Multi Functional Glasses

In his story “Some Thoughts”, Mike Murray talks about some of the practical aspects of taking care of his remaining eye. Mike decides to get multi functional glasses to wear all the time. He concludes that this gives him assistance with reading and computer work, some degree of protection for the remaining eye and the convenience of not having to put them on and take them off all the time. I also know several people who having lost one eye, wear glasses just as a safety measure to protect the second. What do you do? Do you wear glasses as protection for your remaining eye?



The Blocks to Getting A Replacement Eye

Having an old artificial eye replaced with a new one is not always a straightforward process for everyone. There can be some big blocks to actually picking up the phone and making an appointment to finally get rid of that old eye. Even if it’s causing grief or is just not looking right, taking that step can be difficult.

There are a couple of reasons for this. One big barrier is the effect of a bad experience with previous eye fittings. If someone has experienced rough handling, pain, an unprofessional approach or a resulting artificial eye that didn’t meet their expectations, there is little incentive to either return to that practice or even to try a different ocularist. After all, what guarantee is there that the next service will be any different? As the saying goes, ‘once bitten, twice shy’. Once trust has been lost, it takes time for that trust to be regained.

The other obstacle is an interesting one – the fear of image change. An eye, no matter whether it is real or artificial, or has a good or bad appearance, is a part of us. It becomes integral in our self-image. When a new eye replaces an unsatisfactory one, some people struggle with what that now means to them and who they are. It’s particularly difficult to take the step when the unsatisfactory eye has been around for a large part of the person’s life. Having it replaced can mean an adjustment to how someone is seen and responded to, which might be confronting. And an eye with a poor appearance might have provided a good excuse to stay away from parties and social events; losing it will remove that excuse.

I saw this theme explored recently on a medical TV drama series. A Chief Medical Officer in the program had a hip problem and so walked with a crutch and a limp. She’d been like that for years, was used to it, and had established a persona in the hospital as a highly respected and intelligent doctor. An opportunity arose for her to have surgery to replace the damaged hip and lose the crutch. The program did an excellent job of showing her reluctance to go ahead with the surgery because it would mean losing the crutch and therefore her identity.

We had a client in this week who received his first eye prosthesis. Although he was excited at the prospect of restoring his appearance he also said that he was quite traumatised at the idea that he would have to break a few of his habits. Over the last few years he had been wearing hats and sunglasses day and night, and when playing guitar in a band. The idea of stepping out from behind his disguise was a bit challenging.

We understand that taking the step to have an eye replaced can be an anxious time. It is difficult to change any aspect of ourselves we have grown used to. Some of our clients find that talking about this fear up front is helpful as it reduces this anxiety.  Have you experienced difficulty adjusting to a new eye and a new image. We would be interested to hear how you managed.



Vision Doesn’t End After Blindness

When people are born blind, do they have any concept of vision? And when blindness occurs either in childhood or later on in life, can their visual experiences continue, but in a different way?

The brain is an incredible organ that holds many secrets. Recently, scientists have discovered that the brain’s visual cortex – the centre responsible for vision – does not shut down when someone becomes blind. In a blog post by Janet Shaw Choosing Blindness Over Sight the function of the visual cortex in a blind person is discussed and compared with Janet’s personal experience of seeing as a blind person.

The ABC Radio National’s ‘All in the Mind’ program referred to in Janet’s blog broadcast a two part series last month called ‘The Blind Brain’. It includes a discussion on artificial vision and what it might look like in the future. We intend exploring this further, and bringing you current research trends and an idea of what artificial vision might look like in the future. 



‘Mummy’s Got A Bad Eye’ – Telling Your Child About Your Artificial Eye

In a blog post in January this year, Back at school after eye surgery, we raised the delicate issue of how much information parents should give to school staff and peers when their child is either returning to, or beginning school with an artificial eye.

But what about the parent with an artificial eye? Do they always tell their child that one eye isn’t real? When is the best time to do this? How long do they wait before revealing all? And how do they go about telling their story?

