Finding Your Way with Ocular Melanoma

Why "Cutting Out" an Ocular Melanoma is Not a Recommended Treatment Option

27 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In your reading about ways to treat an ocular melanoma, you may have come across a technique called "tumor endoresection". This is essentially removin...

Plaque Brachytherapy Treatment for Ocular Melanoma

24 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

The most common and best way to treat an ocular melanoma where the tumor has not grown past the point of treatment, and where there is still vision in...

Welcome! I'm Tara McCannel, MD PhD - Complete Approach to Healing and Survival

22 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Welcome! For those of you who are new to me and my mission, I want to share a little about my background, experience and my philosophy toward patient ...

Will I Wear Out My Better-Seeing Eye? Breaking the Myth

21 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Many people worry that relying on a better-seeing eye may wear it out, make it see less well and also make the better-seeing eye more susceptible to d...

Remembering Dr. Bradley Straatsma, Founder of the Jules Stein Eye Institute (1927-2026)

20 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Among the leaders in medicine, and specifically people who have changed the field of Ophthalmology, Dr. Bradley Straatsma stands out as a legendary gi...

Will I Wear Out My Better-Seeing Eye? Breaking the Myth

16 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Many people worry that relying on a better-seeing eye may wear it out, make it see less well and also make the better-seeing eye more susceptible to d...

One-Page Ocular Melanoma "START HERE" Guide

13 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Here is a simple one-page guide to use as a starting point. Wherever you are in your journey - you have a suspicious growth; you've just been diagnose...

When Is The Best Time to Get New Glasses After Eye Surgery?

10 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

You may wish to update your glasses prescription after having eye surgery. This may be the case after cataract surgery, retinal detachment surgery (sc...

Is It Safe To Have HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy) With Ocular Melanoma?

10 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

During perimenopause and menopause, estrogen (and sometimes progesterone) decline significantly. Estrogen affects more than just hot flashes. It plays...

Is There Radiation Still in My Body After Plaque Brachytherapy?

06 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Radiation kills ocular melanoma by disrupting and damaging the DNA - the blueprint for allowing the cancer cells to multiply. The source of the radiat...

Should I Get A Biopsy To Decide Whether To Treat My Eye Melanoma?

24 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

You may find yourself in a tricky situation where your doctors think you MIGHT have an ocular melanoma or it's possible that the lesion may be benign....

OPEN HOUSE: How Can I Get Relief From My Worry About Ocular Melanoma?

15 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Not only is it possible to get relief from worries about Ocular Melanoma, but it is also possible for you to become an expert, to take control over th...

Webinar: Should I Be Worried About My Eye Freckle? Understanding Ocular Nevi and the Risk of Melanoma

09 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

What is a nevus? How did I get it? Can if affect my vision? How likely will the nevus change into a melanoma? How does my doctor know it is benign? Sh...

My 20-Year Journey: Prognostic Biopsy in Uveal Melanoma (ARDS 2006 Lecture)

09 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

I had the honor of being invited to speak at the 54th Aspen Retinal Detachment Society Meeting in Snowmass, Colorado. In my lecture I chronicle the hi...

Should I Get a Biopsy of My Choroidal/Ocular Nevus?

22 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

If you have a small ocular lesion that is suspicious, or that makes your eye doctors concerned for cancer, know this - you never have to rush into dec...

Eye Injections: What Are the Options and Which Shot Should I Get?

18 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In the setting of ocular melanoma, the most common reason you may need an eye injection is to treat radiation retinopathy. The class of drugs that may...

Why Doctors Can Mistake an Ocular Melanoma for a Retinal Detachment

17 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Have you ever wondered why your eye doctors initially thought you had a retinal detachment when you really had an ocular melanoma? For many people who...

How Will I Know If My Treated Eye Melanoma Is Recurring?

15 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Once the ocular melanoma has been treated with radiation, the ocular oncologist monitors for treatment response and complications. Essentially, this m...

Six Months Out: What Can Help If You're Still Feeling Anxious

13 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Sometimes the toughest part about ocular melanoma can be the time after you have completely recovered from your treatment. Now what? About six months ...

