A MAN from Bridgend has praised the ‘amazing’ team at the town’s Specsavers store, after a cancerous tumour on his eyelid left him at risk of losing his sight.
Brett Exton, a 55-year-old IT database manager, spotted the pimple-sized growth while on holiday in August last year. But within three weeks, the growth had taken over his entire eye.
The father-of-three, who had to have both his top and bottom eyelid removed after developing the cancerous tumour, initially sought medical advice from a pharmacy where he was staying, as the tumour was tearing his eyelid and causing him extreme pain.
But when he got home, his condition worsened, and, after he was unable to get an appointment at his regular opticians in Bridgend, he popped into Specsavers, where the team saw him immediately and got him referred to Princess of Wales Hospital the same day.
He says: ‘The tumour ended up becoming so big that I couldn’t see, and it was causing me a lot of pain. It was really worrying to go from a small pimple to having it take over my whole eye. I only regained my vision after having multiple operations.
‘Thankfully, the team at Specsavers Bridgend were amazing. They rushed me in and sent photos off to the doctor which meant I was referred to the hospital straight away. Throughout this whole process, they checked in with me regularly to see how I was getting on and I couldn’t be more grateful for the support they gave and continue to give to me.’
Following the diagnosis, he had to have multiple surgical procedures to first remove his top eyelid, which contained the tumour. Following this, his bottom eyelid was removed to replace the missing upper eyelid. Then, to reconstruct his lower eyelid, the medical team used skin from the roof of his mouth and temple.
He now suffers with constant dry eye as a result of the reconstructive surgery and will often tape his eye shut to stop irritation.
He adds: ‘It has been a massive adjustment and a real shock to the system as it was so unexpected. I always thought I was a mentally strong person, but it feels like my legs were knocked out from under me and some days I feel so low.
‘I also feel incredibly lucky and relieved that it was caught and removed so quickly, and tests have shown that the cancer hasn’t spread to other parts of my body, which is something I will never take for granted. My consultant was brilliant and made the whole process a lot easier, I couldn’t have done this without them and the incredible work of the NHS.’
Mr Exton’s tumour – Squamous cell carcinoma – is a form of skin cancer that is usually caused by sun exposure. It is not usually life-threatening, but if left untreated, it can grow large or spread to other parts of your body, causing serious complications.
Christina Buckmaster, a dispensing optician at Specsavers Bridgend, who helped Mr Exton, says: ‘We had never seen anything like this before – it was very aggressive. As soon as he walked into store and we saw how bad it was, we made it a priority to see him straight away as his whole eyelid was hanging down and he was experiencing a lot of pain.
‘While Brett will have to manage with life-long health issues as a result of the tumour, the consequences could have been a lot worse had he not come to us when he did. We’re just happy that we have been able to ensure he still has sight in his eye and can now try to move on with his life.’