Some parents come to see us without their children because they haven’t told them about Mummy or Daddy’s false eye. But children notice things, especially when Mum or Dad comes home with a new eye, and they’re bound to start asking questions. The trick is to find the right time and method of introducing the subject.

Some parents never tell their children. Perhaps this is because it never crosses their mind to do so, or they don’t see it as important. Perhaps it goes deeper than that; the parent might fear their child viewing and treating them differently. Whatever the case, it’s pretty much guaranteed that the fact will surface one day, and it may come as a shock to the child, regardless of his or her age.

This happened to a forty-year-old man while he was driving his mother to the airport. He and his wife had just started talking about the sad news of their son who was about to lose an eye. You can imagine his surprise when his mother interjected with, ‘So, what’s wrong with that?’. When he stressed the tragedy of such a loss, his mother said calmly, ‘It’s not that bad, I’ve had an artificial eye for forty years’. The shock of the news brought the car to a screaming halt.

Several years ago, right at the other extreme, a mother came to see us for a new eye fitting. She had two children, a girl aged eighteen months and a boy aged four years, but had never brought them with her. We suggested she think about telling her children she had an artificial eye, because the new eye would probably be spotted by her eldest.

The way she chose to do this was simply by including the children at this appointment to get her new eye. The little girl observed what was happening without fuss, and the boy played with the toys in the toy box. Half an hour into the fitting, the boy suddenly abandoned the toys and started taking notice of what was going on with Mum. He began asking questions, such as: ‘I’ve got two good eyes, haven’t I?’, to which his Mum replied, ‘Yes you have, and I’ve got one bad eye’. The questions continued until just as they were leaving when the boy began to gag. Before a bucket could be found, he’d passed out. It was all too much for him. On the way home in the car, he showed he hadn’t forgotten his Mum’s secret. He asked, ‘Do you think we should tell Daddy?’

We don’t have an easy answer to the question of how and when to tell your children. But we’d love to hear your thoughts and ideas. When did you tell your child, and how did you do it?         



Artificial Eyes and Light Perception – The Mystery

When someone has lost an eye, the ability to perceive light has also gone. Without the retina, cornea, rods and cones – the integral structures within the eye that detect and send images to the brain for interpretation – there is no way a person can see, let alone be aware of the light.

Or is there?

We’ve had some very interesting feedback from a small number of our clients about being affected by bright light. In particular, glare from the sun is a problem for them. You might be amazed to learn that two of these people have bilateral eye loss and so have a pair of artificial eyes. Another person has one artificial eye and finds that she has to close that eye when looking upwards because of the dazzling glare. This phenomenon isn’t just an effect of the sun as the glare is also detected in a bright room. 

As far as we know, there is no scientific explanation for why this occurs. And we know it doesn’t happen for everyone with either bilateral or unilateral eye loss.

If you also suffer from the glare or bright light, we’d love to hear about it. Has anyone come across a medical explanation for this phenomenon?           



Eye Loss from Retinoblastoma

The diagnosis of retinoblastoma is devastating for parents. Their young child is in danger from cancer. There may be a sense of urgency. Surgery to remove the eye may be necessary. Loretta McIntyre was five years old when a specialist visiting her remote community arranged an emergency evacuation to Perth to have her eye checked. Jillian, her mother, tells “A Story About Loretta”. Jillian’s story illustrates something which we often see in our clinic. Young children adjust very quickly to their new circumstances brought about by eye loss. The journey of recovery parents is far more complex. I am very grateful to Jillian for sharing her story.



Helping Kids Make Friends with their New Eyes

It’s only natural for children to feel anxious the first time they come to see us to have an eye fitted. They’ve often been through a lot of treatment and procedures in hospital, and now face yet more attention. The place is unfamiliar, they’ve never met us before, and they’ve had enough of people touching their eyes and sockets.

