Ocular Melanoma Story Share with Jeff Howard

Meet Jeffery Howard--our first interviewee from the male population of patients I've had the pleasure of connecting with through A cure in sight!

Make sure to listen in, comment any questions you have, and share this story for others to tune into!

"In November of 2017, I began noticing strange lights popping up in my vision.

Working in dark environments for Radiology, I was starting to notice that I suddenly was bumping into people when turning corners and feeling embarrassed for not seeing them. It never occurred to me that I might have an issue until the floaters turned into streaks and explosions in my vision, which continually scared me and caused me to jump when they appeared.

I had seen my optometrist just one month prior to these occurrences. As it turns out, she used to work in the same office as my ophthalmologist. During the exam, she never noticed anything and gave me a clean bill of health (even with dilation). After noticing that the symptoms were getting worse, I contacted my ophthalmologist’s office to try and schedule an appointment.

They stated that since I had seen my optometrist and she didn’t see anything (being one of the best in Reno, NV), that there was likely nothing wrong with my eyes. As a result, it was suggested that I see a neurologist instead.


I couldn’t believe that this would have been anything related to the brain; but a neurologist performed his examination and had set me up with several exams to troubleshoot the problem – an MRI of the brain, an EEG, and an appointment with a retinal specialist.
The MRI and EEG proved inconclusive and “unremarkable”, which left only the retinal exam.

On February 23rd, 2018, I was diagnosed with uveal melanoma. Melanoma…I knew this was bad and that most melanomas don’t end well. What I didn’t know was the journey that was starting and the challenges that lie ahead.

Listen in for the rest of Jeff's story!