It is really important to us that people facing eye loss get information and support as soon as possible.

Most of the doctors and hospitals in our network share this commitment and are happy to pass on information and refer people for an early consultation.

Ideally we like to see people on the day of diagnosis so we are able to take away some of the fear of the unknown. Clients who are interested are assigned a buddy who has lost an eye in similar circumstances.

Now and then we still get calls from clients who have already lost their eye and are phoning for an appointment. In these cases I am able to recommend people visit our website.

I know that if they can get online and read other peoples stories they will feel reassured about what lies ahead.

People come in and tell us what a difference the website has made to the way they think and feel. One man said, “Once I read those stories, I knew I would be ok.”

This buddy system has been operating in an informal way for some years. One day a young Dad told us he had met with another family. He said he knew what they were going through but he was still unsure what to say.

This gave us the idea to seek out some training for clients who wished to volunteer as buddies for people who are new to the experience of eye loss.

If you have lost an eye, or supported a child through the experience you may be interested in learning how to best support someone else who is going through the same thing.

We were pleased to discover that a specialist in peer support training was based here in Perth. To our delight he has volunteered his services to enable people to attend at no cost.

Michael Tunnecliffe, a Clinical Psychologist, will deliver Peer Support Training Saturday, 18 October at the seminar room, Warehouse Cafe, Onslow Road, Shenton Park. Morning and afternoon tea as well as a light lunch will also be provided.

A limited number of approved participants may attend. More information and an enrolment form see the Peer Support page.

The purpose of this visit is to promote the artificial eye service that we’re establishing in Dubai.

My first port of call is a meeting with ocular plastic specialists (ophthalmologists who perform plastic surgery) at Morfields Eye Clinic. Morfields is the largest eye clinic in London. A new branch has just opened in Dubai.

Having an artificial eye clinic based in Dubai - which I hope to attend twice a year - means that more people who live in the Middle East will have access to quality custom fitted artificial eyes.

Dubai is a major business centre, and is easily accessible to surrounding countries. In November
Dubai is Hosting the Middle East Ophthalmology Congress.
While I am there I plan to contact the organisation , and will offer my services as a guest speaker for their event.

Before returning to Perth, I’ll be dropping in to the Philippines for a week to continue the training with Owel Sabre. If you missed that post, you can read it here

Now that Owel has had plenty of practise making conformer shells, I’ll teach him the next step in producing artificial eyes: turning irises on a lathe.

And of course, while I’m away, Jenny will be back doing her eleven hour days!

Children born with micro-ophthalmia (the eye is small because it did not develop fully in utero) are usually good candidates for the haptic lens. This is because the eye does not need to be surgically removed.

Similarly, someone who has sustained an injury to their eye does not necessarily have to have it removed. But a prosthesis of some kind is required due to the consequences of the injury and the eye’s appearance.

In both cases, a haptic lens sits over the injured or underdeveloped eye.

The benefits are wide-ranging.

The most obvious one is that the haptic lens gives the wearer a natural-looking eye. Secondly, it helps to fill out the eye socket. And this is a benefit in itself, as it ensures the even development of facial features.

All in all, it improves appearance, and we all know how important that is.

A child with a malformed eye and distorted facial features can be ignored or stared at. Then in school, he or she can become a victim of cruel teasing. And all this can be damaging on the child’s well-being.

The haptic lens, which gives the appearance of two natural-looking eyes, prevents these social barriers.

But it hasn’t always been a popular option amongst ophthalmologists.

In the not too distant past, parents were advised to wait a few years before having a lens fitted.

Now though, the attitude is changing. We’re seeing more babies through our clinic who have been referred for haptic lenses. The youngest to date has been six months old.

So why the change?

Probably it’s because of the easy access to information via the internet. More parents are discovering what is possible for their child and encouraging the Ophthalmologists into earlier intervention. Also over the past few years, ocularists have become more competent in making and fitting haptic lenses.

In saying all this, we need to emphasise that not everyone can tolerate a haptic lens. Some eye sockets are just too sensitive. If you believe you may be a good candidate for a haptic lens then consult your local ocularist or ophthalmologist. The lens is a couple of millimeters thick.

Suddenly, you’re overwhelmed with feelings - shock, numbness, disbelief, anger, sadness, fear and anxiety.

And then the questions begin:

Is there much pain after surgery?

What will I be left with?

What happens next?

Will my life change dramatically?

What will I look like?

Who can I talk to about how I feel?

This last question is common for anyone facing eye loss. Gaining support from someone who has been through the same experience can alleviate fears, ease distress and provide valuable coping skills for the future.

To date, we’ve addressed this need through our buddy system.

This works by matching people who have similar eye conditions, but who are at different stages.

So, for example, when someone with a melanoma of the eye has surgery pending, we’ll match them with another person with this condition who is much further down the track.

And the same goes for parents of kids with retinoblastoma or micro-ophthalmia. They are linked with other parents who know what lies ahead.

But this buddy system doesn’t cater for the friends or wider family who might not be coping with what’s going on.

And having a similar background isn’t always enough.

Knowing how to respond to a very distressed person is a skill in itself. What should you say? And what shouldn’t you say? What is the best way to help?

We’re hoping to answer these questions at a Peer Support Training Day on October 18, run by Michael Tunnecliffe. Michael is a Clinical Psychologist with experience in dealing with trauma.

Michael will give an insight into the trauma of losing an eye, and spell out specific ways of helping.

