{"id":6504,"date":"2020-12-15T11:38:00","date_gmt":"2020-12-15T10:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ver-ooginoog.nl\/bibliotheek\/elma-had-her-eye-removed-due-to-ocular-melanoma\/"},"modified":"2026-09-15T17:04:44","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T15:04:44","slug":"elma-had-her-eye-removed-due-to-ocular-melanoma","status":"publish","type":"library_pt","link":"https:\/\/ver-ooginoog.nl\/en\/library\/personal-stories\/elma-had-her-eye-removed-due-to-ocular-melanoma\/","title":{"rendered":"Elma had her eye removed due to ocular melanoma"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2020-12-15T11:38:00+01:00\">15 December 2020<\/time><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">My name is Elma Hocks-Velgersdijk. After undergoing surgery to remove an eye due to an <a href=\"https:\/\/ver-ooginoog.nl\/en\/eye-conditions\/ocular-melanoma\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"591\">ocular melanoma<\/a>, I now live with one eye. I live on Cura\u00e7ao and am married to Francis. Together, we have four (now adult) children. I run an actuarial consulting firm in Cura\u00e7ao. In October 2019, we opened a bed-and-breakfast in Costa Rica called <a href=\"http:\/\/www.dushivida.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Dushi Vida Country Inn<\/a>, with the slogan: \u201cLife is too beautiful not to enjoy.\u201d     <\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Thunderclap<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It was March 2018. I\u2019d been having a little trouble wearing my contact lenses for a while and thought, \u201cI\u2019ll just have them checked out.\u201d I went to the eye doctor, assuming it was probably just a burst blood vessel or something like that. But I remember it well. It was a Thursday, and after the exam, the doctor said, \u201cI think it\u2019s an eye tumor, but I don\u2019t have the right equipment to assess this properly.\u201d It came as a complete shock. He continued, \u201cI\u2019ll give you some medication for your eye pressure, and come back on Saturday.\u201d On Saturday: \u201cWhat I can see has grown. You need to go to the Rotterdam Eye Hospital in the Netherlands on Tuesday. They\u2019re good at treating ocular melanomas there. Oh, and keep in mind that you could lose your eye.\u201d This sounds very harsh, but I was glad for the clarity. How lucky that my ophthalmologist recognized it and reacted so decisively!         <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Amid all the chaos, I had to make all the necessary arrangements before leaving. Immediately after arriving in the Netherlands, I went straight to the Eye Hospital. By Friday, it was already clear that there was no other option but to remove the affected eye. That happened on Tuesday, and I had a temporary emergency prosthesis (conformer) fitted. At that moment, it all just went right over my head. It was as if it were happening to someone else. After the surgery, I also underwent liver tests. Fortunately, no abnormalities were found.       <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thanks to the support of my husband and my children\u2014and the reassurance that they love me unconditionally, with or without an eye\u2014I was able to face everything head-on.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">First hurdle<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Then I hit my first snag. After a few weeks, you\u2019re allowed to start wearing your permanent prosthesis. But by then, I\u2019d already be back in Cura\u00e7ao\u2014and on top of that, we were getting married in June. But the kind people at the Eye Hospital made an exception for me and replaced my eye prosthesis with a very beautiful one\u2014not my permanent one yet, but much prettier than the temporary prosthesis that had been inserted after the surgery. That way, we were still able to take some really beautiful wedding photos. These may seem like small things, but at that moment, they were so very important to me! After a few months, we went back to the Netherlands for follow-up appointments, and I received my permanent prosthesis.      <\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A miracle<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The doctor predicted that after a few months, my brain would adapt to the new situation and that I would be able to \u201csee\u201d better than I could at that moment. That\u2019s exactly how it turned out for me. Slowly, I got back into the swing of things; I started driving again and regained my independence. I work a lot on the computer, but my body adapted to that as well. At first, my good eye would get tired quickly, but that has improved significantly now. The human body is a miracle.     <\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Lives Saved<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When I started having problems with my eye, I had been very happy with my new partner for a few years. He had just proposed to me shortly before that. We went ahead with the wedding in a modified form, and it was a truly beautiful day. I draw the strength to keep going from this relationship, from my wonderful daughters, and from my faith. Sometimes I was angry that this had happened to me just when I was happy. But then I\u2019d think: \u201cNo, I needed that happiness to get through this. God put an angel on my shoulder, because everything was detected just in time to prevent the cancer from spreading.