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In August 2018, Kailee Watson, OD ‘12, got a call from a nearby pediatrician’s office in Palm Desert, California. Dr. Watson always took calls from this pediatrician as he was the doctor for her three children.
On this particular call, the pediatrician described a three-year-old patient, Truman Bohn, who he thought had glaucoma and wanted Dr. Watson, who graduated from the Pennsylvania College of Optometry (PCO) at Salus University and returned to California to join her father Lawrence Watson, OD in the family practice, to check the boy’s pressure.
Originally, he was diagnosed with pink eye two days prior via telemedicine and he was treated with a topical antibiotic. After no improvement he needed to be seen by an optometrist.
“I had to check his pressure because that is what the pediatrician wanted. By the time I got a pressure reading, it was in the high-40s,” said Dr. Watson, who had not previously met the family prior to the exam. “But what was more concerning than the pressure was the fact that his eye was proptotic, it was bulging, and it was very vascular. It was very red in the inner corner and it was slightly turned out.”
The appearance was very concerning for Dr. Watson. Her fear was there was a mass somewhere, but she couldn’t diagnose what that mass was. “In my mind, it was a tumor. That’s exactly what I thought it was,” said Dr. Watson.
She sat down with the parents and recommended they immediately drive the boy to the nearest children’s hospital.
“There was this moment of realization and they got in the car and drove an hour away to Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital,” said Dr. Watson. “They admitted Truman that night, they biopsied the next day and by Friday he was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma of the medial rectus — a tumor of the inner muscle, the muscle that keeps the eye from turning out.”
That muscle was not working and the tumor was pushing the eye forward and out. They were diagnosed within a day and a half of being admitted to the children’s hospital and chemo was started a week later.
After a couple of months of chemotherapy, proton radiation and more chemotherapy, Bohn was able to ring the cancer-free bell on Feb. 5, 2019. That just happened to be Dr. Watson’s birthday and not the last date that would fortuitously line up with the family and their optometrist.
But the child’s story was far from over.
Throughout this journey, Dr. Watson had an open line of communication with Truman’s parents, Beth and Lance. They knew they could call any time for medical advice or more importantly she could be a friend to Beth and listen without judging or asking unnecessary questions from one mom to another.
Two months later one of those calls happened because the cancer returned and spread. The family needed further advice on how and where to get Truman the best treatment.
Once again, Dr. Watson stepped up. While at PCO/Salus, she was mentored by Carlo Pelino, OD ‘94, FAAO, and had maintained her connection with him.
“I thought one of the people that I trust the most is Dr. Pelino, and he’s someone I know that knows so many people in our field,” said Dr. Watson. “Even though he’s in Pennsylvania and I’m in California, I knew he was going to have good advice and he’s going to have recommendations of somebody that could help Truman. This isn’t a very common cancer and you need somebody who knows how to treat it.”
Dr. Pelino did know somebody. He called a friend at Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles on a Friday and by the following Tuesday, the family had an appointment there. The family had also scheduled an appointment with The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Research Institution in Houston, Texas, for a second opinion.
After consulting both institutions, they decided to go with MD Anderson, where they were told that his eye would need to be removed. On July 31, 2019, doctors removed the boy’s whole eye, all of the muscles surrounding it, the tumor, the orbit, the bone and part of Truman’s sinuses because the cancer had spread. Doctors took a graft from Truman’s thigh to fill in and cover the surgical site.
After an entire year of chemo at MD Anderson and additional radiation, Bohn once again rang the cancer-free bell on May 29, 2020, hopefully for the last time.
A year later on May 29, 2021, the now six-year-old was playing in a t-ball game against a team that Dr. Watson coached and her son, who is the same age, was on that team. After the game, Bohn’s mom approached Dr. Watson, and she was crying.
“Do you know what day this is?” Bohn’s mom asked Dr. Watson. “Today is one year since Truman is cancer free.”
Over this entire journey with the Bohn family, Dr. Watson said that one of the many realizations she’s experienced is the importance of developing and maintaining professional relationships.
“It’s a story that doesn’t have the ending we thought it was going to have, but it’s a happy ending,” said Dr. Watson. “I’m so grateful that I have these connections with people at PCO/Salus. Even though I graduated almost 10 years ago, I still know that if I need advice or I need a recommendation, I can call Dr. Pelino.”
And, that reinforces her initial decision to leave California and attend school across the country at PCO/Salus.
“It makes me really confident to know that I made the right decision in choosing PCO/Salus,” said Dr. Watson. “I think that I received a great education and I was prepared to do the things that I want to do and to help people however I can help them. My patients are my family.”
Dr. Pelino said this case demonstrates Dr. Watson’s compassion and commitment toward her patient base.
“It is important to know that former students realize the clinical bond that is made during their time at the University and that they can feel free to reach out when needed,” said Dr. Pelino. “It is extremely rewarding to be able to help someone even if it is indirectly and so many miles away."
