Eldest brother is the only one of us "kids" with good vision. Teacher and I are both like mole people, blinking and bumping into shit without corrective lenses. How EB managed to win the genetic visual lottery, I don't know. Even my mother needs reading glasses.
A little over two years ago, I was diagnosed with optic neuritis. This inflammation of the optic nerve is painful and your vision gets progressively worse until you can barely see out of the affected eye. It is no picnic. But it cleared up and whilst I do have residual damage to my myeline, I don't notice anything different.
Last night my mother called me. EB has been diagnosed with retinal melanoma. The tumor is tiny but it is inside the eye, not on the surface. A doctor friend of mine said that he will probably undergo radiation and that survival rate is 63%. Hopefully it has not disseminated to his lymph nodes or other organs. He went to the doctor the minute he noticed something was wrong so hopefully it is one of those "we caught it in plenty of time" deals.
The shock hit me today and I've cried a few times at work. I'm not really sure why. EB and I have never been close. I think it's just the shock of it. He with the wife who has had synovial sarcoma for the past four years, who lost half her leg to it. Now this?
Makes me happy for what I have and paranoid about what might happen to Teacher and his eyes two years from now.
A little over two years ago, I was diagnosed with optic neuritis. This inflammation of the optic nerve is painful and your vision gets progressively worse until you can barely see out of the affected eye. It is no picnic. But it cleared up and whilst I do have residual damage to my myeline, I don't notice anything different.
Last night my mother called me. EB has been diagnosed with retinal melanoma. The tumor is tiny but it is inside the eye, not on the surface. A doctor friend of mine said that he will probably undergo radiation and that survival rate is 63%. Hopefully it has not disseminated to his lymph nodes or other organs. He went to the doctor the minute he noticed something was wrong so hopefully it is one of those "we caught it in plenty of time" deals.
The shock hit me today and I've cried a few times at work. I'm not really sure why. EB and I have never been close. I think it's just the shock of it. He with the wife who has had synovial sarcoma for the past four years, who lost half her leg to it. Now this?
Makes me happy for what I have and paranoid about what might happen to Teacher and his eyes two years from now.
Oh my. How is your Mom taking it? This year has been a shit year.
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