How Do I Know Which Treatment Is Best For Me?

11 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Should I have plaque or protons? You may be just diagnosed with ocular melanoma, or your eye doctors are concerned about something that MAY be ocular ...

The Uncertainty of Biopsy Results

05 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

A prognostic biopsy in ocular melanoma is when a needle is placed within the tumor itself and the sample sent to check for markers that tell us whethe...

The Mind's Eye, by Oliver Sacks (Persistence of Vision: A Journal)

25 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Oliver Sacks, MD was a neurologist and writer who gave us Awakenings, The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat and other fascinating books that provide ...

How Do We Know The Radiation Treatment Has Worked?

23 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

The most important test that we use to determine that radiation has successfully killed the ocular melanoma is the ocular ultrasound: we want to see e...

Wrapping Your Head Around Vision Loss

22 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

The most common way that people may lose their vision in ocular melanoma is 1) if they have the eye enucleated (completely removed) or 2) as a side-ef...

Visiting the Interventional Radiology Suite: Hepzato Delcath

22 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

I recently had the oppotunity to visit the Interventional Radiology suite at UCLA Health to observe Dr. Siddharth Padia give a Hepzato Kit Delcath tre...

Open House: Is Navigating Ocular Melanoma Group For Me?

07 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Navigating Ocular Melanoma group is for people who choose to engage and learn everything possible so they can thrive. Do you have to be struggling to ...

Live Webinar: The Science of Rest - Evidence for Solitude & Self-Care For Health

07 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Without prioritizing Deep Rest, our entire health will decline. Join me in this Health Webinar where you will learn why rest is a biologically essenti...

Vision Loss in Ocular Melanoma

18 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

When a person gets newly diagnosed with ocular melanoma, there are two traumatic things that people immediately face: losing sight and losing life. I ...

Navigating Ocular Melanoma Group Support Program - January 2026

17 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Nothing has been more inspiring to me than working closely with people who are open to engaging full-on with their mind-body health: to gaining knowle...

Why Your Voice Matters: How Patients (Not Doctors) Move the Needle in Medical Progress

18 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

How does medical progress happen? What drives the adoption of new techniques and better patient outcomes? It is patient themselves who drive progress,...

Unexpectedly Low Rate of Metastasis & Death Among Patients Treated for Uveal Melanoma with Brachytherapy, Vitrectomy and Silicone Oil

10 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The data from a cohort of my patients who live in Nevada took me by surprise. I acknowledge the work of Alex Rivas, a University of Nevada medical stu...

How Can Acupuncture Help With Ocular Melanoma?

06 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Learn why adopting complementary health approaches, such as acupuncture can help boost your overall mind-body health. For your immune system to be boo...

How Do I Treat A Patient With Choroidal Melanoma?

10 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Treating a patient with choroidal melanoma (otherwise known as uveal melanoma or ocular melanoma), starts with a thorough evaluation - history, ocular...

Isolation And Ocular Melanoma: Why Support Matters

02 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Getting diagnosed with ocular melanoma may be an isolating experience - few have heard of this type of cancer, let alone have an understanding of the ...

Live Webinar: What To Know About Ocular Melanoma Biopsy

29 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

If you missed the Live Webinar, welcome to this Episode! It's all here. Learn and get your questions answered about everything to know about ocular me...

Doctor's Visit Survival Guide For Ocular Melanoma

27 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Just diagnosed with ocular melanoma or other unusual medical condition? If you've been feeling overwhelmed, confused, or unsure what to ask your docto...

Ocular Melanoma Plaque Surgery Explained: Empower Yourself

25 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

When you find yourself entering a situation that is completely foreign, it is imperative that you teach yourself everything - read, learn, ask questio...

What Stage Is My Ocular Melanoma?

13 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In cancer of most parts of the body a Stage from 1 to 4 is often assigned at various time points in the cancer journey. This may help to predict progn...

Is Ocular Melanoma Related to Skin Melanoma?

05 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Although they share the same name - "melanoma" - the two cancers are cousins at best. Here are the differences - the tumor mutations between eye and s...

