re like, OK. It didn’t really set in until we got to home and it was like this is real. This is our life now."
Not only is Miguel cancer-free, he has 20/20 vision. It was as if he never had eye issues to begin with.
"How do you explain that?" Berenice Orozco said. "It's just amazing and he can do sports when he grows older and go to school just like any other kid. There's no boundaries for him."
With Miguel gaining his eyesight back, Berenice Orozco gained three things that opened her eyes.
"I think the most significant lesson would be trust, faith and patience," she said. "Something that I did not have, but during the process, you know the Lord has revealed himself to me and has given me all those things and much more."