#EyeGetDilated Dianna Beck’s Story

At the age of thirty just a few weeks before my wedding I noticed that my vision was off. It looked like I was opening my eyes underwater when I looked out of my left eye! I’d been going to a local optometrist for years but they never once dilated my eyes. I made an appointment and told them all my symptoms including this sudden change in my vision. I assumed I just needed glasses! Still no dilated eye exam — the optometrist looked at my eye and told me it looked dry, to try some drops and come back in a month. (!!!)

I trusted my gut (and really wanted glasses to match my twin sister) and got a second opinion. He dilated my eyes and instantly knew something was wrong. He could clearly see a melanoma tumor wrapped around my optic nerve and immediately called in for a same-day appointment with an ophthalmologist. My diagnosis was confirmed and I was off to Stanford to meet with an ocular oncologist just a couple days later. I had enucleation of my left eye two weeks after my wedding.

If it wasn’t for a dilated eye exam we wouldn’t have caught this scary tumor. We also learned I have the genetic condition BAP1 which causes all kinds of other cancers. I’m now being monitored regularly and am happy to say I’ve been cancer free since 2018!

Also, random side note: four months later I found out I had two (unrelated) brain aneurysms. One had started leaking — a precursor to rupture — and if it wasn’t for cancer and that feeling something was off, I’m positive I wouldn’t be here. Second random side note: my same optometrist found my friend’s brain tumor two years after he diagnosed me through a dilated eye exam!

A dilated eye exam started all of that and is the easiest way to detect ocular melanoma!