Retinoblastoma

mcgillks

Hi there :]

My name is Katy and I'm a 19 year survivor of retinoblastoma.
My cancer was diagnosed when I was four months old and my right eye was removed immediately upon its discovery. I have lived virtually my entire life with a prosthetic right eye and no reoccurances of cancer. I know I am absolutely blessed to be alive and still have sight in one eye, but it's still difficult sometimes, especially when it comes to self image issues regarding my eye.
I was just wondering if there were anyone out there with a story like mine or something, retinoblastoma patient or not, if anyone would be willing to share or give advice?

teto_hua

hi katy
Hi katy. My name is Andree and I lost my left eye to retinoblastoma at the age of 2 and am 27 now. I know how you feel about self image and self esteem. Its hard to feel attractive when you feel so different. But what ive come to learn is we're our biggest critic and even though our eye may be the first thing we ourselves notice in the mirraor, it isn't necessarily the first thing other people notice. Also through grade school I got teased because I was different, even in high school. But once I went to college people are more open minded and rather than tease and call me names they were more interested and asked about it, which I wasn't used to at first but became more comfortable with it the older I grew. I'm still self conscious about my eye but I'm learning that it's what makes me who I am. And the people who are part of my life forget about it all the time. I hope my words have helped you out. Feel free to email me if you'd like to talk more teto_hua@hotmail.com