Life seen in new light

By Melissa Meehan
WHAT she thought was a regular check up might just have saved Monica Van Raay’s life.
After a rollercoaster few months, the Pakenham mum has spoken about being diagnosed with skin cancer of the eye.
“I noticed my vision was deteriorating and thought I needed glasses,” Ms Van Raay said.
“So I booked in to have an eye test on 13 April – an appointment that ended up saving my life.”
Ms Van Raay was quickly diagnosed with having a rare form of cancer known as choroidal melanoma.
There are only about 90 cases a year in Australia, and the disease is more prevalent in those with fair hair and blue eyes.
“The doctors and specialists I saw were both very optimistic, gave me a good prognosis and because I had no real symptoms said it was treatable,” she said.
“That’s the scary part – I had no idea that there was a cancer the size of a squashed pea growing in my eye.
“It was just sheer luck that I caught it so quickly.”
Ms Van Raay was given three options for treatment; laser therapy, inserting a radiation plaque behind the eye and removal of her eye.
She said she ended up not being able to have the laser therapy and found the idea of removing her eye a little drastic – so settled on the radiation plaque.
“It was all pretty dramatic,” she said.
“Apparently I’m one in 200,000 people – it’s quite rare.”
The diagnosis was especially tough for Ms Van Ray, her husband and three children as well as her extended family. She lost her brother in 2009 to a malignant melanoma at only 36 years old.
“It was a couple of days before I broke the news to my family,” she said.
“But they were so positive that I would beat it.”
She spent five days in the Eye and Ear Hospital in Melbourne with the radiation plate behind her eye and has not looked back.
With regular check-ups with doctors and surgeons, Ms Van Raay has a positive prognosis.
“They say only two per cent return,” she said.
“So I’m being positive about it – but I just want to make others aware that something so simple like an eye test could save your life. It saved mine.”