The "Man with Different Colored Eyes" Story

It was an ordinary day. Off to the optothalmologist to see how my eyes are doing. I have to go every 9 months because of a family risk of glaucoma. I also have to be checked every visit for my eye "freckles." An eye freckle is a change in the pigment inside the eye, changing the eye color in a spot, similar to a freckle on the skin. Eye freckles are usually harmless, although they should be watched for signs of growth or change, which would indicate a more serious condition. Just as you would watch a new mole or freckle for signs of skin cancer, an eye freckle could, rarely, I found out today, develop into a cancerous melanoma tumor. My previous eye doctor told me that I should constantly monitor my eye freckles to be sure they weren't growing. He really scared me when talking about my chances of getting eye cancer. Today, Dr. Jones, asked how long I had the discoloration which is s series of hundreds of pigments which form clusters of cells which in turn form tiny freckles cropped closely together in the bottom half of my right eye. My eyes are a blue-green color with my right eye having the bottom half covered with the orange freckles. I have many comments when people actually take the time to look me in the eye when talking to me. They tell me they have never seen someone with two different colored eyes. It is not really rare, but also not all that common to have two different colored eyes. I told Dr. Jones that I had the freckles from birth. He said over the span of the last 15 years he has had only one person who developed cancer in a freckle, and that was a person who only had the freckle for a short time. Someone who has had them for a lifetime would have almost a zero chance of developing cancer in the eye. If you do develop cancer in the freckles in the eye, the treatment includes laser surgery and radiation therapy. Both treatments will cause vision loss in the eye, but will not cause you to lose your eye. My vision today with my glasses was 20/20 in my right eye and 20/25 in my left eye. Near perfect! He told me he will document and keep a close watch on the optic nerves in my eyes, since they show some signs of aging. This is what he will watch to monitor my chances of getting glaucoma. Guess my eyes are keeping up with the rest of my body in the aging process. He told me he didn't see any reason why I had to return until next year. "Just enjoy the freckles and the attention they bring," he said. And I will!! It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.