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Elizabeth’s Story: A Childhood Cancer Survivor Finds New Clarity After Eye Surgery

June 23, 2025

Elizabeth Allen, a 33-year-old cancer survivor, shares her journey of dealing with late-term side effects, including double vision and eye misalignment.

Three children stand by a lake on a Fall day

Elizabeth Allen, 33, credits her cheerful, optimistic personality as the key to tackling adversity in her life. And there certainly has been quite a lot of adversity to overcome. In 2004, following a period of nausea, throbbing headaches and an inability to turn corners without hitting the wall, Elizabeth was diagnosed with a medulloblastoma, a cancerous brain tumor. She was just 11 years old.

The tumor was located on her cerebellum, the part of the brain that affects balance and movement. Neurosurgeons at Tufts Medical Center were able to remove the tumor shortly after diagnosis completely, but per treatment protocols for her tumor type, Elizabeth still required radiation and chemotherapy. Five years later, she needed a second brain surgery to remove a cavernous malformation, an abnormal cluster of blood vessels that was a rare side effect of the radiation therapy she had received. Over the 21 years since, Elizabeth has dealt with a bevy of late-term side effects of her cancer treatments, including some permanent hearing loss and recurring meningiomas (small, benign brain tumors), as well as double vision and eye misalignment due to weakening of the nerves that control the eye muscles.

“Cancer survivorship is a never-ending journey and everyone experiences it differently,” said Elizabeth. “I was very fortunate to have a great support system as a child, both at home and in the community. Their support helped me stay positive and deal with the diagnoses and setbacks, both then and now”

Last year, Elizabeth decided to explore options for correcting her double vision and eye misalignment. For 15 years, she had prisms in her glasses, which initially helped but became less effective over time.

“My eyes started to slowly turn inward, to the point where the left eye was becoming really uncomfortable,” said Elizabeth. “My brain was able to adjust to see the ‘true’ image out of the double, so I was able to function normally, but anything that required really good hand-eye coordination, like playing tennis or any activity like that, was getting more difficult.”

Elizabeth was referred to Sylvia Yoo, MD, Director of Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus at the New England Eye Center at Tufts Medical Center. After a series of evaluations, Dr. Yoo recommended eye muscle surgery to improve Elizabeth’s double vision and eye alignment by making the eyes straighter.

“Surgery for Elizabeth’s type of eye misalignment is not straightforward,” said Dr. Yoo. “Elizabeth’s condition had progressively worsened, as the lateral rectus muscles (muscles that move the eyes outward) were not working properly from the effects on their nerves. When those muscles are weak for a long time, the medial rectus muscles (muscles that move the eyes inward) can become tight and pull the eyes inward further.”

Elizabeth’s medial rectus muscles were extremely tight, which made the surgery even more challenging. In a two-hour procedure, Dr. Yoo relaxed the medial rectus muscles in both of Elizabeth’s eyes. She also moved additional muscles towards the outside of her eyes to help center them. An adjustable technique was used to evaluate her eyes once she was awake from anesthesia, before she went home that day. Elizabeth was thrilled with the results.

“For the first time in 15 years, my eyes are straight and I don’t need prisms in my glasses anymore. I am able to gauge depth better, the eye discomfort has completely gone away and aesthetically, it’s a huge improvement.”

Elizabeth Allen, patient

“Elizabeth has done really well in her recovery, and her long-term outlook is excellent,” said Dr. Yoo. “She may still have a little bit of double vision when looking to the left or right, but she can use her eyes more easily now, and can see normally with her head straight and when looking down. Her eyes look centered, and her symptoms are much improved.”

While she no longer has to worry about her eyes, Elizabeth knows that the late effects of her pediatric cancer treatment will need to continue to be managed long-term. She recently had a Gamma Knife procedure done at Tufts MC to shrink the meningiomas in her brain, one of which is in a vein, requiring her to take medications to prevent blood clots.

“I am a pretty positive person, and I’m very hopeful that the treatment will work,” said Elizabeth. “At Tufts Medical Center, they know my eyes and my brain!”

Learn about eye surgery

Elizabeth's journey

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