Everyone is welcome.

If you’ve lost an eye, are about to lose an eye, are a parent of a child in this situation, are a family member or partner, are involved in the buddy system or want to become involved, then plese come along.

Flyers will be mailed out closer to the time with the venue and time. So pencil Saturday 18 October in your diaries.

As I said in ‘Diary From Darwin Part 1′, I’ll be doing some more training at the Royal Darwin Hospital.

And that’s not all.

I’m also going along to a coffee morning being organised by someone who’d like to set up a local artificial eye support group. To get the message out, I will be sending an information flyer out with the next clinic letter.

The first meeting is a ‘getting to know you’ event. The idea of the support group would mainly be a register of people available to support others as they experience eye loss. So if you’re in Darwin and you’re interested in meeting other artificial eye wearers, please let us know.

After Darwin I will again attempt to get to East Timor. I’d like to say a big thank you to Air North. They generously allowed me to transfer my non-refundable and non-transferrable air ticket to August after my February trip had to be abandoned. Bless’em!

One client I saw in the last days of the August clinic. He had damaged his eye many years ago. I crafted a clear conformer for him and said if you can wear that you can wear a haptic lens. He excitedly phoned the next week to tell me how comfortable it was. He then had to wait six months for my return and the new eye prosthesis.

He was so thrilled with his new eye that he found it difficult to walk out the door. He kept coming back inside to look at his eye in the mirror. I made him promise to keep his eyes on the road when driving home! I got a fantastic thank you text from him when I returned to Perth.

A wonderful Aboriginal woman in her late sixties presented me with a huge barramundi from the river in her back yard, when she got her new artificial eye. “Thank you for making me beautiful,” she said.

My new digital camera made a huge impact on everyone. It was a present from my husband and is more than just a digital camera. It has a video feature which proved invaluable throughout the clinic.

When someone gets an artificial eye, they can appreciate the appearance by looking in a mirror. But they can’t see the eye movement.

By videoing the eye movement and playing it back to the client, this problem is solved.

The result was incredible. Everyone was amazed at the amount of eye movement they had. Even the seasoned artificial eye wearers were stunned by what they were seeing on the video.

One thirteen-year-old boy couldn’t contain himself after seeing the video of his eye movement.

He’d lost his eye before Christmas and has just had his first artificial eye fitted. He rushed out to the waiting room to show his aunty the video.

When I suggested he take his glasses off and let her look at his eyes, he shook his head. He was adament that she watch the video. It will take a little while before he is comfortable in public without his glasses after hiding behind them for three months.

These are just a few stories that I will treasure.

It was the busiest, most rewarding and most eventful clinic yet.

Thanks to ophthalmologist Dr. Mahendra and the team at Royal Darwin Hospital, my two week clinic was booked up. In this short time, I made a total of nine new artificial eyes.

And somehow, I always manage to squeeze in a last minute appointment before stepping on the plane back to Perth.

The man had his eye removed two days before I left Darwin. The eye clinic called me and wanted to know when I was coming back. I told them to send him around and I would take notes for a temporary artificial eye. The temporary eye would have to be made in Perth and posted.

Usually, clients in this situation either have to wait until my next visit to Darwin, or get sent south to have an artificial eye made.

During this trip, I was invited to teach the eye clinic nurses how to fit and maintain artificial eyes. The session with the nurses went so well that they have asked me back. Next time I’m in Darwin, I’ll be conducting an in-service at the hospital for a broader group of Nurses.

Because of the nurse training, I can post this man’s temporary eye up to Darwin knowing that one of these nurses will fit it for him. I am looking forward to getting a digital photo with him wearing the eye.

Sadly, with all the unrest in that part of the world, she has had to abandon her plans.

But all is not lost for the clients who were expecting to be fitted with their first artificial eye.

Jenny has moved to Plan B. Sitting in our lab in Perth are a dozen temporary artificial eyes waiting to be sent to East Timor. We painted them from photos of the intended recipients.

A temporary artificial eye can be made using photographs of the person’s face. The process is not ideal, but in circumstances such as in East Timor, there’s no choice. At least these people aren’t missing out on something they might have needed or wanted for quite some time.

The next East Timor clinic is booked for August this year. Jenny’s focus will be on making any adjustments to these temporary prostheses, as well as seeing new clients.

It’s a safe place to air fears and concerns, ask questions or just get to know one another across vast distances.

Support for eye loss and living with an artificial eye isn’t readily available in Australia. ArtEyes aims to fill this gap.

It’s a group we endorse because our firm belief is that true understanding comes through personal experience and sharing.

The group can provide support throughout all the stages of eye loss.

Parents with a child facing eye removal can get support from other parents whose children have already undergone the procedure. In fact, anyone about to face the surgery can ask questions of their peers. For example, “what can I expect?”, “will it be painful?” and “what happens afterwards?” are fairly common questions.

When a new eye is fitted, there can be some anxiety about how the eye should behave. Understanding what is normal in the settling in period, and what to do if there’s a mucky discharge, can reduce stress levels.

Through the collective experience of the group members, advice can be sought on things out of the norm. For instance, how to convince young Rupert to keep his eye in. Well, maybe that’s not out of the norm!

And the group is also there to have fun. Members can share funny experiences they’ve had, including classic comments their kids and grandkids have sprouted.

If you’d like to join ArtEyes, go to the ArtEyes Australia home page where you’ll find instructions on joining.