Dear Kolberg Ocular:

Hi, my name is Rosemary:

I lost my left eye to trauma at the age of 19 am I am now 51. It happened when I went to see a band play and the drummer broke a stick that hit me. After almost a year of surgeries in a vain attempt to save the eye it was removed.   For those of you who have more recently lost an eye you at least won’t have to go through some of the nightmares I did due to lack of technological advances.

My first implant was the latest called an integrated wire mesh implant in which the muscles were attached similar to this web site’s prosthesis. Unfortunately a few years later the wire mesh connecting the muscles loosened and protruded exposing the orbital socket resulting in cellulites and the eventual loss of the implant. I lost count of the implants that were attempted but rejected by my body. For a couple of years I even had to go without an implant.

The result was the inability to hold the artificial eye in place. I was sent to Atlanta to have a fat dermis graft placed since you can’t reject your own body tissue. It worked well for about a year then atrophied. Again I had trouble maintaining the eye in place. From there I was sent to san Antonio, Texas where a substance called cranioplasty was inserted. This is a relatively soft material that hardens and reformed my orbital socket. I have had several surgeries since that but only reshaping sort of things.

Now hopefully I will be a candidate for this new implant and gain movement again.

I graduated as a registered nurse at age 30. You can image how much fun it was to try to learn to give shots with only one eye….have many funny memories of that time. Life goes on and you give it your best shot, little pun there.

I am very pleased to read all of your stories and provide mine. Wish it was around in 1972 when I had my accident. I wish happiness to each and every one of you.   

Sincerely,

Rosemary

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