Dear Friends:

I lost my right eye in a oilfield accident 4/5/01. On the way to the hospital it never occurred to me that I might lose my eye. I was thinking it was an injury and it would heal and everything would be alright.

When the surgeon got there he shine a bright light in my right eye and asked me if I could see it and I told him no. Right away he told me that wasn't good. No light, no sight is what he kept telling me. But, at this point I was still optimistic.

I went into surgery and what he actually had to do was sew my cornea back together...It was lacerated. Later I would find there was more damage than that. I went home for the weekend and returned to his office the following Monday and his words were the same. No light, no sight.

At this point I figured he was never going to say the words I wanted to hear, so I asked him if he had any associates in the Dallas area since I have a mother and a sister there and he said yes. By all means get a second opinion.

I then went to Dallas and saw a David Saunders. They did an ultrasound and gave me the true extent of the damage. The blow I received had lacerated the cornea, knocked out the lens, and detached the retina. I would never see from the eye again. But, even then it was somewhat of a relief because I had gotten the second opinion and when he told me that you only had a certain amount of time to remove the traumatized eye.  The reason he explained, is you could lose sight in the other because of a sympathetic disorder my word were "Let get it out of there".

Doctor Saunders explained what the surgical procedure would involved and what to expect. He kept telling me that I would look just like I did before. However, my recollection of glass eyes, that I  had seen growing up was dismal. He opened a drawer and showed me a prostheses...I could not get over the detail.

The experience eased my fears somewhat.  Doctor Saunders removed the eye and inserted an implant to restore 75% of the orbit volume.  I had to wear a patch about eight weeks before getting my prosthesis.

Dr. Saunders was right about my post-operative appearance.  No one knows I have an artificial eye unless I want to tell them. There are times I worry, what if I lose sight in my other eye.

Maybe being part of a support group will help someone and ease some of my fears at the same time.
                                    
Sincerely,

Mark

 

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