A Special Doctor

If only every doctor was this special; today in the mail from my ocular melanoma MD:  "I wanted to sincerely thank you for the handmade Christmas ornament, along with the wonderful Season's Greetings card.  It is a pleasure helping to partake in your ocular care.  I certainly wish you the best regarding the outcome of the treatment, as well as many years to come."  I liked him from the moment I met him - what an incredible doctor.

The eye is slowly healing, but I continue to struggle with the statistics.

Local control of uveal melanoma has been achieved in 95% of patients with primary uveal melanoma by radioactive plaque, proton beam radiation, enucleation, and thermal therapy.  Up to 50% of patients who receive a successful eye treatment eventually develop systemic recurrance which is generally fatal.  One small study revealed the average time from diagnosis of primary tumor to detection of metastasis was 125.9 months (range 17-273 months, SD +/- 95 months).

April 17th and October 17th are two important days with work.  The first of which short-term disability and sick time become active; the second where long-term disability, vacation, and personal time becomes active.  I have gone back for two days since the surgery; they haven't been easy.  There is no pain, only frustration.  It is hard to work fast and efficiently with one eye - just switching from reading to typing is a challenge...the eyes just don't want to move fast...everything becomes a body movements instead of a slight eye movement.  But, I made it through the two days and got a handful of plan reviews done.  Certainly losing my boss on Friday is going to make for a more challenging environment.

We are still tossing around the idea of going to Hot Springs National Park alter this month...maybe.