Georgie Beck

Cancer surivor

River Forest, IL

Biography

At the age of one, Georgi was diagnosed with Bilateral Retinoblastoma. She underwent over 22 laser surgeries to help remove the tumors in her eyes and went through chemotherapy, radiation, and an eye enucleation. Her parents, Steve and Katrina Beck, with the overwhelming help and support from their medical team, were able to navigate this difficult journey and provide Georgi with the best possible care. Although Georgi cannot personally recount her experience, Steve and Katrina share how they dealt with their baby’s cancer diagnoses and how they stood by their daughters side every step of the way.

Amazing Doctors

There was no question in our mind of what we needed to do because of the strength of the doctors that we had. Dr. Z was able to diagnose her from across the room, she turned to her assistant and said, “she has bilateral retinoblastoma.” She did her eye exam and afterwards she said “come with me.” She took us down to Northwestern Hospital, past the receptionist and into another doctors office and said “hey, look at her.” She was diagnosed on Wednesday morning, had exams done that day and Thursday, by Friday and Saturday she was starting her first rounds of chemo. It was was because of Dr. Z pushing us there, she knew what needed to be done and how we were going to do it. These people just deserve a huge hug. I mean, it’s just amazing what they do.

Accepting help

Letting other people help was huge. I was pregnant, and the hormones were awful, but when people asked to help, we just accepted it. Katrinas crying helped out with all the insurance stuff. At one point, she called crying and the person we spoke to, Candy, said she would be our contact anytime we needed anything. Whenever there was an issue with paperwork, we only dealt with Candy from that point. In general, just accept help, it’s just a lot to deal with on your own.

I think my parents did a fantastic job with it. I felt like a normal kid. I never really saw it as missing out on anything. I just saw it as this is my life. And that's okay. And it's different. That's cool.