Britany Mathews Cancer Fund

My Story

I was diagnosed with  Ocular Melanoma on October 16th 2019 a week before my 33rd birthday. Our baby son was 8 months old and our 3 year old dog was in the throws of seizures. On November 19th, 2019 I had my right removed.

Currently, I am cancer free though life with only one eye has presented unforeseen challenges that will roughly take 6 to 8 months to get used to. In addition, while my tumor is gone, I still have many more appointments in the future for continual cancer screenings, and incision check ups to make sure I continue to heal properly.


From the Beginning

In early October I went for a routine eye check up. I noticed that my vision seemed a bit a hazy and I mentioned this to the optometrist. Two appointments with different specialists and ten photos later, I felt the feeling in photo lab change all of a sudden. I walked back to my room and told my husband I felt the news wouldn't be good. About 10 minutes later the doctor walked in and said, "I believe it's cancer." He went on to explain what it all meant and then broke down the major decisions I would have to make. I had Ocular Melanoma in the right eye. Effectively I had a cancerous tumor growing on my optic nerve that was medium sized.



I left the office stunned. The next two days I had other tests done to make sure the cancer had not spread. The biopsy followed. Then, on November 19th, I had my right eye removed with the optic nerve and the tumor growing on it.

Minutes before surgery, I was nothing but excited. 

My husband had given me his jacket to cuddle with. I was so drugged up, I barely remember. I was also very nauseous for 6 hours afterward/.


I didn't feel the entire right side of my face for a week. Also the pressure on my eye socket was intense in order to keep the bleeding to a minimum.

I was over 150 miles from my baby son for a week recovering with some wonderful friends. At the time, all I thought about was making it home for Thanksgiving and the relief I would feel being cancer free on Christmas.


After my bandage came off, my eye remained sewn shut for a month. If you're wondering, this is as terrifying and weird as it sounds.


Today

I live with a living implant; a piece of coral sits where my eye once did. In time, my optic nerve will die completely, and my blood vessels will grow within the porous surface.

I'm currently in the process of getting an implant. This too expensive since it's considered elective.

I meet my new Oncologist this month. I'm actually very excited because as much as I worry about the cancer coming back, this doctor is trained to look for it in the places Melanoma likes to hide and I'll be under observation for the next 10 years.

I'm in having a hard time adjusting to the change in vision but they say it's normal and somewhat temporary. In the grand scheme of things, I'm still proud of the choice I made even if it feels like I really didn't have a choice at all. Things are hard but I'm hopeful. Everyone else, including my dogs are doing well. That makes recovery a little less stressful.

Thank You for reading.