Malignant melanoma of the choroid in the eye

Hi @twocents, Thanks for starting this discussion. @grammalori @donie @nanasova posted about choroidal melanoma quite some time ago. I'm not sure if they are still responding to email notifications, but hopefully one of them will return to share their experiences.

While we wait for others to join the discussion, I'd like to learn more about your situation. How often does your husband return for follow-up appointments? How has the cancer affected his vision?

Thanks for your response. Since the surgery he has follow up appointments with his retina specialist every three months. It takes six to eight months for the tumor to start shrinking. He had an appointment last week, and the tumor is not as red or "active" and is slightly smaller. He has lost some vision in his eye, but not dramatically. Their main concern is the chance of the cancer metastasizing, so he sees his oncologist every three months, with a full body scan every six months. The Oncologist follow up appointments/scans will continue for ten years.I'm not sure about the retina specialist appointments.

That is encouraging news, @twocents. I can imagine that the worry about metastasis nags at both of you. How are you coping with that?
You might be interested in this discussion:
- Coping with anxiety while waiting https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/coping-with-anxiety-while-waiting/

Are you able to put cancer out of your mind between visits to the oncologist?

Thank you for your response and information. We have only had one visit to the oncologist, the next one is December 17, and at that time he will have the scan. We are coping ok - try not to think about it too often, since there really isn't anything we can do. My husband is very private and never complains. But I try to get him to talk about it every so often so he doesn't keep it all bottled up. I know he's worried, but he covers it up quite well. I'm sure we will be nervous as the 17th of December approaches...

was diagnosed in March, no spread as of now

@twocents If you haven't seen the Ken Burns documentary about Mayo Clinic, one of the patient cases in the story is about melanoma of the eye, and that patient did very well. You can see the documentary on the PBS website (I think for a fee) and you can purchase a copy from PBS or Mayo. I thought it was wonderful, and that patient with the eye cancer was pregnant during her treatment. Maybe that would help to see a patient experience this treatment and with a good outcome.

@jenniferhunter thank you for the information. I will check it out. Every bit of information on this will definitely be helpful and relieve anxiety for sure!

My husband had his full body scan, blood work and oncologist appointment today. We are happy to report that at this point the cancer has not metastasized. The doctor did say that if it does metastasize to the liver that it is automatically stage 4 cancer,. Which we don't understand why that is so. He did say that the chance of the cancer metastasizing is 50%. We also asked if there was anything my husband could do to up his chances of his cancer not spreading and he said no...not even diet or exercise would do anything to help prevent this. Has anyone heard of anything we can do to help stop the chance of this metastasizing? Thanks so much.

@twocents, any cancer that spreads (metastacizes) to other sites in the body beyond the original tumor is called stage 4 cancer or advanced cancer. While diet and exercise may not actually prevent the cancer from spreading, it can help improve health and strength if it should come back. Remember the other side of the equation. There is a 50% change that it will NOT spread. I would focus on that.

May I ask how old your husband is?

Thank you Colleen. I appreciate the information. Yes we are trying to focus on the 50 percent chance that it won’t spread. I’m trying to encourage my husband and help him to eat healthy and exercise. He’s not one that has ever done either so it’s quite and challenge for me and frustrating. My husband is 67 years old. Thanks again