A mother from Alton has thanked her local Specsavers store after a life-saving scan spotted a rare cancer in her eye.
Lynsey Schulkins, 43, woke up on the morning of Sunday 26 January with a blurry right eye, but wrote it off as a hazy eye from sleep and went about her day.
But three days later, the blur wasn’t going away by itself – with Lynsey losing her peripheral vision which was impacting her visibility when driving.
Deciding to get checked up, she booked an appointment with Specsavers Alton, where she was examined by trainee optician Sunny Hassan. Going into the appointment, Lynsey expected she would need her eye rinsed out or a treatment for glaucoma, but she was soon facing a much more serious issue.
As well as the standard eye test, she opted to get an optical coherence tomography (OCT) scan, which creates detailed 3D images of the eye’s inner structure, and it was during this test that Sunny spotted something that he needed to flag to his supervisor.
Lynsey says: ‘During the test, they were asking me to read letters, and I just couldn’t see them. Then I couldn’t even see the screen.
‘The optician called his supervisor in for a second opinion, and they referred me to the hospital as they thought I had a build-up of fluid on my eye that would need to be drained.’
She was sent to a hospital in Southampton, where she spent her day getting scans and tests.
The scans found that it wasn’t a build-up of fluid at all, but a mass on Lynsey’s eye. She was then referred to Moorfields Eye Hospital in London for further investigation.
It was here that discovered Lynsey had a ‘significant sized’ melanoma in her right eye, and the best option for treatment was to have her eye fully removed.
Lynsey says: ‘Normally they do a radiation treatment on the eye, but the size of the melanoma meant I would be blind in that eye and could cause other complications, so surgery was really the only option.’
The surgery took place on March 10, with Lynsey now recovering well and starting to get used to her new way of living.
Reflecting on her scary situation, Lynsey is grateful for the trainee optician who spotted something was wrong at her initial Specsavers appointment.
She says: ‘If Sunny hadn’t spotted it and flagged it to his supervisor, things could have been a lot worse.
‘Ocular melanomas can be incredibly fast-acting and aggressive cancers, which can easily spread to other parts of the body if not spotted early on.
‘It’s been a life-changing experience, but at least I still have a life to change. I still get to see my children grow up, and my children still get to have their mum.’
Tracey Reeves, store manager at Specsavers Alton, which is locally owned and run, says: ‘We’re delighted to hear that Lynsey is on the road to recovery after being diagnosed with such a rare eye cancer.
‘The team at Alton has kept in touch with Lynsey following the news of her diagnosis, and we wish her and her family all the best for the future.’
Lynsey lives with her husband Mike, son Casper, 13, and daughter Annabelle, 6 – with her cancer journey being a difficult time for the family.
She adds: ‘It was very scary for my children, Annabelle was worried about her mum being in the hospital, and Casper was upset when he found out it was cancer.
‘But we’ve had a lot of support from friends, my work, and the team at Specsavers Alton. Once they heard about my diagnosis, they sent me a big bunch of flowers and have stayed in touch with me ever since.’
For more information or to book an appointment at Specsavers Alton, call 01420 593600 or go online at https://www.specsavers.co.uk/stores/alton.
For further information please contact Corey Bedford
T: 07810 508367
E: corey.bedford@tigerbond.com
