Thank you all for getting me to the goal!!

In early August while renewing his driver's license, Missoulian Ryan Troutwine, 37, realized that he had almost completely lost vision in his left eye. Shortly after, a conversation with a close friend and concern from his fiancé, Nickolette, prompted Ryan, or “Trout” as we know him, to call the Rocky Mountain Eye Center and arrange to be seen ASAP. Because of his complete vision loss and other symptoms, he was promptly booked for an appointment the following morning where he learned that there was a large, likely cancerous, mass growing inside of his left eye.

 

Days later, he was referred to a specialist in Spokane where he was officially diagnosed with uveal ocular melanoma in his left eye. Because of the location and size of the tumor, his only option for treatment was enucleation, or removal of the eye, to prevent the cancer from spreading. On Wednesday, September 8, only a week after his initial diagnosis, Trout went in for enucleation (complete eye removal) surgery.

 

Trout is healing well, and recuperating with his friends, family, fiancé, and handsome pup Scallion by his side. He is scheduled to be fitted for his prosthetic on Monday, November 28. Recently, we received a letter from Erickson’s Eyes, the prosthetic eye design company in Spokane notifying us that his prosthetic would be out of network, and that he would owe $4,700.00 before time of service. Feeling a bit blindsided by this, Trout sent in a petition to his insurance to ask for an exception, as there are no other local options available to have his prosthetic made. Luckily, they are willing to help, somewhat, but Trout will stay have to pay for $2,700.00 out of pocket. 

 

Though we’re all grateful the surgery went smoothly and Trout's recent CT scans show there is a good chance the cancer has not spread, the financial toll of these specialist visits, surgeries, follow-ups, and prosthetics, fittings, and regular cancer screenings is yet to be determined. Unfortunately, Uveal Ocular Melanoma is a very dangerous and aggressive cancer, so it is our greatest hope that we never see this return elsewhere in Ryan’s body. The good news is that Trout does have health insurance, however he has already hit his $6,000 out of pocket maximum any help, no matter the size is greatly appreciated.