I Wore Contacts for Almost 30 Years, Is That Why I Have Ocular Melanoma?

I was in complete shock at the end of April when I was told by a retinal specialist that I had what he believed was a “greater than 10 mm tumor” in my left eye.

The retinal specialist referred me to an ocular oncologist. And, as you might remember if you’ve been following this journey, on May 17 the oncologist confirmed the diagnosis (via scanning and imaging, she did not take a biopsy) that I had ocular or what they call uveal melanoma. By her estimate, the tumor was 11.6 mm in size.

The ocular oncologist offered me one option only: enucleation—removal of my eyeball. That was a good day. Not.

But enucleation was the only allopathic treatment available at Oregon Health & Science University. If I’d been seen at Duke University or Stanford or at the Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia or in Germany, Japan, or the United Kingdom, I likely would have been given some—perhaps many—other options.

Among these: