Last year, Maria Woods had been having some issues with her vision. The 25-year-old from Ratoath, Co Meath, had been experiencing ‘floaters’ in her eyes; her eyesight had deteriorated significantly in a few short months and she was getting headaches.
“I have a brain condition called idiopathic intracranial hypertension (an increased pressure in the skull) so I get checked every four months to the Mater Hospital,”
Maria explains. “When I went in January of this year, they didn’t see anything but when I went back in April, they saw something and they suspected I had a detached retina.”
She was referred to the Royal Eye and Ear Hospital for more scans. With her partner working nights and her mother also at work, Maria attended the hospital on her own. However, she was asked to ring her partner to come before the consultant spoke to her. Her diagnosis was ocular melanoma, a rare form of cancer.
“My consultant showed me a scan of eye and you could clearly see a tumour in the corner, on the right hand side. That was on Monday and I was admitted to St Luke’s in Rathgar on Wednesday for surgery on the Thursday,” she says. “As you can imagine, it was a shock to the system and still to this day I haven’t fully understood it. I am one of the youngest in Ireland to be diagnosed with this.”
During surgery, a disk called a plaque containing radiation seeds was put on the wall of her eye. Maria had to wear a lead eye patch and wear the plaque for 5 days, after when she was able to return home. She currently takes five different eye drops, three times a day, and will continue to do so for another month.
“The tumour hasn’t shrank just yet and it if doesn’t, or it grows, the eye will be eventually removed,” she says.She is also attending St Vincent’s Hospital for scans every six months as this type of cancer can spread to the liver.
“I had been talking to my mam and my partner about it, and they were getting upset so it’s nice to have someone else to talk to instead.”
During her treatment, Maria visited the Daffodil Centre in St. Luke’s and she also called the Irish Cancer Society’s Support Line when she had queries about her medication. Maria has also had free counseling sessions, arranged through the Daffodil Centre.
“I’m finding the sessions very helpful because I’m very conscious of my eye at the moment, because obviously I have one good eye and one eye that’s very droopy looking,” she says. “I had been talking to my mam and my partner about it, and they were getting upset so it’s nice to have someone else to talk to instead.”
She has been warned that she will eventually lose the sight in this eye, “but they don’t know how long that will be. I have no peripheral vision where my tumour is and none when I look down.
"They are organising a muscle clinic for me because they don’t want my eye to go lazy and my GP has suggested the occupational therapy so that I can learn how to do things. It would be very hard to learn how to drive again and let’s just say that kerbs and stairs aren’t my friend at the moment, because I keep missing them and falling over.”
Maria is sharing her story to raise awareness of eye cancer. She would also like to encourage people to look after their eye health and talk to their optician about booking an Optimal Coherence Tomography (OTC) scan if they have concerns. “If you go for a normal eye test, you can pay a small amount extra and get this done which could show any changes. Not a lot of people know what this is, but it could save your eye in the long run,” she says.
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