 Parents have such an important role to play here, but are probably more anxious than their kids. Their child has been through so much already; all they want to do is make things better, and take away any discomfort or fear. The best thing they can do is hide their fears and concerns and show total calm. Its so important not to give any attention to what’s going on because this will only heighten children’s fears.

   We see a lot of children in our line of work. Through experience, we’ve come up with the best way to lower any anxiety and fear, and to help kids make friends with their new eyes. Our secret is to be direct, not waste time in removing and inserting eyes, and most of all, not to fall into the negotiation trap.

 What do we mean by this? Here’s an example.

I saw a three-and-a-half year old boy in Bahrain recently for the first time. As I couldn’t speak his language, I asked his parents to tell him that I was now going to take an impression of the eye socket. This procedure is often done under a general anaesthetic for young children. They did this immediately, keeping their voices normal so as not to make a big thing of what was about to happen. The boy didnt’ react at all andI was able to do his first fitting easily.

Now if his parents had negotiated with him, promising him McDonalds if he was good, the result would have been quite different. The mere fact that a bribe has been offered immediately signals that what lies ahead won’t be nice. The effect is that he begins to conjur up scary images of the experience and to imagine how it might feel. He’d then tense up, shrink away, or start protesting.

The same thing would happen if I’d left time between the explanation of what I was about to do and my actions. The bigger the gap, the more room to invent horrifying scenes. As it was, I was already beginning to remove the shell before his parents had finished the translation.

      We’re not saying that it’s a bad move to offer kids a treat after they’ve been for their eye fittings. Just dont’ tell them about the icecream or giant-sized lollipop until you’re heading out the door.

When kids come for the first time, they are understandably reluctant. But by the second or third visit, they come running down the hall with smiles on their faces. The toy box in our waiting room gets a great working over. Best of all, the kids are glad to see us. By seeing kids regularly, we build up a relationship of trust. Such a relationship is essential for stress-free visits and to help kids feel comfortable with their artificial eyes.

Of course, there’s always an exception to the rule. Some kids just won’t settle. They act up no matter what anyone does to pacify them. In these situations we wait for that magical day when they suddenly change. And yes, it does happen. For reasons that are beyond us, these kids become co-operative overnight and accept their eyes.

One little girl who came to us a couple of years ago fitted this category. She hated her eye, wouldn’t touch it and didn’t want us to touch it. Her parents decided to get help and took her to a paediatric psychologist. The psychologist helped her to make friends with her eye by having her narrate a story about a lion called Leo who had lost an eye. Through being in charge of helping Leo with accepting his eye loss and getting a new one, this little girl shed her fear and dread. Within a short space of time, she came back to see us, eager to get her new eye and to handle it herself.

If you have a story of how your child reacted to his/her new eye and what you found worked, we’d love to hear from you.         



Taking our Service to Malaysia and the Middle East

I’ve just come back from Malaysia and the Middle East where I spread my time between Kuala Lumpur, Bahrain and Dubai. Bahrain is familiar territory to me: I’ve had six trips there over the past twelve years, making eyes for clients in the Middle East. I work with the Delmon Group which  established itself as an optical store before diverting into audiology and speach therapy. The practice is staffed by people from India, the Philippines, Iraq, Jordan, Nepal and Bahrain. It was a great pleasure working with  people from such interesting and diverse backgrounds.

 The reason for my trip to Kuala Lumpur was to talk to specialists about setting up an artificial eye clinic there. I met with Dr Chin, an ophthalmologist, who introduced me to the Chief Executive Officer of the Sunway Medical Centre.

 A new ward is being opened in the hospital which will be staffed by six ophthalmologists. They are interested in establishing an artificial eye clinic within the ophthalmology ward. We  plan to do an introductory presentation for the ophthalmologists and optometrists in KL. I plan to outline the procedures and techniques for the fitting of artificial eyes, as well as showing the benefits of individually hand-crafted eye prostheses. Throughout Asia and the Middle east people are generally fitted with stock eyes that are made in India. Artificial eyes are rarely custom made.  I was impressed with the professionalism of the administration at the Sunway Medical Centre. I was there for not much more than half an hour and within this time we had an agreement to establish the clinic and had a marketing strategy worked out.

