In February 2008 I was about to fly out to Timor-Leste to start an artificial eye clinic. Nobel peace prize winner Jose′ Ramos-Horta had been elected as President in May of the the previous year. The day before I was due to go to Timor he was shot and critically injured in an assassination attempt. I cancelled my trip and waited for the situation to stabilise.

Thankfully the President recovered and I did eventually make it to Timor in July later that year. It was an extremely challenging experience and I wasnâ€t as prepared as I needed to be. The country had been through so much trauma and upheaval that arranging things was far more difficult than Iâ€d anticipated.

On that first visit I had six blind patients who spoke no English and I did not have access a translator. The room I worked in had no running water so between patients I washed my hands out the window with bottled water. Just about every aspect of running the clinic was complicated in one way or another. For me it was a bit of a trial by fire. To be honest, after the challenges of that first visit I found it hard to go back.

Fast forward six years and several clinic visits later and so much progress has been made. Iâ€m a lot more organised and I have had help from my husband Michael who helps me run the clinic and sort out unexpected things that come up. Iâ€ve also had a lot of fantastic support from Rotary and the Royal Australian College of Surgeons (RACS). Over the years Iâ€ve worked from several different locations. This past year it has progressed in leaps and bounds. RMS Engineering donated a sea container and RACS applied for a grant through Lions First Sight Foundation  to fit the container out as an Artificial Eye Lab. The National Eye Clinic arranged five applicants  for the position of  trainee ocularist for the new clinic. My thanks to RACS, Lions First Sight, Timor Leste National Eye Clinic and Aus Aid for all their wonderful support.

Now another important milestone has been achieved. Iâ€m very excited that the new clinic has just been officially opened in itâ€s permanent new home by Jose′ Ramos-Horta. We have two trainees from that clinic coming to Perth soon to continue their training. Itâ€s been a long journey and itâ€s so satisfying to see the clinic very close to being able to run independently.

Timor itself continues to go from strength to strength and itâ€s been such a privilege for me to visit each year and see this growth. Iâ€m so relieved Jose′ Ramos-Horta is fully recovered and so very pleased weâ€ve got this clinic to a point where it is there to serve the lovely people of Timor.

The post José Ramos-Horta Opens Artificial Eye Clinic in Timor-Leste appeared first on Artificial Eyes by Paul, Jenny and Emily Geelen.

A small group have some vision now but may lose that in the future.

I’ve got a delightful little client in Darwin who is such a person. She has some vision now but there’s considerable risk that she might lose that later.

Her lovely Mum recently explained to me that the family are teaching her some braille so that if she does lose her remaining vision she’ll still be able to read.

One of the resources her mother found was a website that sells braille jewellery. Or “jewelry” as it is in American spelling.

The jewellery is designed and made by artist Kelly Fehr who has a blind niece Emily.

Kelly surprised her neice one day with a braille necklace spelling Emily.

From this experience Kelly realized that she could make unique gifts for those who were blind and visually impaired.

My client’s Mother has had a little bracelet made with her daughter’s name in braille. It’s a beautiful thing.

I recommend you check out Kelly Fehr’s website Jewelry in Braille.

Here’s an example of one of Kelly’s braille bracelets.

The post Here’s Some Beautiful and Useful Braille Jewellery appeared first on Artificial Eyes by Paul, Jenny and Emily Geelen.

The answer is a definite yes!

A lot of women do have issues with hollowing under the top eye lid.

This makes it a challenge to apply make-up in an even way.

It’s also difficult to see past your hand as you apply the make-up.

A few weeks ago I had a professional make-up artist come in to work with a client on these issues.

They had a two hour session which helped our client change her style of make-up and her technique for applying it.

After the session she looked fantastic and felt a lot more confident.

Would you like a session with make-up artist Ali Price?

She is very professional and caring. Her services will help you build your confidence and have you feeling great.

Her website is http://www.alipricemakeup.com.au/

The post How to Apply Makeup When You Have an Artificial Eye appeared first on Artificial Eyes by Paul, Jenny and Emily Geelen.

We’ve designed this book to give a positive overview of the eye loss recovery process.

It includes several stories from people who have lost an eye as a result of an illness or injury.

The book also includes tips on adapting to a change in depth perception in situations like driving, dining out and playing sport.

We set out to create a really friendly book that was as comforting as it was useful.

From our clinic feedback it seems this has been achieved.

Last week one client told me, “This book saved my life.”

I have to say that was a really sweet moment.

“A Different Perspective – Your Guide to Eye Loss & Recovery” is available as a downloadable $10 ebook or as an $18 paperback.

Click on the bookstore link to order your copy – Bookstore.

