Hiya all my name is clare parker and i was diagnosed with ocular melanoma in 2001 at the age of 21 and scared out of my mind and not really knowing what was going on and happening to me, i had never even heard of eye melanoma before, i had scans, bloods etc done and was then booked in for an operation called iridectomy which
is removal of the iris i was scared and knew that this had to be done having researched online after the op my future looking bleak i thought this is not going to beat me, with family and macmillan support i got on with my life had my daughter and future to look forward to, with my follow up appointments and scans i didnt worry too much only to have my world come tumbling down. 2004 started with blurry vision, flashes of light and tenderness
within the eye i knew something was wrong and the melanoma was back, you know your own body, my ocular oncologist took one look into my eye and said the melanoma was back, bigger and growing fast and my only option was to have my eye removed ( enucleation) i was devastated and all i thought was i was going to die, that was untill i had all scans, bloods done etc and was told it hadnt spread thank god i thought. My operation was done and tried to adjust to living with one eye and the thought of it coming back, i will tell you i did get there with support, good doctors and positivity i am still here today it will be 7yrs clear this august 2011 and having battled it twice in the last 10yrs i live in hope and to other OM battlers out there there is hope and not all doom and gloom and people can live there life, my advice dont follow everything online i am proof that people live beyond ocular melanoma.
