Anne-Marie Fee was diagnosed with ocular malignant melanoma - a cancerous tumour of the eye - just three months after having her baby son, Dillon, who's now nine-months-old.

Towards the end of her pregnancy, she experienced flashes in her left eye but put it down to the pregnancy.

But when the flashes were still occurring three months after having Dillon and she started having dizzy spells that she went to see a doctor.

"To be honest, I put the flashes down to being pregnant and how it can affect the hormones but when it was still happening after Dillon was born, and more worryingly I started having dizzy spells, that I started to wonder what was wrong," Anne-Marie said.

She added: "I'd been over with Dillon at my parents when I took a dizzy spell and they told me to go straight up to Antrim Area to get checked out.

"The doctors said it might be a detached retina and referred me to the eye clinic at the Royal the following morning.

"I was so unconcerned about it that I said to Richard to go on ahead and go to a stag weekend, and I got my brother to take me up."

At the hospital, an ultrasound was carried out and it was only then that she thought it might be more serious.

"The doctor asked me if I had anyone with me and when I said no, he said he'd bring in a nurse. When he said that I just thought 'oh this is bad' and came out and asked him if it was a tumour and he said it was," Anne-Marie explained.

Even more worryingly the doctor said the tumour was cancerous and Anne-Marie then had to have a series of scans to see if the cancer had spread.

The next stage was to see an eye specialist at the Mater before being referred to the Ocular Oncology Centre at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital - one of only two hospitals in the world that specialise in treating eye cancer.

"We were told the Professor Damato was the leading light in treating eye cancers and it was very reassuring at how quickly things started moving," Anne-Marie said.

While Dillon stayed at home with his grand-parents, Anne-Marie and Richard travelled back and forth to Liverpool for treatment, including Proton beam radiotherapy, which directed a highly focused beam at the tumour using special equipment.

"The staff at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital and at the Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology, on the Wirral, were amazing and took care of our travel and accommodation; their help was immense," Anne-Marie said.

With her last bout of treatment just three weeks ago, Anne-Marie is back home in Antrim awaiting results of the last sets of biopsies.

"To be honest I feel great in myself and still have vision in my left eye, although they said the proton radiotherapy could affect it," Anne-Marie said.

She added: "Cancer puts things into perspective and the most important thing I want to do now is enjoy life. It's not about material things, it's about family and friends."

Anne-Marie is also putting her experience to good use by trying to raise awareness of eye cancer.

"I'd never heard of eye cancer before and most people I know hadn't either until I was diagnosed," Anne-Marie said.

She added: "If I can help one person by telling my story then it's worth it.

"My advice is if you have concerns, go and get your eyes checked at the opticians or see your doctor."

As well as raising awareness, Anne-Marie and her husband Richard are also planning a number of fundraising events.

"We are so very lucky and we just thought, we have to give something back," Richard said.

A table quiz is being held on November 25 at Starbucks in Junction One, while a more challenging project awaits in April.

Richard and a group of friends plan to canoe from the couple's home, which backs onto the Six Mile Water, and make their way to Portrush over three days.

"Initially, money we're raising is to go to the teams who looked after Anne-Marie but our eventual goal is to set up a charity," Richard said.

He added: "Our friends and family, and the wider community have been so generous and we're aiming to raise around £10,000.

"Then we're going to try and build on that with our charity, which we're calling 'Eye Feel Good'."

Anne-Marie will also be taking part in a marathon challenge by running in the relay marathon with friends at next year's Belfast Marathon.

"You have to make the most of what life throws at you and just get on with it," Anne-Marie said.

She added: "Life is too short and when you go through something like this it puts everything into perspective."

* Richard and Anne-Marie are in the process of putting the final touches to their new website www.eyefeelgood.org with the site going live within the next couple of weeks.