Ben’s Story

I started experiencing some slight blurriness in my right eye and thought it would need some eyedrops or glasses. After a trip to the opticians, they first thought it was a retinal detachment and sent me to hospital straight away. 

Upon further review, and after scans and tests, they realised that it was a tumour growing on the back of my eye causing this.

It’s been really challenging at times, I didn’t expect to have gone through what I’ve been through with radiotherapy and tumour removal resulting in monocular has been incredibly difficult at times. But it’s something I’ve been coming to terms with more and more as time goes on so it’s just seeing how the rest of it plays out.

OMUK have been great in helping me receive regular therapy check-in sessions, which have been a great safe space for me to discuss how I’m feeling. It’s also allowed me to connect with others that have the condition, talk over what we’re all going through and know that we’re not alone in this. I might be a few years younger then others in the community but there’s plenty to be shared and learnt amongst us all.

It’s incredibly valuable and the team work really hard to ensure patients get everything they need to carry on as close to normal. They’re a safety net for us and help to pick us up on our low days.

What have you found helpful post diagnosis?

You’ve got to keep going, it’s fully ok to go ‘this is rubbish’ (to put it mildly for sure) and ‘why me?’ but it’s important to keep moving. Things will get better and there are others out there you can turn to or who will support you. 

I’ve found setting goals, plans and targets to work towards incredibly beneficial to me, especially in taking my mind off it all. I was lucky enough to train and run the Great North Run with one of my best mates for OMUK in 2025, it felt like a great way to give back to the community and thank those who have been there for me during this all.

One of my sisters has decided to take on the London Marathon in 2027 for OM after I ran it in 2026, safe to say there’s going to be tears on the day when I see her and everyone else from OM out there on the course (even more tears if she beats my time haha).

Life after diagnosis means adapting to this new normal, it’s not great at times and it can be really frustrating but we’re seeing where it goes and there’s hope on the horizon