Get you eye exam

[Richard]

How long has it been since you visited the eye doc?

Around this time last year I was diagnosed with a melanoma in my left eye. Don't kid yourself, any growth on the eye can and will metastasize rapidly. I was told if I did nothing I wouldn't live to see next Christmas. My lil' 'ol country doc sees about 10 eye melanomas/year, they are not as rare as you may think. He treats every one as if they are malignant.

It makes little difference whether young or old, although exposure to the elements can be a factor. As pilots we have a high exposure....

So...schedule a visit with your eye doc soon.

 

[Bill]

How long has it been since you visited the eye doc?

I see my opthamologist every 3 months, glaucoma.

 

[Ghery]

Optometrist annually. Just last month. All is well here. Glad you caught it in time.

 

[jhempel]

Richard, your post hits close to home. Melanoma killed my dad at the age of 54.

It always gets my attention anytime someone mentions melanoma. It is a fast killer.

To answer your question, I get an eye exam every year. I was just there last week!

 

[judypilot]

I am very paranoid about melanoma. No family history, but I've spent a lot of time in the sun and got a couple of second-degree sunburns when I was young and stupid. I have the triple whammy, having grown up in California and lived in Colorado for 6 years and Arizona for 16. To make things worse, I've spent a lot of time on the Colorado Plateau (high, clear air) and in similar terrain in Argentina doing geological field work. Even though I cover up completely (long sleeved shirts, long pants, gloves, wide-brimmed hat) and put sunscreen on under my clothes, when you spend all day in the sun, you get a lot of exposure.

Interestingly, the rate of skin cancer is quite high in Idaho, but they think it's because all these people are moving here from California.

What I had never heard of, though, is melanoma in the eye. I did see an opthamologist a couple of years ago (for the first time in probably 20 years), but maybe I'll make it more regularly. How do they treat it? Based on other treatments I've seen for melanoma (big chunks of flesh carved out--I had a friend whose face was disfigured from the removal of two melanomas), I'm imagining removal of the eye, but you didn't say anything about that.

Judy

 

[Frank Browne]

So...schedule a visit with your eye doc soon.

In addition I would add...be sure to get a vision field test! There are some non-vision related conditions that can be detected by a vision field test. I know.

 

[ScottM]

Had a friend with this condition and it was really cancerous. Sometime you cannot tell until they take the biopsy. He ended up going to Philly for a procedure that involved having a radioactive disc installed in his eye for a few days. So far so good, he has kept his eye and vision and no sign of the cancer. I wish the same for you too. What treatment are you getting?