What If My Treated Ocular Melanoma Is Not Shrinking?

03 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

After you have had radiation treatment to destroy the ocular melanoma, what's left of your tumor is no longer viable. Radiation destroys the cellular ...

Ocular Melanoma Resource: Handbook For Patients And Families

30 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Finding Your Way With Ocular Melanoma: A Handbook For Patients and Families was created to serve as an all-in-one-place resource, written by one of th...

Newly Diagnosed With Ocular Melanoma? Your First 30 Days

27 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

If you've been told that you may have an eye cancer, ocular melanoma, uveal melanoma, or even an unusual freckle, mole, nevus or lesion - it's time to...

Did You Get A Second Opinion?

22 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Did you get a second opinion? I cannot stress how important it is for EVERYONE to get a second opinion when you have been diagnosed with an ocular mel...

Getting Through Your Ocular Melanoma Surgery

21 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Going through the recovery of your ocular melanoma surgery can be a daunting experience. Learn about the reasons for eye pain, redness, swelling and w...

Retinal Detachment In Ocular Melanoma

16 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What is a retinal detachment? In most cases, retinal detachment is caused by a rip in the retina (i.e., retinal tear) from pulling of the vitreous hum...

Small Melanomas: How To Think About Whether Or Not To Treat

14 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

When is the right time to treat a small melanoma? The biggest take-home message if you have a small suspicious lesion or a small uveal melanoma, is th...

Worrying About Losing Vision In The Melanoma Treated Eye

09 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Have you been told that you will likely go blind after ocular melanoma treatment and that there is little that can be done? Have you been told you mig...

Does Bleeding in the Eye Increase My Risk of Metastasis? (No!)

07 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

By definition, cancers grow their own blood supply in order to invade and grow in tissue where they don't belong. The blood vessels in ocular melanoma...

Is It Safe To Biopsy An Ocular Melanoma?

01 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

At the beginning of your journey with ocular melanoma, a question about performing a biopsy may arise. Performing biopsy for molecular prognostication...

Getting Cataract Surgery in the Non-Melanoma Eye

30 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Cataract surgery is the most common operation performed in the entire world. It is one of the safest, quickest and most effective eye surgeries to ach...

How To Speed Up Recovery From Ocular Melanoma Surgery

24 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Brachytherapy plaque surgery is a complex eye operation that involves the external tissues of the eye and orbit. This can result in swelling and edema...

Should Prognostic Biopsy Results Change Your Treatment Plan?

22 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Your ocular melanoma treatment plan consists of two main items: 1) What you do to treat the cancer in your eye, and 2) What you do to watch for and tr...

What To Do About Red Eye After Ocular Melanoma Treatment

18 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Red eye is common after ocular melanoma surgery, after the period of recovery and sometimes episodes of red eye may occur long after your treatment. L...

Diagnosis Day: Finding Your Strength in The Storm

09 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Getting diagnosed with ocular melanoma may be one of the most difficult experiences in your life. You may have seen multiple eye-care providers who we...

Closing The Gap Between Ocular Oncologists: Introducing OMG (Oncology Mentoring Group)

08 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Why is ocular oncology an unusual subspecialty in medicine? It is unusual because standards of care vary between institutions and between ophthalmolog...

What Have You Learned? Embracing Challenges As Opportunities

19 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Pause for a moment and ask yourself - What have I learned lately from my life? From this ocular melanoma journey and other important events in my life...

When Medicine Becomes Mindless: The Cost of Formulaic Care in Ocular Oncology

07 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This episode was inspired by my new-found knowledge of the work of legendary Harvard health psychologist Ellen J. Langer, PhD. Dr. Langer defines "min...

Why So Many Tests? Understanding Imaging Studies in Ocular Melanoma

28 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Whether you have a benign lesion that is being monitored, whether you are seeing an ocular oncologist for the first time to have something suspicious ...

Sneak Preview - Webinar on Role of Mindset in Cancer Survival 2/23/25 10AM PST

22 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This Sunday, Feburary 23,2025 at 10AM PST I will be hosting my next live webinar on the topic, "The Role of Mindset in Cancer Survival: Science of a H...

