E50: The One-Eyed Cooking Show with Alec MacKenzie

A Cure in Sight is joined by Alec Mackenzie, a patient diagnosed 3 years ago with ocular melanoma. Alec recently participated in the #lookinforacure walk for OM in Santa Monica and was the top fundraiser of the event! We're so excited to have him on live to share his journey and why he started "The One-Eyed Cooking Show."

Alec’s story:

“I had absolutely no warning in terms of diagnosis. I’m not one of those people who had any symptoms. Things were fine, we went away for a long weekend, and on that Sunday morning I woke up half blind in one eye. It just happened overnight with no warning. I thought it was pink eye, but the next day I went to the doctor who instantly referred me to an ocular oncologist once he saw what was going on. I was officially diagnosed the next day with a very large OM tumor. It turns out it had grown so large that it had detached my retina partially, and that’s why I could only see through half of my eye. I had the eye enucleated about three weeks later. That was just over three years ago.

These days I am trying to lead as normal a life as possible with my monocular vision. I am a full-time eighth grade English teacher, and I have two kids who are 16 and 10. I have a very supportive husband who is there through the emotional ups and downs, scan days, doctors appointments, etc.

A few months after my diagnosis, I realized how poorly I had been treating my body. I don’t think that’s what caused the cancer, but it certainly didn’t help. I was eating too much junk food, not taking care of my sleep habits, not dealing with my own mental health, and not getting any exercise. I made the decision to overhaul my lifestyle, get back into running little by little, and try out eating 100% vegan.

After a few months of eating vegan, I realized that just buying vegan foods from the frozen section was just as unhealthy as eating the regular animal-based products, so I started finding recipes online that were only made from fresh, healthy, vegan ingredients. I started posting silly stuff on Facebook about me spilling things or cutting in crooked lines while I cooked those recipes, but people seemed very focused on the actual recipes themselves. That started me posting what I was cooking on Facebook and linking the recipe I had found online.

That turned into my friends and family telling me that I should make some cooking videos and other content around what it’s like to have OM, what OM is, etc. I started the One-Eyed Cooking Guy to show people how easy it is to cook healthy, delicious vegan meals…even if it’s only once or twice a week! Mixed into the recipe videos I also add in content about OM so people can be aware, and I also throw in some silly, stupid short things because I want people to know I have a sense of humor about it all as well.”

Tune in and don’t forget to subscribe, share, and donate below if you can to keep our podcast going!

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Steps for Sight Registration is coming! Subscribe to the newsletter to stay in the know!

Newsletter link

Email contact@acureinsight.org for questions regarding any upcoming events!

*********

Be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, or  Instagram @acureinsight, for more stories, tips, research news, and ideas to help you navigate this journey with OM!

*A Cure in Sight is a 501c3 organization. All donations made can help fund our podcast to educate patients, fund research, aid patients, and more!

Donate $10 $15 $20 today to help A Cure in Sight in their quest to find a cure.

Contribute via  PAYPAL OR VENMO or reach out directly to contact@acureinsight.org 

The Eye Believe Podcast is brought to you by Castle Biosciences. Castle Biosciences is a leading diagnostics company improving health through innovative tests that guide patient care. The Company aims to transform disease management by keeping people first: patients, clinicians, employees and investors. 

This podcast was hosted by Danet Peterson and produced by Page Fronczek.