Fisher received international praise for the inspirational way he returned, exhausted, to EnergySolutions Arena in the third quarter of Wednesday's Game 2 of the NBA Western Conference semifinals against his former team. He eventually hit the 3-point shot that put the game out of Golden State's reach, as well as making two free throws in a 127-117 Jazz win in overtime. He also made a defensive stop on old teammate Baron Davis with 27 seconds left in regulation to help the Jazz come from five points down to force the overtime.

He hopes Wednesday night's publicity can help save other children's lives by focusing attention on retinoblastoma. The cancer affects only about 200-250 children a year in the United States, which is why many doctors don't recognize it. Worldwide, 87 percent of children with retinoblastoma die, though because of improving treatments most in the United States survive. If it is not treated soon enough, the cancer can travel quickly from the retina to the optical nerve and into the brain.

"When we get a chance to step back a little bit after the season, my wife and I definitely plan to try and help as many people as we can," said Fisher, who accompanied his team on the flight to California Thursday afternoon and plans to participate in the rest of the playoffs, as Tatum's next treatment will be three to four weeks from now.

"I don't know what we'll be able (to do) at this point. There shouldn't be one child that has to lose a life or even an eye. If there's treatment out there, they should be able to get it. Some people can't afford to get it, some people don't have the resources, but hopefully we can help."

Fisher also hopes his family's very public situation raises the awareness of parents to "follow their instincts" should they spot something amiss, and perhaps educate pediatricians. He doesn't blame his family's first pediatrician for not knowing because the problem is so rare.

Sharing their story

The Fishers were reluctant at first to mention the bad news to anyone last week. "Initially we were very skeptical in terms of sharing information. We didn't know if our little girl was going to still be alive, so we tried to hold things really close to the vest," he said.

"After we talked about it as husband and wife, we got to a point where we said, 'In order to get through this, we're going to need all of that support and prayers and love,' so we started calling people and letting them know exactly what was going on."

He broke the news to teammates before Game 6 of the Houston series May 3. The response was "Heartache, sympathy, empathy, all the emotions above in terms of feeling bad for a guy. A lot of times you feel the worst when you're helpless," he said.