Ocular melonoma. Thief of sight and lives. Help for a cure.

In 2012, I was diagnosed with ocular melanoma.

I went through plaque brachytherapy radiation — a treatment designed to save my eye and stop the tumor.

And for a while, it worked.

But then I made a mistake.

I stopped going to my regular scans.

I convinced myself everything was fine.

I avoided it. Ignored it.

I buried my head in the sand.

Until five years later, when my daughter told me she had a dream that I died.

That moment hit differently.

It was enough to push me back into a doctor’s office.

And what I found out changed everything:

The tumor that had been considered stable…

had aggressively quadrupled in size.

In 2016, my eye was removed to save my life.

Here’s why I share this:

Not to scare you—

but to wake you up the way I needed to be.

👁️ Eye exams matter

👁️ Follow-ups matter

👁️ Listening to your body (and sometimes your gut) matters

Because this wasn’t caught in an emergency room.

It started with an optometrist who paid attention.

👁️ Get your eyes checked. Every year.

Why it matters:

• An optometrist can detect eye cancer (like mine)

• Kids can struggle in school from undiagnosed vision issues

• Vision changes — sometimes more than you think (mine worsened yearly for a long time)

• Technology now catches what used to be missed

• Eye exams can reveal systemic disease (like diabetes and cancers)

Everyone should have a yearly eye exam.

And if you’ve been diagnosed with something?

Do not skip your monitoring.

I know how easy it is to avoid what scares you.

But ignoring it doesn’t protect you.

🩺 When you go:

• Choose a thorough optometrist

• Get dilated

• Ask for Optomap imaging

• Ask questions

• And follow through.

I live a one-eyed life now—fully, boldly, and yes… with a sparkly eyepatch.

And I use that life to advocate so someone else doesn’t learn this the hard way.

💙 This month, I’m supporting A Cure In Sight, an organization dedicated to research and patient support.

👁️✨ Protect your sight. It’s everything.

Insurance may call things “cosmetic.”

Doctors may miss things.

Systems fail.

But early detection?

That saves lives.

And sometimes… it saves the life you still get to see.