How to Stay Engaged With Ocular Melanoma After Enucleation

17 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

When the ocular melanoma is discovered and the tumor is too large for eye-saving treatment, the ocular oncologist will recommend enucleation. Enucleat...

How to Prepare for Your Ocular Oncology and All Doctor Visits

07 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Have you ever left your doctor's appointment feeling rushed and somewhat confused regarding your healthcare options? Do you find that it's hard to get...

Inflammatory Pain After Brachytherapy - Signs, Symptoms & Solutions

02 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Inflammatory pain after brachytherapy is fairly common. The dying tumor causes the nearby tissues of the eye, eye-socket (orbit) and sometimes the adj...

Beyond the OCT: Holistic Approach to Radiation Retinopathy Treatment

31 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

One of the most useful imaging tests invented in the history of ophthalmology is Optical Coherence Tomography, or OCT. The OCT is used to image the ma...

How to Heal Your Doctor-Patient Relationship

17 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Why is the Doctor-Patient relationship so important? Because the positive-mindset of a care-provider will result in better health outcomes for the pat...

My New Book for Patients & Families: Finding Your Way With Ocular Melanoma

14 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

🎉 Exciting Announcement 🎉 I’m thrilled to share that my new book, Finding Your Way With Ocular Melanoma, is now available. As an ocular oncol...

What To Do About Worsening Vision After Ocular Melanoma Treatment

03 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

If you notice worsening vision after ocular melanoma treatment, always get it checked out. You must have an explanation why the vision is declining. N...

When The Cancer in the Eye is Not Ocular Melanoma

24 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The most common intraocular cancer of adults is actually NOT ocular melanoma. The most common intraocular malignant tumor to be found in the eye is a ...

Navigating Ocular Melanoma - The Guided Group Program

20 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This episode is all about Navigating Ocular Melanoma - The Guided Group Program, which starts January 5, 2024. I am thrilled to do this work, because ...

Advancing Survival - A Holistic Approach to Ocular Melanoma

15 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What can you do to improve your mind, body and spirit? Whether you have ocular melanoma or any other medical condition, there is always something you ...

Pan-Retinal Laser Photocoagulation After Ocular Melanoma Treatment

23 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

When does a patient need to have pan-retinal laser photocoagulation (otherwise known as "PRP") after ocular melanoma treatment? PRP laser is an import...

Webinar: Advancing Survival - A Holistic Approach to Ocular Melanoma

16 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Mark your calendars - please join me on Sunday, December 15th at 10:00-11:30AM PST. Register for the webinar below. I will share with you what a holis...

Making Decisions From A Place of Fear

15 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

There is much that is scary and frightening when one discovers that the diagnosis is ocular melanoma. However, there is also a tremendous amount of ex...

How to Manage Eye Pain After Ocular Melanoma Treatment

11 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Pain after ocular melanoma treatment may be due to dry eye, late onset inflammation, and from elevated eye pressure from new blood vessels forming in ...

White Lights & Flashing After Ocular Melanoma Treatment

09 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Some people notice the recurrence of white lights and flashing in the treated melanoma eye within a year or so after the radiation treatment. This sym...

What Causes Ocular Melanoma?

06 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What causes ocular melanoma? There is nothing you can do to prevent getting ocular melanoma. We know that past trauma, UV exposure and all sorts of en...

Why Aren't All Ocular Oncologists Offering Prognostic Biopsy?

03 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Getting a fine needle biopsy from an ocular melanoma can reveal information about one's prognosis - whether a person has a low risk or a higher risk o...

What to Do If You Get Diagnosed With Metastasis

01 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Early detection of metastasis results in the ability to consider more treatment options for your situation, than if metastasis is discovered late. Pre...

McCannel's Ocular Melanoma Resources - All in One Place

30 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Welcome to my new resource website: seyhart.com/ocularmelanoma! While I may not be able to serve as everyone’s ocular oncologist, I’ve shared my e...

Managing Anxiety About Metastasis in Ocular Melanoma

23 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The uncertainty of not knowing for sure what and when is going to happen to you after an ocular melanoma diagnosis, can be a major issue that patients...

