Federica, you had a question for me?
Hi There!
I keep getting caught up with other things and only just made a visit to the site and found you had something you were wondering about, Federica?
I will have to look up and find your introduction, and perhaps you have read mine. I am happy to answer any questions you may have about what it has been like to have an enucleation and getting used to having a prosthetic eye.
I sometimes forget about it, and still can wake up wondering why not seeing from that side, and still find a lot of people who have no idea I have gone through this. I think I was very hypersensitive about it at first, but now it is just a matter of fact.
It is amazing how many people out there have lost an eye and you might never know it...Thank God for ocularists!
yes, you' re perfectly right. It' s amazing in a way...it' s a sort of invisible disability. I had surgery at the age of 9 and the eye which has been enucleated was completly blind. So, I never had binocular vision. I simply don' t know what it means. That' s my first question. I realize it could seem pretty stupid...but how' s it like? I mean what can you see with both eyes that you cannot see with only one? And my second question is: what does exactly this kind of eye surgery imply? I mean, it' s obvious that you surgically remove the eyeball but what about muscles...nerves...? Thank you for replying to me and asking about my questions. I hope I' m not bothering you.
Re: Federica, you had a question for me?
I wonder what you had done for you when you ask that question.
I required a full enucleation --but it was only the eye ball and not the muscles that were removed. I had a plastic ball device of some sort of inert material inserted to which the ends of the eye muscles were attached. These were then covered with the lining of the eye socket. After healing was full, the rounded shape of the ball provided the form on which could be molded the removable eye prosthetic. This was made of the same materials that they make dentures with, and was painted artfully to make a good approximation of my remaining eye. The muscles move the eye around in concert with the other, though my alignment is not perfect since I had a little muscle imbalance of the lazy eye before that. I now have a form underneath my lids that fitted well, so they do not sink in and create a hygiene issue with inturning lashes. The placement of the prosthetic in the eye cannot be felt at the base, which is numb, but my lids feel normal and I can usually tell if some debris gets in there by tearing or increased mucous production. I can remove the prosthetic with a suction cup for cleaning, then reinsert with the same suction device.
I think I have adapted to operating with one eye for vision but find people do not appreciate that I have a blind side and sometimes approach me in a way to surprise me. I have loss of peripheral vision of my remaining eye so lose track of things moving around me easkily and cannot find things I drop on the floor , for instance. I have a harder time with depth perception than when had a pair of eyes, so walking on uneven surfaces is harder if I am in stiff shoe wear. I also have a harder time in the dark, but perhaps that is from the glaucoma and lost contrast sensitivity I have also.
Re: Federica, you had a question for me?
Dear Dr. Stephanie,
thanks for answering me so quickly. I can see we share a lot of things except for glaucoma which I' m very sorry you have. People keep saying to me that it' s not easy live with only one eye but to tell you the truth I have no idea how' s it like with two. So I always try to find new solutions and strategies to solve my little daily problems. Anyway I understand it must be very hard to get used to it. You gave me precious information. Thanks again and have a nice week end.
Federica.
Ps. I answered your question about BD in the other post.
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