Finding Your Way with Ocular Melanoma

It is very normal to have double vision right after ocular melanoma surgery, due to the edema and swelling of all the tissue in the orbit that can squish the eye muscles making them not work as well. Usually, the radiation from the plaque or from protons does NOT effect the extra-ocular muscles. Short term double vision is best managed with observation and using the eye like normal, with no patchi...

Using your treated melanoma eye together with your fellow better-seeing eye as soon as possible after your radiation surgery is the fastest way to visual recovery. Sometimes people find themselves wearing a patch over their treated eye because it may seem easier to get through the adjustment and transition period after surgery. However, NOT wearing an eye-patch is actually the fastest way to visua...

Faced with the possibility of losing sight, a new diagnosis of ocular melanoma can be a time of fear and uncertainty. This may also be fueled by the traditional ways in which vision is measured, using the Snellen eye chart and measuring the smallest line of letters that we can read. However, vision is much more than the eye chart. Most of the ways in which we use our vision are not routinely measu...

Abdominal imaging with focus on the liver is the key way to monitor for spread of ocular melanoma (metastasis). However, sometimes patients may get a scan of the brain - CT scan, MRI or PET-CT scan. There may be confusion around the brain imaging report and what is actually happening in the eye with the melanoma. I will share different scenarios both before ocular melanoma treatment, and after tre...

Are you someone who has been told "to wait as long as possible" to have cataract surgery in your good eye, because you have poor vision in the eye that had the ocular melanoma? Has a doctor told you NEVER to have cataract surgery in your better eye? Is your cataract surgeon scared to treat the cataract in your good eye? Read on! You are not alone.  We are born with a natural lens in our eye that s...

Have you been given a diagnosis of ocular melanoma and you want to get another opinion for confirmation? Or you just want to learn more about what other centers offer for treatment? Have you been diagnosed with something unusual or "suspicious" and you want another set of eyes to reassure you things are okay? Know that getting a second opinion is a normal part of educating yourself and engaging wi...

What is tumor recurrence? Another more technical term for this is "local treatment failure" - when the original surgery or treatment procedure to destroy the ocular melanoma results in re-growth or continued growth of the ocular tumor at a later date. Learn about how your ocular oncologist may decide that recurrence is happening, and what can be done about it.  Welcome to Finding Your Way with Ocu...

Immediately after the initial plaque placement surgery has been completed, what can one expect over the following days that the plaque is on the eye? Welcome to Finding Your Way with Ocular Melanoma, a guide to understanding everything there is to know about your experience with this rare cancer. Learn through the lens of my knowledge and clinical experience as a physician expert and passionate pa...

What exactly happens in plaque surgery? Learn about the steps in surgery, how the surgeon gets exposure of your eye surface to place the plaque, and how the surgeon figures out exactly where to put the plaque to kill the ocular melanoma.  Welcome to Finding Your Way with Ocular Melanoma, a guide to understanding everything there is to know about your experience with this rare cancer. Learn through...

Feeling unusually exhausted about a month after your radiation treatment is a fairly common phenomenon among patients. Most importantly it goes away in a few weeks and can be regarded as your body's response to the dying melanoma.  Welcome to Finding Your Way with Ocular Melanoma, a guide to understanding everything there is to know about your experience with this rare cancer. Learn through the le...

What is involved in enucleation surgery? What is it like to have a prosthesis? What are the situations where I might need to consider having an enucleation? Learn more about how ocular oncologists decide to recommend enucleation both at the time of diagnosis, and after your treatment for ocular melanoma.  Welcome to Finding Your Way with Ocular Melanoma, a guide to understanding everything there i...

How is getting proton beam treatment different than plaque brachytherapy? During my fellowship training, proton beam treatment at the Northwest Proton Beam Center at Massachusetts General Hospital was the standard of care for ocular melanoma patients. As a trainee I was involved in tantalum clip placement and helped patients first-hand through the radiation sessions.  Welcome to Finding Your Way w...

The most common way to treat an ocular melanoma is by using seeds of radiation of a specific isotope, usually Iodine-125 or Palladium-103, that are contained in a gold carrier, called a plaque. We call the method of delivering radiation via seeds, brachytherapy. How does radiation work? How long should it be in place? What do I need to do to be safe? What do we look for to know that the treatment...

There is an 8.6% incidence of developing glaucoma after plaque brachytherapy in ocular melanoma. Glaucoma is a highly treatable disease in the field of ophthalmology. Sometimes glaucoma may be missed, and/or sup-optimally treated in a tumor eye, compared to an eye that does not have a melanoma. Learn why it is important to understand how well your glaucoma is being managed. Welcome to Finding Your...

In this episode, we chat about the human eyeball, where ocular melanoma forms in relation to the structures of the eye, symptoms that might happen with a growing ocular melanoma, how the diagnosis is made, and some basic types of treatment options.  Welcome to Finding Your Way with Ocular Melanoma, a guide to understanding everything there is to know about your experience with this rare cancer. Le...

Why do I believe we need a podcast about Ocular Melanoma authored by a physician? Welcome to Finding Your Way with Ocular Melanoma, a guide to understanding everything there is to know about your experience with this rare cancer. Learn through the lens of my knowledge and clinical experience as a physician expert and passionate patient advocate. The more you know about ocular melanoma, the better...