Looking Good After Ocular Melanoma Treatment

27 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

You've just been through a brachytherapy plaque surgery - hooray its behind you. Your eye is red, your eyelid is drooping, the eye keeps watering - yo...

Does My Doctor's Bedside Manner Matter?

27 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What is bedside manner? In healthcare as this relates to your doctor, bedside manner refers to how he or she interacts with you - the communication, t...

Facing the Idea of Ocular Melanoma Metastasis

07 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Getting a diagnosis of ocular melanoma may be a traumatic and emotional time. The possibility of your cancer being fatal may be the most challenging a...

Risk Factors for Metastasis in Ocular Melanoma

29 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The number one risk factor for the ocular melanoma metastasizing to the liver is the size of the tumor at the time of diagnosis. The larger the size o...

Vision Improvement Years After Plaque Brachytherapy

07 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Is it possible for vision to improve years later after brachytherapy plaque treatment and radiation side-effects? Yes! This is a phenomenon that is no...

Intravitreal Injections After Ocular Melanoma Treatment

02 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Intravitreal injections are shots of medicine that go into ("intra-") the eye ball and directly into the vitreous cavity ("vitreal"), the innermost pa...

Ocular Melanoma Metastasis - Overview with Bartosz Chmielowski, MD

01 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In today's episode, I welcome my friend and colleague of nearly two decades, Professor of Medicine, Division of Hematology-Oncology at UCLA, Dr. Barto...

How Do You Prevent Radiation Retinopathy?

30 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Radiation damage is an irreversible, non-fixable, and un-curable state. Thankfully this is exactly what we need to destroy cancer. However, when healt...

How Do You Treat Radiation Retinopathy?

29 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Radiation retinopathy occurs when the healthy non-tumor tissue of the retina gets damaged by the radiation that is intended for the ocular melanoma un...

What is Radiation Retinopathy?

29 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Radiation retinopathy is when the vessels of the retina are damaged because of the side effect of the radiation treatment necessary to kill the ocular...

Side Effects of Ocular Radiation Treatment

23 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What are the side effects of ocular radiation treatment? Whether one is undergoing brachytherapy plaque, external beam radiotherapy, gamma knife radio...

Tumor Biopsy - Biopsy Techniques and Safety

19 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We continue our topic of Tumor Biopsy, with a focus on some different techniques, how the biopsy is performed and also addressing safety of tumor biop...

Tumor Biopsy - Why Get a Biopsy in Ocular Melanoma

19 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Why would one need to get a biopsy in the setting of ocular melanoma? I discuss some reasons why: 1) To get pathology in cases where a clinical diagno...

Double Vision After Ocular Melanoma Surgery

05 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

It is very normal to have double vision right after ocular melanoma surgery, due to the edema and swelling of all the tissue in the orbit that can squ...

Why I Discourage Eye-Patching After Ocular Melanoma Surgery

29 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Using your treated melanoma eye together with your fellow better-seeing eye as soon as possible after your radiation surgery is the fastest way to vis...

Living with Decreased Vision After Ocular Melanoma Treatment

26 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Faced with the possibility of losing sight, a new diagnosis of ocular melanoma can be a time of fear and uncertainty. This may also be fueled by the t...

Confusion with Brain Scans and Ocular Melanoma

19 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Abdominal imaging with focus on the liver is the key way to monitor for spread of ocular melanoma (metastasis). However, sometimes patients may get a ...

What to Do About the Cataract in my Good Eye?

03 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Are you someone who has been told "to wait as long as possible" to have cataract surgery in your good eye, because you have poor vision in the eye tha...

Getting a Second Opinion

03 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Have you been given a diagnosis of ocular melanoma and you want to get another opinion for confirmation? Or you just want to learn more about what oth...

Tumor Recurrence

23 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What is tumor recurrence? Another more technical term for this is "local treatment failure" - when the original surgery or treatment procedure to dest...

What To Expect When the Plaque is On the Eye

30 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Immediately after the initial plaque placement surgery has been completed, what can one expect over the following days that the plaque is on the eye? ...