\u201d I hold on to this perspective and thought: \u201cI\u2019ve lost an eye, but I\u2019ve gained my life, and I want to make the most of it.\u201d This has helped my husband and me pursue our shared dream of starting a business in Costa Rica. Right now, I travel frequently between Costa Rica and Cura\u00e7ao\u2014at least as much as Covid-19 allows.        <\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Seeing with One Eye<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Aside from a few extra bruises on my right side from misjudging the distance to the table, I have hardly any trouble living and functioning with just one eye. I\u2019ve learned to choose my strategic spots at the table or during a meeting so that I don\u2019t have anyone in my \u201cblind\u201d spot. I just point this out, and I\u2019ve noticed that my colleagues take it into account without needing to discuss it further. <a href=\"https:\/\/ver-ooginoog.nl\/en\/driving-with-one-eye\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"1035\">Driving<\/a> on Cura\u00e7ao isn\u2019t a problem. I do notice, though, that when I\u2019m in the Netherlands, I\u2019d rather not drive with all those cyclists around. I find that some staircases still look like \u201cslides\u201d to me. Fortunately, there\u2019s usually a handrail for me to hold onto. So no, I don\u2019t really feel limited, and I don\u2019t want to see it that way either. Of course, this was preceded by a process of acceptance, during which I did get very angry at times. As for my prosthesis, I\u2019m so happy with it! They make them so beautiful these days, and what a privilege it is that we have access to them. Because it\u2019s a <a href=\"https:\/\/ver-ooginoog.nl\/en\/types-of-eye-prostheses\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"851\">prosthesis on <\/a>your face, and you have to look good with it so you can shine and smile again.          <\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Helping People<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Since I meet very few people on Cura\u00e7ao who live with only one eye, I thought, \u201cI\u2019ll join the OOG in OOG Association so I can talk with and read about others in the same situation.\u201d It helps me come to terms with the loss of my eye even more\u2014or, in the future, to help others come to terms with it. Many activities are difficult for me to attend because of the distance involved. Fortunately, there are now regular <a href=\"https:\/\/ver-ooginoog.nl\/en\/what-we-do\/meetings\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"1131\">online meetings via Zoom<\/a>. The only hurdle left for me is the time difference.    <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the future, I\u2019d like to make a difference in countries where it\u2019s not a given for many people to wear such a beautiful ocular prosthesis. This beautiful ocular prosthesis has made coming to terms with the loss of my eye a lot easier. People can\u2019t tell that I\u2019m wearing an ocular prosthesis. Only when I\u2019m very tired does my eye close a little. I\u2019m never stared at, and that gives me peace of mind. I tell people about it when I want to.     <\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Life is too beautiful not to enjoy<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I\u2019d like to thank my dear family and friends, as well as my very loyal customers in Cura\u00e7ao. It\u2019s especially thanks to the help of my dear daughters and my wonderful husband that I\u2019ve made it through this time and am living my life as usual. If you ask me what I\u2019d like to say to people: \u201cLook at what you still have, not what you\u2019ve lost.\u201d  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From one moment to the next, Elma Hocks lost an eye. Elma lives on Cura\u00e7ao and was urgently referred to the Eye Hospital in Rotterdam just before her wedding. You can read in her story about how she experienced this period and how her experience inspired her to start helping others.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":6506,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_daextauttol_enable_tooltips":""},"library_cat":[113],"class_list":["post-6504","library_pt","type-library_pt","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","library_cat-personal-stories"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ver-ooginoog.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/library_pt\/6504","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ver-ooginoog.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/library_pt"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ver-ooginoog.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/library_pt"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ver-ooginoog.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ver-ooginoog.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"library_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ver-ooginoog.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/library_cat?post=6504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}