Hello, my name is Don Nelson and I live in Oberlin, OH.
Though this letter will at first seem to be about me, you will hopefully see that it is really about you.
A few weeks ago, on a Saturday morning, I had made a trip to a local hardware store to pick up some electrical connectors for a little job I was working on at home. As I stood looking at the various packages of connectors hanging on the wall, I suddenly had a problem with double vision. This had never happened to me before but as it only lasted about 45 seconds, it did not seem to be such a big deal at the time. My vision returned to normal and I went on about my business. Bought what I needed and then went home and completed the project that I was working on. The next day I happened to mention the incident to my wife and the next thing I knew, I had a doctors appointment to find out what had happened. I thought it was silly to go to the doctor for what seemed to be such an insignificant incident but my wife would have it no other way so off to the doctor I went.
I was very surprised to hear the words from the doctor that they felt I had experienced a minor stroke, what is called a "TIA". I have always been relatively healthy. No high blood pressure, no cholesterol problems, etc. I was immediately put on a daily low dosage aspirin treatment and more tests were ordered. The results of a MRI, MRA and various blood work all came back negative so the doctor's then started doubting that I had a stroke at all. My primary physician suggested that I see an Ophthalmologist just to make sure there wasn't a problem with my eyes that may have caused the double vision.
On Friday, March 20th, I had what I thought would be a routing eye exam that would simply rule out any problems with my eyes. I had gotten new glasses about 2 months prior to this and no problems were detected at that time. I was more than a little surprised however when the Ophthalmologist told me that she was seeing a small growth on the back of my right eye around the optic nerve. She immediately made an appointment for me with another doctor at the Cole Eye Institute at the Cleveland clinic who specializes in Ocular Oncology.
On Thursday, March 26th, I went through about 6 hours of testing on my eyes. Ultrasounds, high speed scans, more blood tests, cat scan, others that I can't even remember. At the end of the day, it was confirmed that I did indeed have a tumor, Ocular Melanoma, around the optic nerve of my right eye. As I had just waited a week for this appointment I had already done plenty of research on this affliction and knew that it was not news that I wanted to hear. The doctor at the Cole Eye Institute offered two options for treatment. I could choose a radiation called "Plaque Radiation" where they suture a plaque containing radioactive seeds to the eye and leave it there for about 5 days. This should kill the cancerous cells but would also kill the good cells around the tumor. Because my tumor is around the optic nerve, he said that there is a 100% chance that I would be blind in my right eye. The second option would be to just have the eye removed at this time. The doctor has recommended that I have the eye removed. He is recommending option two, removal of the eye because I am going to lose site in the eye either way and the removal is best for ensuring that the cancer does not spread.
I went home to make my decision between these two choices and had I chose one of them, I would be in the hospital today having my eye removed. I did more research though and found that there is a doctor in Boston, MA that specializes in a different radiation treatment. It uses a proton beam radiation which is much more precise and there is some chance that my vision could be saved. I will be going to Boston on April 6th to find out if this treatment is a possibility for me. I have accepted the fact that due to the location of the tumor, the proton beam radiation may not be a viable solution and that I will be back in Cleveland having my eye removed within the next week or two.
The good news is that the cat scan and subsequent blood work have indicated that the cancer has not yet spread to other parts of my body. This in itself is a bit of a miracle in that most cases of Ocular Melanoma are what they call "secondary melanomas"...meaning that the cancer has spread to the eye from melanoma elsewhere in the body. They feel that mine is a rare case of "primary melanoma" meaning that it started in the eye and we found it in time.
So why did I feel the need to write this letter? It's very simple. I want you to know how important it is to get regular eye exams. I was VERY lucky in that I had a little incident that prompted me...well it prompted my wife to MAKE me....see a doctor which led to an eye examination. Had this not been found when it was, chances are that I would have been dead a year from now. I am still not out of the woods. Any of you who have had any type of cancer or live with friends or loved ones who have survived cancer know that it is something that you are never entirely certain is gone. We caught it early though so my chances are much better than they would have been had this gone undetected.
I was also lucky in that I had the little incident at all. In most cases of Ocular Melanoma, there are no symptoms. The problem is typically detected only during a routine eye examination.
The last thing I want to do is to scare anybody. Ocular Melanoma is relatively rare. Only about 240 cases per year are diagnosed in the United States. The cause is unknown though there are some theories that it may be sun related. Good sunglasses with UV protection would certainly be my recommendation for all of you that spend a lot of time outdoors. The fact is though, it is unlikely that any of you have this disease and for that, I am very thankful. There are a LOT of eye diseases though, many that can eventually lead to blindness or other serious outcomes if not detected and treated. The good news is that most can be easily treated if discovered early. So PLEASE, do not take your eyes for granted. If I were with all of you now I would ask for a show of hands of those who have not had an eye examination within the past 2 years. I would bet that many have not. Some of you who have never needed glasses may have never had an eye examination. Like I said, many eye diseases have no symptoms and you could have 20/20 vision and still have a problem that you do not know about. I would also ask how many of you who do wear glasses have not taken the time to have a real eye examination? I have had my eyes checked yearly for the past several years when I get new glasses. I am always in a hurry though and stop by the local Lenscrafters or Eye Masters in the local mall. They do the vision test, maybe the Glaucoma test with the burst of air but not a single time have the doctors there ever suggested that my pupils be dilated and my eyes properly examined. Maybe some of your discount eye glass stores are better than mine were but if not, find yourself a good Ophthalmologist and get a proper eye examination. Had I taken the time to go to a real Ophthalmologist for my regular eye exams, perhaps this would have been caught sooner and my eye could have been saved. They don't take long and are painless. There is no reason not to do this. Please do not take a chance on discount avenues when it comes to your precious sight. Get your eyes checked, wear sunglasses when outside, wear your safety glasses when you are working at Gemini or at home. You only have two eyes and they work much better as a pair. You can greatly minimize your chances of losing one or both of them.
The fact is, I'm likely going to lose my right eye. Chances are, you do not have Ocular Melanoma. This does not mean though that one or more of you could not have some type of eye disease that needs to be diagnosed and could be easily treated. I don't know why this happened to me. At this point, it really doesn't matter. It is what it is. If my experience can save even one of you though from someday facing blindness or even death, then at least something good will have come from it. I hope that none of you take this lightly. It is not meant to scare you and you have no reason to be scared but you have plenty of reasons to take advantage of the eye exams available to you. Do it for yourself, do it for your wife, kids, loved ones.
