In the last couple of years, Jenny Geelen has visited East Timor to craft Artificial Eyes for the East Timorese People. It has been a wonderful experience for her and she has received positive feedback.

Jenny wishes to continue with her annual trips with the idea of training someone in East Timor to make the Artificial Eyes. To help with funding for these trips, which has been self-funded in the past, Jenny has started a fundraising project.

Paul Allen is a West Australian artist who hand-crafts iconic silver ingots. He has supplied Jenny with a selection of his work which she is selling to raise funds for her East Timor clinic. He has been making the ingots since 1995 and currently lives in Kalbarri, which is 600km north of Perth, Western Australia.

Visit Paul’s Website

Inquiries can be made through the comment form below or through Jenny’s Website.

Our last blog – Losteye.com – What Can I Say? was written by guest blogger Debbie Atkinson.

I feel so pleased to have come across Debbie Atkinson’s story.  As well as writing about her experiences with Losteye.com Debbie has also given permission to link to her website and her own eye loss story, Eye Will Survive.

Debbie lost sight in her eye long before she had her eye surgically removed.  Her story beautifully illustrates that loss of sight in one eye is something people can quickly adjust to.

The surgical removal of an eye creates another major set of challenges.  Debbie’s frank description of her complex feelings during this time may help  others going through a similar experience.

I was also very interested in the emotions that Debbie describes during the process of getting a new eye made. 

I’m sure others will relate to her story and get hope from her positive experience of wearing a well made prosthetic eye.

Thanks Debbie for your courage and willingness to share with others on the journey.

Artificial Eyes and Sports

When clients visit me for the first time I will generally show them the “Adjusting and Adapting to eye loss mind map.” When I talk about monocular vision and sport I will often tell the story of James Bonner who played snooker at an international level and on one occasion competed in the Australian Open championship match against a competitor who also wore an artificial eye.
With target sports like snooker and shooting it is an advantage to have monocular vision. It helps with the alignment of the shot. With bilateral vision our brain does a clever trick by turning the two images we receive into one. We are infact deceiving ourselves. With monocular vision you are actually seeing things as they are.
James tells his story a whole lot better than I do and he has contributed his story to this site. You can see his story here
Thank you James for your story.
If you have a story that you would like to share we would love to have a look and with your permission share it on this site.

This is my seventh visit to Moorfields Eye Hospital Dubai to make artificial eyes. Moorfields has an incredibly supportive environment which makes my job uncomplicated and a pleasure. Clients are welcomed to the hospital by friendly and efficient front desk staff who take them through to a comfortable waiting room where they are offered refreshments and up to date magazines.

My clients here come from a diverse range of backgrounds. In this last trip alone I have seen clients from Oman, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, Egypt, Qatar and the various states of the United Arab Emirates. I regularly use the translation service which is offered to remove the barrier of language.

Moorfields Eye Hospital Dubai is situated within Dubai Healthcare City.
Dubai Healthcare City was set up as a centre of excellence in healthcare for the UAE. It has invited leading hospitals from around the world to establish branches to encourage international specialists to consult here. Moorfields Eye Hospital Dubai is the first overseas branch of Moorfields Eye Hospital London.

It is great to be part of a team of specialists who are making such a big difference to the health and well being of the people in the Middle East. For more details about the artificial eye clinic in Dubai please click here

An interesting and not often talked about aspect of having an eye enucleated is Phantom Eye Syndrome. It has been described as a fireworks show with flashes of bright light.

 The theory is that when the optic nerve is cut the brain receives irregular impulses and interprets them as flashes of light.

The effect varies from person to person with  some people experiencing impressive performances while 50% of people do not experience it at all. 

 Most patients claimed they had visual hallucinations from right after the enucleation.

If the patients terminated having visual hallucinations – it usually stopped in the first 6 months after the eye amputation.

Once you know it is a natural side effect of having an eye removed you need not worry about it and enjoy the show. 

Phantom Eye Syndrome: Types of Visual Hallucinations and Related Phenomena

Roed Rasmussen, Marie Louise M.D.; Prause, Jan U. M.D., D.M.Sc.; Ocularist, Martin Johnson; Toft, Peter B. M.D., D.M.Sc.

Abstract

Purpose: To describe the prevalence of phantom eye syndrome in eye-amputated patients, to give a description of visual hallucinations, and to identify triggers, stoppers, and emotions related to visual hallucinations.

Methods: The hospital database was screened, using surgery codes for patients who had received ocular evisceration, enucleation, or secondary implantation of an orbital implant in the period 1993-2003. A total of 267 patients was found and invited to participate, 173 accepted. Patients who accepted participation had their records reviewed, and a structured interview about visual hallucinations and pain was performed by one trained questioner (M.L.R.R.).

