What started as an irritating bump on my eyelid turned into a horrific diagnosis with a long road to recovery, but despite it all, I feel blessed. When the very first lump appeared on my eyelid, it was very small, red, and irritated. As it grew, it became more and more uncomfortable, and my eye would constantly leak.
The eyelashes on the lump grew very long very quickly, and I needed to trim them often. I also got terrible migraines, as well as really bad inflammation throughout my whole body. At first, medical staff reassured me that it was a stubborn stye, a painful bump on the eyelid caused by an infected oil gland, that lots of people get.
Then I was told it could be a chalazion, or just a boring old cyst. Doctors told me it was considered cosmetic, and that I would have to pay out of pocket for surgery to remove it. I was so desperate that, despite not having the money to pay for something like that, I decided to put it on my credit card.
I begged a nurse practitioner to refer me to a plastic surgeon who could remove it for me as soon as possible. She did, and to my blessed relief, insurance would cover the initial consultation and surgery because I had been referred. But because I thought I would have to pay, I had delayed the procedure much longer than I should have.
The lump started growing back immediately. And soon after, I got my diagnosis. What was first thought to be a stye was, in fact, a rare form of secretory carcinoma, with an extremely rare mutation, that started within the gland of my eyelid. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DX9VxqUz8LB/ I was completely caught off guard and blindsided.
I showed up alone to the oncology appointment because I had no idea why I was there. That might sound silly to some people, but nothing had been explained to me. I knew nothing going into that appointment.
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