By Lorraine Scally as told to her son, Bernard Scally
Twelve years ago while visiting my optometrist, Dr. William Putterman, I told him that my right eye was seeing zigzag lines from top to bottom where I should be seeing straight lines. He sent me to Nova Care who sent me to Wills Eye Oncology. I had something on the retina of my eye but neither Nova Care nor Wills Eye knew what it was. 
After four years of 3 to 6 month visits and numerous testing, the thing (not yet officially declared a tumor) started to grow. The doctors came to the conclusion that it was cancerous. Oh how I cried, I mean who ever heard of cancer of the eye?
Nine days after this prognosis, I was admitted to Wills Eye Hospital. I had my eye cut open and radioactive chips were placed on the tumor. I was kept in an isolated room for five days then returned to the operating room to the chips removed. As a result of this surgery, I lost about 75 to 80 percent of the vision in my right eye.
Soon now, the waiting game began. The six-month follow after my surgery showed that the tumor was shrinking and continued to do so for the next six years. Then two years ago, the doctors saw some changes and decided to give me a treatment with a nuclear laser. Six months after this treatment, I was informed that there was a very small bleed in my eye but there was nothing to worry about so we continued our visits.
Sadly, this past January, I had a vision in my affected right eye that scared me greatly because it occurred while I was driving. I can only describe it as my eye looked like it was kaleidoscope but all in back. Four days after this incident my eye returned to its normal condition. During my February visit this year, I was informed that the blood was a cause for concern. was referred to Dr. Joseph I. Maguire who felt it best to leave the blood alone as there was not enough to extract and the bleed may sort itself out.
On May 7, 2011, I obtained a massive headache and complete blindness in my right eye. Thinking that it would clear itself up, I tried to ignore it but after two weeks without abatement I returned to Wills Eye Hospital. Immediately, oncologist Dr. Carol Shields recommended removing the eye because it was full of blood and the likeliest source of the bleeding was the diminished tumor. I was stunned but I refused to relinquish my body part until I knew that it was the tumor for sure. I returned to Dr. Maguire within a week. I was again in surgery to remove the blood. When I returned the next day, everything seemed to be well but two weeks later, my eye again filled up with blood. It was also discovered that the tumor had grown even bigger than it had been eight years ago. There was no choice anymore; my eye had to come out.
While I had this tumor in my eye, I had headaches all the time. Since my eye was removed on June 30, 2011, I have had one had headache because I did not take my medications. Thankfully, the cancer was contained solely on the inside of my eye. my advice to all would be to keep a check on your eyes. Have your eyes tested as often as you are able. After some cursory research, I found that eye cancer is more common that I first thought. If you suspect something and your doctor doesn't listen, find a new doctor.
Now that I have a new prosthetic eye from Dr. Kevin V. Kelley, it is a new challenge for me but with the help of my family, friends and church, I will survive.
Photo credit: Bas Slabbers/for www.newsworks.org
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