A HEALTHCARE worker has revealed how a routine optician check up led her to discover she had a life-threatening tumour. Initially believing it was nothing more than just dirt in her eye, Connected Health care worker Jacqueline McGeough noticed her vision going blurry in March 2023. On her way to visit clients on March 13 of 2023 in the Louth/ Monaghan region, Jacqueline noticed her left eye had blurry vision.
She said: “I just put it down to a draught or a piece of dirt in my eye but when I later mentioned it to my daughter Sorayah, she reminded me that I already had a check-up appointment booked for Specsavers in Dundalk and should go.” The Dublin native was lucky to make the appointment when she did as opticians discovered that it was something a lot more harmful. She continued: “The optician, Thomas Mulholland, told me that the retina had detached from my eye abnormally and referred me as an emergency case.
"He said it was of immediate importance to reattach the retina or I could lose sight in that eye.” After being brought into the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast , she was confirmed to have an abnormal detachment of the retina. Following further tests, Jacqueline was referred to the Mater Hospital in Belfast where she was told that they had discovered a tumour at the back of her eye.
It was cancerous. The mum-of-two and grandmother-of-three said the news came "like a bolt from the blue." She said: "When I heard the word cancer, my life flashed before me — my .