Loftus resident grateful for vision despite tumours

Mr Yallop, from Loftus, started having trouble with his vision in late 2012, discovering soon after that he was suffering from a brain tumour.

His wife Narelle Yallop said it came as a huge shock when he was diagnosed with central nervous system lymphoma in early 2013, aged 59.

“We were on holiday in Canada and his vision started going.”

Mrs Yallop said two tumours were located behind each of his eyes and could not be removed.

“They are sitting behind the eyes and they can’t get rid of them,” Mrs Yallop said. “They are constantly shedding cancer cells into his eyes.”

She said they were very grateful for his treatment at the Sydney Eye Hospital, under Professor Peter McCluskey, which included methotrexate injections each fortnight.

“It’s really good treatment. After his injections he is really good but by the end of the two weeks his vision starts to go down.”

She said her husband also suffered from short-term memory loss and his life had completely changed since being diagnosed. “It was life changing. John had to give up work and I had to give up work to look after him.”

Mr Yallop’s family will take part in the EyeCon Night Walk at Barangaroo Reserve this Saturday night, July 29. Funds raised will go towards The Eye Surgeons’ Foundation, specifically for visionary medical research. 

Much of Mr Yallop’s family, which includes three children and nine grand children, will take part in the up-coming walk. To register for the walk click here.

The Eye Surgeons’ Foundation chief executive Lisa Cheng explained visual impairment was not just a problem for the ageing.

“Losing your sight to eye disease such as glaucoma, macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and other rare diseases is a life sentence, and one that affects more than 435,000 Australians.

“Vision loss adversely affects people’s independence and ability to go about living their daily lives and for those without supportive family and friends it negates any reasonable quality of life.”