The post New Book About Eye Loss and Recovery appeared first on Artificial Eyes by Paul, Jenny and Emily Geelen.

It was a relaxing cosy event where everyone knew each other and it was easy to meet and talk to people.

The Association have worked hard over ten years to promote professional industry standards and training for those coming into the industry.

It was fascinating to talk about the work they’ve put in over the last ten years. It made me realise the sort of challenges that lay ahead for our own Australian Association.

At the same time it was inspiring to see the end result of all their hard work.

They told us it took them ten years to get the profession of ocularist recognised as an actual profession.

There were all sorts of barriers and issues to be sorted out along the way including the definition of what an ocularist does.

Some make artificial eyes and others will make prostheses for facial parts close to the eye as well.

It’s wonderful to learn about the profession from so many different perspectives. It was also rather cool to get to hang out with Paul, my Dad.

Several people told us that they were really jealous that Paul had a daughter going into the profession and how they wished their own kids would consider it.

Maybe if they have an annual cruise like this last one they might get a few more takers.

The post Cruising With Ocularists in South Africa appeared first on Artificial Eyes by Paul, Jenny and Emily Geelen.

Liana made these fabulous eye cupcakes to share with the class to celebrate five years with an artificial eye.

Liana, like most children we meet, is remarkably resilient and easily adapt to life with an artificial eye.

Right now we are in the process of making Liana a new eye.  It’s fun to catch up on the family news and see how much she has grown and changed.

Children do require more frequent appointments as they are constantly growing.

We loved catching up with Liana and her family and celebrating this great milestone.

The cupcakes look awesome!

The post Time for Celebration appeared first on Artificial Eyes by Paul, Jenny and Emily Geelen.

My niece Emily works with us as an apprentice. She is already highly skilled at polishing eyes.

Lately, she’s started painting and making practice eyes and we’ve been impressed with the results.

This week a new client came in with an infection on his eye lid. His socket was also swollen and sore.

Once we saw his artificial eye it was easy to understand what the problem was.

Our client had his eye made overseas and it had very rough edges. This alone would certainly make an eye socket unhappy.

Once we took out the old damaged prosthesis and saw the state of the socket there was no way we could put it back in.

So there was a problem. Our client didn’t have a viable eye prosthesis.

Then Paul remembered Emily’s practice eyes. He chose a brown one and adjusted it slightly so it sat well.

Our client then had a temporary eye that he could wear while the socket swelling settled.

Although it wasn’t customised Emily’s temporary eye looked better than the client’s old prosthesis.

It was also highly polished so our client said it felt much more comfortable.

The best part was that Emily was here with us to see how useful her work had been.

She also got to see a very relieved and happy client walk out the door wearing a temporary eye she had made.

It was a very moving moment for us.

We had just witnessed the birth of a third generation of eye makers.

Whether Emily continues with this work is up to her.

What is certain is that we felt so very proud of what she had already achieved.

The post Emily’s Practice Eye Saves the Day appeared first on Artificial Eyes by Paul, Jenny and Emily Geelen.

They’ve been told that their child will need surgery to remove an eye.

My friend Julia wrote a blog about how it feels to be given a diagnosis like that.

Her blog What A New Diagnosis Does to You may be helpful to have a look at.

The post The Impact of a New Diagnosis appeared first on Artificial Eyes by Paul, Jenny and Emily Geelen.

This effect is even worse if you happen to have an eye prosthesis.

We’ve had lots of great feedback about Ocu-Glide.

This is a silicon based eye drop which is totally inorganic. This means that it doesn’t have a useby date – or to put it simply, it doesn’t go off.

You only need a little drop of Ocu-Glide to stop the prosthesis from drying out. It doesn’t need to be reapplied for several hours.

This can make a big difference to your comfort level when travelling.

Sadly, you can’t use it in your real eye – you’ll have to get other eye drops for that.

Other useful tips include;
– Avoid alcohol.
– Drink lots of water.
– Wear the little sleep masks over your eyes.

Ocu-Glide isn’t widely available. You can buy it over the internet or from some Ocularists.

Here is a link to their website if you would like to find out more: Ocu-Glide

Bon Voyage!

The post Air Travel With An Artificial Eye appeared first on Artificial Eyes by Paul, Jenny and Emily Geelen.

I’ve heard people say this before. The reason is that the artificial eye doesn’t have blood vessels like a normal eye would.

It is the blood flow that keeps a real eye warm.

You’d imagine that the heat of the body would make a prosthesis warm and to a certain degree I am sure it does.

However it is a fact that some people who wear an artificial eye experience it as being cold in the winter. Is that your experience?

The post Why Does My Artificial Eye Feel Cold in the Winter? appeared first on Artificial Eyes by Paul, Jenny and Emily Geelen.