‘Radioactive’ woman told to keep family away after rare diagnosis

A mum who dismissed a fluttering eye as just a ‘nervous twitch’ was left stunned when she was diagnosed with a rare cancer.

Lesley Johnson, 70, limped along for six months with her symptoms before finally seeking medical advice. By the time he contacted the doctors, they were already significantly concerned.

The grandmother of two was immediately sent for tests, which discovered a tumor in the innermost part of her right eye.

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The retired NHS worker was terrified at the prospect of losing her sight. Lesley told the Mirror: “I thought I was going to lose my sight when the nurse told me. I was speechless. It really shocked me. It worried me because I wasn’t expecting it. It wasn’t a good feeling.”

Lesley had surgery to insert a temporary disc behind her eye. This pioneering treatment allowed the radiation treatment to be given over several days. At this stage, Lesley was “radioactive”, meaning loved ones had to keep their distance or see her for no more than two hours.

Essential to preserving her sight, the procedure is known as radiation plate therapy. A year after her discharge from hospital, Lesley still has her sight and the tumor has shrunk considerably in size.

She will now be scheduled for bi-annual checks at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield for the next five years, followed by annual appointments for a further 10 years. Lesley said: “They told me it (the tumor) will never go away but they can make sure it’s stable now.

“The operation saw them putting radium in the eye and a ruthenium plate sewn into the back of the eye, which gave off radiation. We had that there for eight days after that, during which time people had to keep their distance and not get too close. to me at the hospital.

“I was practically radioactive, so it was dangerous.”

Lesley, who is from Mickleover, Derby, noticed flickering in her right eye and “saw wavy lines” intermittently for six months before deciding to see an optician. She attributed these symptoms to knitting and excessive reading, activities she loves and is happy to continue.

However, in March last year, a Specsavers optician referred her to hospital after carrying out tests. At the Royal Hallamshire Hospital, doctors quickly diagnosed Lesley with ocular melanoma, an extremely rare form of cancer.

This condition happens when the pigment-producing cells in the eye multiply excessively and rapidly, resulting in a lump of tissue at the back of the eye, as detected in Lesley’s scans. Lesley started having symptoms in her right eye that initially seemed like minor irritations.

“It all started when I got this flicker in my right eye and like a little box of squiggly lines, but it only happened off and on over a period of six months,” she said.

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“I did a lot of knitting and reading, and put it down to a jittery nerve, or a muscle spasm really. I thought I was overdoing it.”

After the problems persisted, Lesley decided to seek professional advice. She recalls: “He kept going and I decided I needed to talk to someone so I went into the opticians. They did scans and said there was something wrong with the back of my eye.

“She said I needed to go to the hospital straight away as she could see there might be a cyst, although I wasn’t sure.”

Lesley is one of around 850 people diagnosed with eye cancer in the UK last year. Ocular melanoma is the most common type, although it still affects only one in five million adults.

In the past 14 months, the eye cyst has shrunk by over a third since it was first detected. Lesley, who has been married to David for 50 years, continues to attend regular check-ups and thanked NHS workers and Specsavers staff for their life-saving efforts.

Doctors believe that if it had gone unnoticed for much longer, Lesley would have lost her sight. She said: “It was really important to visit the opticians when I did. I probably wouldn’t have my sight now if I hadn’t left when I did.

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“So all I can say is that it’s important for people to get their eyes tested regularly.”

Specsavers said: “Lesley started seeing flickering lines in her vision and visited her local Specsavers where the optometrist thought she might have a tumor in her eye.

“She was sent to hospital where she was diagnosed with ocular melanoma, an extremely rare form of cancer that affects the eye, with an incidence of five in one million adults.” “If it goes undetected, it can cause vision loss.”