Cornelius woman grateful after eye removed because of rare cancer

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. — About a year ago, Jessica Boesmiller was pregnant with twins when she was diagnosed with ocular melanoma, a rare form of cancer, in her right eye.

She learned she needed to have her eye removed to contain the spread of the illness.

“Last year was scary,” said her husband, Mark Boesmiller. “We were caught in a whirlwind of emotions, not knowing what was going on."

Only weeks after surgery, she delivered the twins. The couple told Channel 9 their faith got them through the frightening journey.

Jessica Boesmiller now wears a prosthetic eye, but doctors keep a close watch for signs of the cancer spreading.

“Every three months, I go to Duke for MRIs and CT scans,” Jessica Boesmiller said. “Ninety percent of the time, this cancer metastasizes to the liver, so that will be every three months for at least the next five years.”

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The Boesmillers will celebrate Thanksgiving on Thursday, more grateful for family than ever before.

“It took the removal of an eye to see how many blessings I have,” Jessica Boesmiller said.

Mark and Jessica Boesmiller said doctors tested the twins' placentas at birth and they showed no signs of cancer, but they'll have Mason and Piper's eyes checked regularly.

Jessica Boesmiller is one of nearly 20 local ocular melanoma cases that have the Huntersville community concerned and searching for answers.

She's participating in any research to help pinpoint a cause.

“We want to make sure this doesn't happen to other families or our own children,” Jessica Boesmiller said.

Geospatial testing of all the patients' histories of where they've lived and worked did not identify a link between them all.

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