When I was young, cameras were awkward to use. You had to load a role of film without exposing it to the light and then you had to focus and depending on the camera, you would have to adjust your shutter speed and aperture. Then when the role was full, you had to rewind it, carefully remove it and send it to be developed and photos printed out, which in those days, wasn’t cheap for many families.

Over the years, cameras have changed a lot and now, everyone can take a photo with an instant camera or with their mobile phone. No more film as the images are digital and can easily and instantly be viewed and sent to others. In today’s digital age, many photos are never printed onto photo paper.

With the advent of easy and instant photography, most parents take numerous photos of their kids, from the moment they are born, all through childhood adolescence and even adulthood. It’s probably safe to say that younger kids are the subjects of the most photos.

Parents try their best to capture the cuter moments with a photo so they can treasure that moment for years to come.

But, how many parents take the time to really examine those cute photos of their little ones? If they have, what were they looking for?

For one family, one cute photo of their 23-month-old daughter, Izzy, revealed more than any parent would care to know.

Izzy’s parents took her to a playground and put her in a swing. She was holding one of her dolls and instead of being excited and wanting to swing, Izzy fell asleep. That’s when dad, Dave Fletcher, snapped what he thought was a just a cute photo of his little girl taking a snooze in the swing at the playground.

It wasn’t later that Dave and his wife Vicky learned that the cute photo of Izzy revealed a symptom of a dreaded and deadly form of cancer, known as leukemia.

Since the time of the cute photo, poor little Izzy has undergone 570 doses of chemotherapy, which fortunately has worked in ridding her body of the cancer. She is now on a maintenance therapy to prevent the leukemia from returning.

So, as a parent, what should you lookout for in photos or just the normal daily routines of life?

According to the American Cancer Society:

“Many of the symptoms of childhood leukemia can have other causes as well, and most often these symptoms are not caused by leukemia. Still, if your child has any of them, it’s important to have your child seen by a doctor so the cause can be found and treated, if needed.”

“The symptoms of leukemia are often caused by problems in the child’s bone marrow, which is where the leukemia begins. As leukemia cells build up in the marrow, they can crowd out the normal blood cell-making cells. As a result, a child may not have enough normal red blood cells, white blood cells, and blood platelets. These shortages show up on blood tests, but they can also cause symptoms. The leukemia cells might also invade other areas of the body, which can also cause symptoms.”

The AMS then divided the symptoms into three categories: low red blood cells, low white blood cells and low platelets:

Low Red Blood Cells:

• Tiredness (fatigue)
• Weakness
• Feeling cold
• Feeling dizzy or lightheaded
• Headaches
• Shortness of breath
• Pale skin

Low White Blood Cells:

• Infections can occur because of a shortage of normal white blood cells. Children with leukemia can get infections that don’t seem to go away or may get one infection after another. Although children with leukemia often have high white blood cell counts because they have so many leukemia cells, these cells don’t protect against infection the way normal white blood cells do.
• Fever is often the main sign of infection. But some children might have a fever without having an infection.

Low Platelets:

• Easy bruising and bleeding
• Frequent or severe nosebleeds
• Bleeding gums

In addition, they listed other symptoms that include:

• Bone or joint pain
• Swelling of the abdomen
• Loss of appetite and weight loss
• Swollen lymph nodes
• Coughing or trouble breathing
• Swelling of the face and arms
• Headaches, seizures, vomiting
• Rashes, gum problems

If you have any little ones, take some time to look at them and look at their photos, present and past. Look for any changes over time that are normal. Seeing your little one every day, you may not realize subtle changes until you look at a photo history of them.

If you see anything that concerns you, see your doctor and take the photos with you. Looking at those photos just could save your child’s life.