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Fight for an eye, then a fight for his life
by Gregory R. Norfleet · News · October 27, 2010
Editor’s Note: This is the second of two stories on West Branch boys — Drew Niles and Austin Hills — who were selected to serve as Kid Captains at University of Iowa football games in November.
Sixteen-year-old Austin Hills lost his eye to cancer at age 8, and if the story of its discovery and treatment chills your spine, then consider what doctors found less than a year later during a follow-up visit.
It started in September 2003, when Austin complained of pain in his right eye, father Matt Hills explains. Austin’s mother, Sara Wilkins, took him to the optometrist who found severe inflammation that needed urgent attention. He was referred.
It was late, but a physician with the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics ophthalmology department unlocked the clinic to see the family after hours. After the initial consultation, he brought in four more doctors, and then the senior staff professor.
The pressure on Austin’s eye was almost three times that of a normal eye.
“He was tolerating the pain very well, but was not complaining,” Matt said.
Austin was soon prescribed medication with directions to pay attention to any change over the weekend. There was none, and the following Monday, just a couple weeks before his ninth birthday, Austin underwent a biopsy.
Retinoblastoma. Cancer of the retina.
Usually it is found in children under 6 years old, and most often in children under 2. Austin, at almost 9, was the second-oldest known case.
The eye would have to come out — immediately — due to the high probability of the cancer spreading to other organs.
But how to tell Austin?
Matt said he will not forget that night, agonizing over how to break the news. He went to work, traveling from stop to stop as a representative for his employer at the time, but couldn’t keep his mind off it.
He remembers sitting in his car for two hours, outside a gas station, crying at times as he tried to work it out.
“I didn’t know if he could comprehend the treatment” at that age, he said.
When Austin heard the news, his reaction surprised his parents.
“Really?” he responded. “Can I keep it and show my friends?”
Austin’s attitude made it a lot easier for his parents, Matt said.
The eye came out.
Chemotherapy would follow. On Oct. 17, Austin’s ninth birthday, he had an operation to insert a chest port for the chemo. The boy also had to endure radiation treatment.
Follow-up finds a problem
Follow-up appointments included blood tests, full-body MRIs, spinal taps, lumbar punctures and other tests, Matt said, and the treatment seemed successful.
Then, in mid-2004, an MRI detected a spot on Austin’s brain.
There was a 95-percent chance it was malignant and “would require chemo so aggressive that bone marrow transplant would be required,” Matt said. And, even with treatment, Austin’s chance of survival was 50 percent.
However, there was a 5-percent chance it was a fungus, and chemo would only help it grow.
“If it were fungus,” Matt said. “Chemotherapy would most likely have killed Austin.”
Either way, the chance of it spreading was great.
A brain brain biopsy was offered, but there was another risk: If things go wrong, Austin could be paralyzed.
If they news about losing the eye wasn’t bad enough, this was even harder. But Austin’s parents, remembering how Austin responded to the first concern, decided to include him on the decision.
“Sara and I both supported him,” Matt said, saying they laid out all the information to guide his decision.
Austin’s only question was whether he would still be “himself” — not just paralyzed, but a different person — if there was a mistake conducting the biopsy.
No.
After that, they all agreed to proceed with the biopsy.
Because of the delicate nature and the stress on the family, plus two families coming to the hospital for the surgery — Matt and Jeanna Hills’ family and Frank and Sara Wilkins’ family — they were given their own waiting room.
Eight hours later, the doctors — one of which was among the top neurosurgeons in the world — emerged to announce there was “nothing alarming.”
Austin was fine. The spot was not cancer. It appeared to have been fungus, but the antifungal medications had voided its potency, if not eliminated it entirely.
Seven years later, Austin is cancer-free.
Still going strong
He plays football at West Branch High School and has a fake eye, and, according to his father, even played tricks on people with it from time to time.
His case has been written up, and was published this year by the National Institutes of Health and the American Academy of Ophthalmology.
Matt nominated his son as a University of Iowa Kid Captain because of all Austin had been through.
“Many people in his life and this community were either unaware of his illness, or had little knowledge of how serious and difficult it was for him,” the father said. “He barely complained of the pain, and did not let on he was as sick as he was. He has never used his past experience, or his missing eye, as a handicap. He refuses to let it change him or what he does.
“He taught all of us a bit about life, courage, and how to deal with tragedy,” Matt said.
Austin’s father was excited when he learned Austin was selected as a Kid Captain.
“I felt he deserved the recognition after all he had been through, his accomplishments afterward, and his attitude through it all,” Matt said.
Austin said he isn’t so sure.
“I was surprised by this because I almost didn’t think I deserved it because there are plenty of other kids who have it a lot worse than I do,” the teenager said. “I am just lucky that I am able to do what I can today unlike those other kids, so I am very grateful for the opportunity.”
Austin said he was an Iowa State University Cyclones fan when he entered the hospital.
“They were able to change me with time and I am now a big Hawk fan,” he said.
He said he was “shocked” when he learned he would be a Kid Captain, but even more so when he found out it was for the Ohio State game, which is Nov. 20.
“I have told many of my classmates,” Austin said. “They are all happy for me and some of them will be looking for me before the game.”
A video of Austin’s story will be played at the Iowa game, and an abbreviated version will be shown on Head Coach Kirk Ferentz’s show, which is then broadcast on the Big Ten Network.
Austin will be introduced at midfield with the honorary captain before the game, “which will be extremely exciting with a full house,” he said.
The family gets four tickets to the game, but Matt is trying to find tickets for seven other immediate family members.
“I am certain Austin’s story can help to add some inspiration for the Hawkeyes that day,” he said.
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