Hi, my name’s Jackie and I’ve been diagnosed with ocular melanoma. I’m on a trial at the Clatterbridge Cancer Centre in Liverpool.
I woke up one morning and I had a kaleidoscope thing going on in my eye. So I went straight up to the eye infirmary. I went back a week later, they did small tests and then told me that I had ocular melanoma. My tumour was so big that the only option really was to have my eye removed.
They say that everything goes in slow motion. That just didn’t happen. I was like, oh well, it spread. And then obviously I was devastated. I was told it would be weeks, months, up to a year. After that, I had these moments where I wondered: is this the last time I’m going to hug my grandchildren?
The moment I found out I’d been accepted onto the trial, I literally jumped out of my seat. I jumped up and down, I clapped my hands, I did the happy dance. My first scan results were amazing, and I think everybody in the room was just so excited.
With my grandson and my granddaughter, they keep me going. I see them most days. Oscar is seven and full of energy. He saw me wearing an eye patch, so he wanted to have an eye patch too, and we’d play pirates together. And then there’s Phoebe. Being there when she was born was something I didn’t think I was going to do. It was like a miracle.
I’m really thankful that people have donated and that they fundraise, because I might not be sitting here now without this. This research is so important.
My hope is that I do really well, and that this gives other people hope. I’m just grateful that I’m here.
So thank you.
Jackie’s consultant at Clatterbridge, Dr. Joe Sacco, explains why the research matters:
The trial Jackie is on is an international study which we think is going to change practice in this cancer, giving us a new treatment option that is much needed. We expect that in the next year or two we’ll get final results, and that this will be a new treatment available to everybody.
