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+ NEWS MILTON WOMAN FINDS THE POSITIVES AFTER RARE AND DEVASTATING DIAGNOSIS KATHY YANCHUS * kyanchus@meltroiand Nn x C F pion Initially, Paige Panetta wanted to keep the devas- tating news to herself. She 2 was only 27, about to em- € bark en: 1 European holiday, 5 5 travelling the world with Milton Canadian insidehalton.com §& her job. There were no symptoms. She didn't even fit the profile; this was anill- ness that most often affect- ed older white males with light skin and blue eyes. Family and friends were the only ones who would know the painful truth. "So many people close to me started saying, 'Paige, I've never been through an eye test before because you have to pay, it's not covered by OHIP.' Then I realized how important it was to share my story, if it means people are going to go get their eyes checked. This cancer is silent; if you don't catchitearly, it spreads, and once it spreads to your liver . or lungs; you have advanced cancer. There are clinical trials and treatment, but there's no cure for it." The disease that shat- tered her world is ocular (or uveal) melanoma (OM), a cancer of the eye, diagnosed in approximately five out of every million people. Al- though produced by' the same cells in the body, mela- nocytes, OM is different from skin melanoma and is not related to sun exposure, according to the OM Foun- dation. "It's not very well under- stood. It presents different- ly than melanoma," said Pa- netta, a board certified be- haviour analyst. "I had no symptoms. Actually, it ei EE a I ---------- nh RR TP AR HALTON soon Pest Control SPECIALISING IN RESIDENTIAL PEST MANAGEMENT Travis Gerrits photo Paige Panetta with Sam, her nine-month-old Golden Retriever, purchased after she finished cancer treatment and traveled to Greece. wasn't 'discovered the first time, which is the scary part." After a routine eye exam in the spring of 2017, she was told "everything looked great, there was nothing wrong with my eyes, I had perfect vision." A week later, while on the beach she got sand in her eye and "a pretty good scratch." .~ "Luckily," when she called the same optometrist to gbook an appointment, there wasn't one available and the office was closed the following day. "So, 1 was referred to somebody else in Milton, and that eye doctor found the cancer, Dr. Philip Vrkljan (Milton Optome- try)? "My eye was really red and irritated. All through SE WONDERING IF YOU ~ STILL HAVE MICE? 4 Make Sure You Catch Them All... Give Us A Call! ; FACT: 10, 000 Mice can be 2 the examination, he kept paying atte eve, kept looking in it, tal ing second looks and 1 kept thinking to myself, 'What i: he thinking? My left eye 1s red and irritated." What Dr. Vrkljan had seen was something like a freckle in Panetta's eye "Freckles aren't a big deal, everyone has freckles, even in their eyes, but he said yours has characteristics that could make it cancer- ous." She was immediately re- ferred to an ophthalmolo- gist, and with the official di- agnosis July 10 at Princess Margaret Hospital's ocular oncology clinic, "every- thing became very real." #Ithink I blocked most of it out to be honest. I think I went into shock. I didn't hear anything. It felt like my whole world just paused or stopped." She underwent ° bra- chytherapy, or plaque radi- ation therapy, a treatment that involves installation of a radiation-containing plague (metal piece) that is sewn to the wall of the eye. The device stayed in for a week and caused some mis- erable side effects. "Each day was a little bit different. My peripheral vi- sion was very different and my depth perception was so ntion tomy right "off, I was walking into = things. I couldn't drive, I wasn't allowed to have nor- mal showers, I needed help washing my hair, I was pret- ty nauseous, didn't eat a lot, threw up a lot." Because of the location of her tumour, surgeons 'had to cut a couple of mus- cles that hold the eye in A i rrr argragee TI in ONE YEAR if not controlled. Tel 905. 876.1941 oliov us on Ko GinfoHRPC = on Ville healed Panetta very closely every 1% month visit to PM dergoes a blood tests, an MRI and her abdomen is checked for any signs cancel has spread. Recently, she has had to begin monthly Avastin in jections to try and stop a hemorrhage in her eye, a side effect from the radia- tion last year and hopefully save her eye, she said. All of this, yet she consid- ers herself one of the lucky ones. Yes, there's always that reminder; if she's tired, her eye gets droopy-or lazy, and if she stares at a.computer screen too long, she may ex: perience some pain. Some days, her vision is blurry, but she can still see and read tiny print. "If you saw me on the street, you'd have no idea." "I got really lucky. I went in thinking I'd lose quite a bit of vision. They have to tell you all the possibilities -- they might have to re- move your eye, you could lose all of your vision or some of it. My tumour was pretty close to the vision centre, so there was that worry." Strangely : 111 Non Pe she un enough, through sharing her story, : the family has discovered four other people in Milton alone who suffer from OM. She's trying to adjust to her "new normal, but I'tefi- nitely have my moments where it's scary or I get sad or angry. I'm very lucky I have so many friends and family that are always there the OCULAR MELANOMA e Dr. Phi redit: with wing anoma ip Vrk her life, has en interred 1 a s were diagnosed during a routine eye examination without any { patient symptoms. All cases were diagnosed using a 20D lens with a | sbinocular indirect ophthalmoscope, which is a standard instrument in all optometry offices." The use of digital retinal imaging and OCT scan is helpful in thé *| diagnosis and monitoring of the condition as well," he said said. examination." cancers of the eye. issue, he said. treatment. nevus" in the back of the eye. supporting me, taking time. off of work to get me to my appointments." "It still feels surreal sometimes, even though it's Optometrists are primary eye care providers, whereby they are a patient's first line of defence against sight threatening conditions, he "Unfortunately, many people still believe that going to see an optometrist is 'simply to see if | need glasses'. What people still don't know is that an optometrist will provide a comprehensive eye This will include an assessment of visual function and the need for glasses, but-more importantly, a complete overall health system check of the eye and visual system, said Dr. Vrkljan. This examination will include a screening visual field to test a patients' peripheral vision and a digital retinal image/OCT scan of a patients' retina. A completepatient health history will include a review of family history for ocular diseases such as glaucoma, macular degeneration or A complete eye examination will also include a test of visual acuity, binocular function, extraocular muscle function, pupil evaluation, front of the eye check under a slit lamp microscope, intraocular pressure check and a back of the eye check through a dilated pupil using a slit lamp microscope and/or binocular indirect ophthalmoscopy. Many times, asymptomatic diseases are detected prior to any patient's awareness of symptoms. In other words, someone coming in for a routine eye exam may have no idea that they have a serious eye health In the case of a diagnosis of a suspicious lesion or "spot" in the back of the eye, it is important for prompt detection, he said. As is the case for many conditions, early detection is paramount for prevention and When it comes to the diagnosis of an ocular melanoma, typically an optometrist will identify a "suspicious freckle" also called a "suspicious Everyone, starting at six months of age, should see an optometrist yearly to have their vision and eye health checked, he said. All patients with blurry vision, sudden changes to their peripheral vision or sudden-onset flashing lights/floating spots in their vision should make an appointment immediately with an optometrist because early detection and treatment is the key to vision loss prevention, he said. been over a year now. I defi- nitely am one of those lucki- er ones. I definitely have one of the happier stories te share." 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