Results: The prevalence of phantom eye syndrome was 51%. Elementary visual hallucinations were present in 36%, complex visual hallucinations in only 1%, and other visual hallucinations in 14%. The elementary visual hallucinations were most often white or colored light, as a continuous sharp light or as moving dots. The most frequent triggers were darkness, closing of the eyes, fatigue, and psychological stress; 54% of patients had the experience more than once a week. Ten patients were so visually disturbed that it interfered with their daily life.

Conclusions: Phantom eye syndrome is common, and the authors recommend that surgeons inform their patients about the phenomenon.

For more information click here

I’ve recently attended a conference on Ocular Trauma where Dimitri Yellachich spoke about Trauma on the Battlefield.

During the Crimean war eye injuries made up 0.6% of total injuries.  Back in those days the battles were fought at close range.  Soldiers wore a lot of protective gear.

In the Iraq war eye injuries made up 13% of total injuries.  Now the eye is only 1% of the body so you’d be tempted to think that the eye would attract 1% of the injuries. 

Modern war is fought with highly destructive weapons and the fighting is conducted from a greater distance.  Soldiers tend not to wear their protective gear, mostly because they consider it uncool. Safety glasses can be uncomfortable and condensation and dust can sometimes interfere with vision.

Dimitri showed a slide of a pair of safety glasses that had been penitrated but had greatly reduced  the trauma to the eye.

He explained to us that a study of eye injuries in the Vietnam war had shown that 40% would have been prevented or at least lessened had the soldier been wearing safety glasses.

My mother proudly displayed the slogan ” Smart weapons stupid people! ” across the back of her truck during the Iraq war. There is no indication that the smart weapons are getting any less destructive and people don’t appear to be getting any brighter.

Dimitri’s talk was enlightening and I hope his message gets through to the right people. Safety glasses may be uncool but there is a reason they are issued to soldiers.

We have recently started a section on this website for people’s artificial eye stories. The purpose of this new section  is to attract people from around the world to share their experiences of eye loss.

Our first story has been submitted by Sanjay from Dubai. Sanjay has given a lot of thought to this and has highlighted some important aspects to his experience of eye loss. While there are many aspects to Sanjays story that are interesting, the message that I found most powerful was the one below.

“I had to make a decision on the very little option I had, enucleating
of the right eye with orbital implant and cosmetic eye shell. Well it
was painful the very thought of someone amputating a part of your body
although it served no purpose, I think it is extremely difficult to
let go of any part of your body whether functional or not.”

The decision to have an eye enucleated is such a difficult one. You hear stories in the media every day about medical breakthroughs and the decision to have the eye removed is so final. Even when you know it may be the right thing to do it is still a huge decision to make.

You can read Sanjay’s story here.

Thank you Sanjay for your story. If you have a story you would like to share please send it through via the contact page below.

We have recently added an article to artificialeyes.net which explains the operation to remove an eye. When someone has an eye removed the procedure is explained by the ophthalmologist. This is usually an emotional time for the patient and most of what they are told is quickly forgotten.
This article uses simple diagrams to illustrate the operation ,you will not be confronted by explicit medical images.

To read about enucleation and orbital implants click here

If you have a problem and you visit a surgeon, chances are you will get a surgical solution.  If you visit an ocularist you will probably get an ocularist solution.  An optometrist is likely to offer you a solution from their own tool kit.   People tend to offer solutions from within the range of what they deliver best.

Sometimes I see a problem that has been resolved with surgery and  I think maybe I could have fixed that without surgery.  I recently came across an even better solution to a problem than the one I have been offering.

I have been offering a haptic lense as a solution when blind eyes discolour. I recently found a custom contact lens that is an even better option.

In the light of this new solution, here is the order of options I suggest you  explore if you are unhappy with the appearance of your blind eye.

• Visit an Optometrist and explore the option of a contact lens.
• Next, explore the possibility available through Custom Contacts.
• If the custom lens is unsatisfactory, find a good Ocularist and get a custom haptic lens made.
• If you are still concerned about the eye appearance it may be time to see an Ophthalmologist and discuss surgical solutions.

It is best to explore all avenues starting with the least invasive.

In my work as an ocularist I’ve met a lot of blind people.

It seems that disability does not limit what people are able to achieve once they set their mind to it.  I was amazed to read about an American basketball goal shooter.

Matt Steven liked to hang out with the school basketball team. With his brother tapping the goal stand he would practice shooting hoops.

After seeing his 50% success rate, the team coach decided to give Matt a place on the team shooting all the team free throws.

This is an amazing story about what is possible and I recommend you check it out on sports.espn.go.com.