Beautician spots cancerous eye spots

Kids often get scolded for asking people obvious questions, especially when it comes to physical appearance.

But when a cosmetologist-in-training asked her customer about her black eyes, it may have saved the woman’s eyes.

Lots of people have had a chance to comment on Smith’s eyes during the years. Smith wears prescription glasses and as her eyesight has declined, she’s had to get them updated, but she said no one said anything about her eyes’ appearance when she got new lenses.

Smith said she is also a cancer survivor, who managed to beat the odds when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2002 after it had metastasized. After it went into remission, she went to the West Texas Cancer Center for checkups. Smith said they never looked at her eyes, either.

Smith’s son, Al Smith, who is a certified nurse practitioner at the clinic inside the Westside Wal-Mart, and her husband Morris of 58 years never mentioned it either, Smith said. She said her son never remembered her eyes looking any different.

Then on June 30, Smith met 30-year-old Lorene Lujan at the Odessa College Cosmetology salon. Lujan is a mother of three, waitressing and going through school. Lujan said she’s hoping to get her cosmetology license before summer 2011, but she doesn’t have any medical training.

So on that day, Smith was getting most of her hair cut off and the rest of it permed. During those four hours, Smith and Lujan talked about a lot of things. ("She’s a very good conversationalist," Lujan said.)

Lujan asked what Smith’s son thought about her eyes.

"I just asked because they’re all black," Lujan said. Lujan said her father had had cataracts, which had turned his eyes gray.

Smith said she hadn’t realized her eyes were black before that (she still claims not to be able to see it), and no one had brought it up before.

"So I was the rude one?" Lujan laughed as they recounted it last week. "I’m sorry."

"You weren’t rude, you were helpful," Smith said, because Lujan suggested Smith get her eyes checked.

Smith said when she went to the Odessa Eyes of West Texas, doctors diagnosed her with cataracts and glaucoma and said also might have cancer in her left eye, but the doctors wanted to wait on an ophthalmologist, who by coincidence is also named Al Smith.

Catherine Smith said that the ophthalmologist Al Smith also thought she had cancer and from home photos he had her bring him, he determined her eye change had started sometime in 1970, gradually getting worse since.

By the time she had them looked at this summer, things were looking very bad.

"I had 17 points of pressure on my eye," Smith said. "You’re supposed to have 11 points."

Smith said she was told to use eye drops, and she’s already had some laser surgery to punch holes in her eyes and relieve the pressure, but she’ll need more, along with a biopsy scheduled Sept. 22 to confirm it is cancer.

Smith said if Lujan hadn’t prompted her to go to the doctor "my eye would have exploded."

"She is a very exceptional person," Smith said.

Lujan didn’t think so.

"I was just curious," Lujan said.