Meet Jessica
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Meet Jessica! Jessica is strong, brave, compassionate, empathetic, and independent!
On December 4, 2014 Jessica was diagnosed with Choroidal Melanoma in her right eye. She had minimal symptoms. Hazy vision, more frequent headaches and nausea when running. But nothing that stood out as a red flag.
This is her story...
I had two treatment options. The first option was radiation, the second was enucleation, or removal of the eye. I really wanted to keep my eye, so I chose what is know as Brachytherapy Plaque Radiation. This type of radiation is similar to the way prostate cancer is treated. The radiation treatment required two surgeries, one to place the radiation plaque (January 7, 2015), and a second surgery to remove the plaque (January 14, 2015). From the 7 through the 14 I was confined to my bedroom. I couldn't be in close contact with anyone because of the radiation. For some odd reason, the cats aren't affected by it. So Nathan, my gray cat, was my buddy through it all. Before I was diagnosed he attached himself to me. He didn't leave my side. During the radiation when my parents had to come in to change the dressing and give me my eye drops, Nathan would stand on my chest and watch as they did it. He wanted to make sure they weren't hurting me. Aside from all my doctors, the most deserved "Thank you" goes out to my Mom, Dad, and my Aunt Debbie. If it wasn't for the three of them I don't know where I would be emotionally and physically. I love you guys so much!
Having restricted vision has really impacted my life. Because of the tumor, my retina and macula were detached. With that being said, I have little to no vision in my right eye. My ability to do everyday things has been impacted. It's often hard to do things that require great precision because my depth perception is off. Reading can be hard, and something as simple as catching a ball or grabbing something from someone's hand can give me anxiety because I have to try to calculate where my hands actually need to be. I have to think about things instead of just being able to do them. It can even be embarrassing, these things that I used to be able to do I can't anymore. I used to be so good at sports and now that my vision is compromised, I can't do things the way I used to.
xo,