Joanne's eye check unearths cancerous tumour (From Essex County Standard)
Get involved: send your pictures, video, news and views by texting ECS to 80360, or email »
Joanne's eye check unearths cancerous tumour
4:00pm Wednesday 10th October 2012 in News
Joanne's eye check unearths cancerous tumour
A ROUTINE eye check unearthed a shock diagnosis for Joanne Dixon - a potentially fatal cancerous tumour.
Mum-of-one Ms Dixon popped into her optician while out shopping after seeing flashing lights in her vision for several days.
Using digital retinal photography Rupal Patel, an optometrist at Specsavers in Long Wyre Street, spotted irregularities in her right eye and referred her to Essex County Hospital that afternoon.
A series of tests diagnosed a 6.8 milimetre tumour in Ms Dixon’s eye and she wasquickly referred to St Bartholomew’s Hospital, London, where doctors began radiotherapy treatment to shrink it.
Had the rare choroidal melanoma been 0.2 milimetres bigger, the Bupa nurse would have had to have had her eye removed.
For the full story, see Wednesday's Gazette
Boris says...
1:45am Thu 11 Oct 12
I remember Rupal Patel, she checked my sight last time I was there and did an excellent job, as have other optometrists at Specsavers in the past.
Other opticians are probably just as good, but the important thing for us all is to get our eyes checked periodically.