         In Dubai I had discussions with Thomas Claeson from  The Middle East Dental Laboratory. The laboratory is incredibly modern with state of the art technology and a motivated workforce. They have beautiful rooms on Sheik Side Drive which is a modern and impressive part of Dubai. The service we provide would be complimentary to what they are doing as we use many of the same tools and materials. We are looking at setting something up for late September. They will provide rooms for me and take advance bookings. Dubai currently has a population of about one million people, but this is forecast to change dramatically over the next decade. It is a growing tourist destination with incredable developement at the moment, all you can see everywhere is cranes and scaffolding.

My overseas clinics will take me away from our Perth lab for about sixteen weeks each year. It’s an exciting time both offering a quality service to overseas clients, as well as providing an education for professionals.

The only drawback is that Jenny tends to work eleven hour days during my absence. We are looking to take on an apprentice soon to help ease the workload.



When Artificial Eyes Come in Pairs

Most of the clients we see have lost one eye. But we also have clients with two artificial eyes.

Bilateral eye loss is most commonly due to three conditions: retinoblastoma – cancer of the eyes which usually occurs in children under the age of five years; micro-ophthalmia – a disorder where the eyes are underdeveloped; and anophthalmia – a condition where the child is born without eyes. In all of these conditions, either one or both eyes can be affected.

 In very rare situations, the loss of both eyes can be due to an accident.

To make two artificial eyes is actually a lot harder than most people think. You can’t just make one eye and then copy it. Each eye is an individual and is never the same size or shape as its partner. Once the pair have been made, the trick is to match them up. This takes time and patience.

From our experience, we often find that when one artificial eye needs remaking, so does the other. So we generally make a pair at the same time.

Our advice for cleaning is to do one eye at a time. This will prevent any chance of cross-infection.

There’s a downside and an upside to having two artificial eyes. The downside is that the wearer can’t see if one eye has turned and is looking in the wrong direction. He/She has to rely on someone to point it out. There’s nothing worse than walking around with a turned eye; it’s a bit like having something stuck in your teeth.

The upside – and this beats the single artificial eye wearers hands down – is that the wearer can choose an eye colour. We had one client who had brown eyes when he was a child, but then opted for steely blue as an adult. He said this gave him “attitude” and improved his self-esteem.

If you have two artificial eyes and have a story about the colour you chose, we’d love to hear it.  



Stepping into the Business Blogger’s Shoes

We explained in an earlier blog how we go about getting our blog posts written. Without Julia tossing questions at us and jotting down our responses while we work, we might not get around to doing our posts.

Julia is taking a well earned break for a few weeks. Stepping into her shoes is Janet.

Janet’s method of soliciting information from us is a bit different, but very nice. Instead of following us around the office, she sits in a chair with her talking computer and writes notes while we get to cuddle her beautiful blonde labrador guide dog, Lucy. Lucy is the Queen of Smooge and freely shares herself around while Janet is busy asking questions and writing.

So we look forward to the next few weeks with our blonde friend, and her owner, of course. 



  • Adjusting to Eye Loss Mind Map

  • Stories of Eye Loss - Adults

    Maurie Enright - I Wish I Lived on an Island

    You could say that when you lose an eye you replace it by being more of your real self and being honest with your fellow man. Losing an eye has made me the person I am today.
    Read this articleRead more articles ...
  • Stories of Eye Loss - Kids

    Anita Gill - Truly Blessed

    Halfway through the story, Mum covered my left eye with her hand and asked if I could see how many fingers she was holding up. I replied of course I couldn’t, moved her hand and then supplied her with the correct answer. She tried again, just to receive the same answer from me. ... This was the catalyst that made her question the sight in my right eye.

    Read this articleRead more articles ...
  • Pandora Web Archive