Good news… again! Just had my 6-month appointment with Dr. Opth and he’s declared my eyes clear of any problems. Yea! I’m now 2.5 years “in recovery.”
I thought we’d move into annual appointments at this point but Dr. Opth has decided he’d like to keep the 6-month appointments going for now. Since we caught the melanoma early originally, we’ve had good results. He’d like to make sure that we stay on top of it since recurrence rates aren’t really known.
Dr. Opth dilated my eyes to “see behind the eyeball” since this cancer can also appear on the backside of the eyeball (weird, huh!). I don’t mind him looking but it takes a long time for my eyes to get back to normal. Sometimes the dilation feels like I’ve been keeping my eyes really wide open and it ends up making my eyes feel so tired. Oh well, he only does the dilation once a year so I can’t really complain. However, I am careful to make my appointments late in the day so I don’t have to worry about going back to work.
I know several of you have made comments on this blog about my situation or your own. For those of you still going through this, I hope your results end up being as good as mine have been thus far!
Hi CJ,
I had CM surgery on 11/9/2000. I was misdiagnosed at Johns Hopkins and ended up at Wills Eye in Philadelphia on my own, much like you and Dr. Opth. I’m certain your doctor’s contact is Drs. Jerry and Carol Shields. They were my surgeons and Dr. Jerry actually wrote the medical textbook used for CM and other cancer surgeries. I encourage you to google them.
I stumbled onto your blog today and read it in its entirety starting from day one. I see your follow ups with your surgeon, but have you been followed by a medical oncologist to make sure it hasn’t spread?
The Shields’ hand-picked my oncologist because they wanted someone who had seen CM before. I was followed every 90 days for 2 years; every 6 months for 3 years; and annually for 5 years. I missed my 10 year check up due to an injury and will be 11 years next month.
If you haven’t been seeing the oncologist, I strongly recommend it. I recognize your insurance dilemma, so perhaps you can go annually.
You have my email address if you want to communicate privately. Take care!
Jennifer
Hi,
I was just alerted to your blog. There is support out there through CURE OM (part of the Melanoma Research Foundation) and numerous other sites. Unfortunately with any ocular melanoma, we are never out of the woods. CURE just had a patient symposium in Philly. Check out their website and Facebook page. We have a number of closed groups on FB and you’re welcome to join. There are a few people with conjunctival melanoma that post.
Glad to hear your are still clear.
Best,
Anne Marie