ocular melanoma

I had a friend who had this 20 years ago and although I don’t know very much, I do know there can be serious complications. In his case it did come back years after treatment in his late life. I do not know how he knew because he had not been followed for years.
I hope you will make an appointment to get this checked out as soon as you can. If nothing else it can bring peace of mind, maybe it is something completely different. We have learned in our house this year that there are many things that can change what your eye sees or doesn’t see.
Have you been getting regular checks on your eyes?

Hello, I’m going to share a different experience that I had with Merkel cell skin cancer on my eyelid five years ago. I had surgery to remove it and then I had radiation. I now have a hemorrhage in that eye and need treatment for it. The retina specialist told me it was a result of the radiation even though they put a protective layer over the eyelid during radiation treatments. I have many complications with my eyelid, closing after the trauma, fortunately Merkel cell has not come back. I hope that you can get to see an ophthalmologist soon to figure out what you are seeing and what is going on. Hopefully it is something that can be fixed easily. I will never take my vision for granted ever again.

I was diagnosed with occular melanoma in June of 2025 and five weeks later unfortunately I was beyond any treatment and had to have my eye removed. But I do feel two years prior is when I first felt something was wrong. I felt a slight irritation like a micro piece of peat moss was stuck in my eye and I also had slight redness in the corners of my eye. I do remember during that period occasionally having light floaters in my peripheral vision. I thought it was due to getting old. I did see several eye Dr.'s over the two years and in the beginning they all thought it was probably just dry eye syndrome. After treating for that and it never getting better I didn't know it was as serious as it was until my vision started to fail and by then it was too late. I would assume you've been getting regular checkups with the dialation of your eye. That's the only way they can see the melanoma but even then not always as in my case. Mine was hiding and was only discovered when it grew larger. And with your history I would schedule a water bath ultrasound at the Mayo Clinic. My occular oncologist said that's probably the only way they would have detected mine in the earlier stages. I don't mean to alarm you but with everything I've been through the last year I would rather you be safe than sorry. I wished I would have listened my intuition a little more, I just knew that there was something wrong from the very beginning. Good luck and I do hope it turns out to be nothing serious.🙏

@melaneeb thank you for sharing your experience with this rare type of melanoma. I am sure that it will be helpful to @mseastside , I am sorry you have been through this. May I ask what kind of a follow up protocol do you have?

@auntieoakley It is a rare type of melanoma and I was diagnosed with ciliary body melanoma. After having my eye removed it was sent for a biopsy where they performed genetic testing to see if I had a genetic mutation in the BPA1 gene. They did find I do have a mutation in that gene which puts me at a higher risk of metastasis. If occular melanoma spreads it usually spreads through the bloodstream to the liver. So due to my increased risk of metastasis my ophthalmic oncologist is having me get MRI's and CT scans of my chest and abdomen every 3 months. But if you have been diagnosed with any kind of ocular melanoma you should make sure to have regular follow-up tests and eye exams with your ophthalmic oncologist and have an ultrasound or MRI on your abdomen at least once each year.