Blind and Visually Impaired Community
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Eye removal surgery is a potential option for me (self.Blind)
submitted by verruckt12
Hi all,
I'm getting a cornea transplant this week in a last ditch attempt to keep my blind eye healthy enough to stay in my body. If the transplant fails, I think eye removal will be the next step. I've read some of the doctor sites about this but wanted to hear some personal experiences from people who've had this. How were the procedures (in terms of pain and discomfort), and how do you feel after everything is done - is the implant comfortable, how does it look visually (do people immediately know that its an implant?). The doctors have told me the implants look very realistic and they don't even immediately notice when a new patient has one.
Thanks for any experiences you can share.
I'm getting a cornea transplant this week in a last ditch attempt to keep my blind eye healthy enough to stay in my body. If the transplant fails, I think eye removal will be the next step. I've read some of the doctor sites about this but wanted to hear some personal experiences from people who've had this. How were the procedures (in terms of pain and discomfort), and how do you feel after everything is done - is the implant comfortable, how does it look visually (do people immediately know that its an implant?). The doctors have told me the implants look very realistic and they don't even immediately notice when a new patient has one.
Thanks for any experiences you can share.
BenandGracie 8 points 1y ago
I have had both eyes removed, and it is impossible to notice. I have acctually had doctors shine a light in them thinking they were real.
verruckt12 [OP] 5 points 1y ago
Wow, that makes it pretty clear. How are the implants for you now? Is it comfortable? Do you have to do anything to keep the area healthy?
BenandGracie 2 points 1y ago
It is basically no maintenance.
I’ll give you a short run down on how the surgery works.
They removed my eye, and they put a ball deep inside the socket that is hooked to the muscles. You can't see that part. I wore a clear shield for about six weeks, and then I went to an ocularist. He is the one who makes the prosthetic. He makes an oval shaped thing that sits on that ball. He then paints all the eye parts on, so the whole thing looks real. That ball I mentioned earlier gives the eye some movement.
I hope that helps you if you do have to have your eye removed.
I’ll give you a short run down on how the surgery works.
They removed my eye, and they put a ball deep inside the socket that is hooked to the muscles. You can't see that part. I wore a clear shield for about six weeks, and then I went to an ocularist. He is the one who makes the prosthetic. He makes an oval shaped thing that sits on that ball. He then paints all the eye parts on, so the whole thing looks real. That ball I mentioned earlier gives the eye some movement.
I hope that helps you if you do have to have your eye removed.
verruckt12 [OP] 1 points 1y ago
Thank you for explaining it. I’m at least getting more comfortable with this in case I need to have this done.
niamhweking 6 points 1y ago
I can only speak about the appearance of the eye/prosthetic, they are unbelievable realistic and I'd be very surprised if anyone can notice
I just want to wish you luck, and I hope the transplant is successful for you
I just want to wish you luck, and I hope the transplant is successful for you
[deleted] 5 points 1y ago
Well if the case comes to eye removal, I wish you a successful and pain free surgery! And please update how it goes!
I have seen folks with a prosthetic eye and you wouldn’t be able to tell it is one!!! Looks so realistic!
I have seen folks with a prosthetic eye and you wouldn’t be able to tell it is one!!! Looks so realistic!
[deleted] 3 points 1y ago
Can I ask why are you having any Surgery at all done on a blind eye? Personally with mine if I had a problem with my blind eye and it wasn’t getting any better without surgery I would just have it removed because I’ll always be blind in that eye and at least I’d know nothing could possibly go wrong because it’s already completely damaged beyond repair but with a cornea transplant for a blind eye there is potential it won’t fix the problem and therefore need a second treatment and at least with removal you have nothing to lose.
verruckt12 [OP] 5 points 1y ago
The cornea surface is unhealthy now so something has to be done. I think a cornea transplant is much easier procedure than eye removal. As I understand it, eye removal is a minimum of two surgeries - one to remove the eye and put in a temporary implant, and then one later on to implant the final implant. And then you could also have potential problems/discomfort with the implant down the road. So I don't think its so easy to say the implant should be the first course of action.
[deleted] 3 points 1y ago
Yeah that makes sense now. I completely understand, I just thought it was literally pretty simple just pull the eye out but it doesn’t appear that way. So yes definitely try the cornea procedure first. I wish you all the best 🙂👍🏻
sadandblind 1 points 10m ago
You mentioned a cornea issue, can I ask what it is? I'm currently suffering with a diseased cornea and I've had 3 doctors deny me an eye removal surgery due to potential side effects. The diseased eye is nearly completely blind, but my other eye is relatively healthy and has ok vision. They do not want to remove the diseased eye and would rather do cornea transplants and other surgeries, because they were concerned with basically my body attacking the healthier eye. I would much rather have the eye removed at this point as I've already had about 5 surgeries on the eye....
Has your doctor basically approved a removal surgery, and if they did what was their basis?
Has your doctor basically approved a removal surgery, and if they did what was their basis?
verruckt12 [OP] 2 points 10m ago
My cornea damage was a side effect of an eye cancer I had in that eye. Since this post , I’ve had the corona transplant and so far it’s working. The cornea has healed and my eye is in the best condition it’s been since the cancer diagnosis. Vision will never return , but if it stays like this, At least the eye shouldn’t cause any problems.
sadandblind 1 points 9m ago
Oh congrats on the successful surgery!
codeplaysleep 2 points 1y ago
I had my left eye removed when I was 17. I was in less pain the day after the surgery than I was the day before.
I had some nausea immediately after, but not too bad and had some pain the first night, but had good painkillers. I had a pressure dressing over it for the first 24hrs, and then switched to patching for a few more days.
After the first day or two, I was able to manage the pain with OTC pain medicine. It was swollen and tender for a bit, but all in all, the pain wasn't bad. I had my surgery on a Thursday and was back in school on Monday.
I remember having to flush out the socket regularly with sterile saline for the first few days.
As for the orbital implant, I've never really felt it and certainly haven't felt any discomfort from it. I wore a conformer for 6wks to allow for swelling to go down. - It's a roughly prosthetic eye shaped piece of medical grade acrylic that's meant to hold the shape of the eye socket. It's smaller than your prosthesis will be, because your socket will be swollen.
Once the swelling went down, I went to an ocularist to have my eye made. He sat across from me and hand-painted it. I've had a few eyeballs now. I, switched ocularists with the last one because my previous one retired. They've both done it this way (anyone who's in the southeastern US and needs an ocularist, Scott Fiscus in Nashville is great).
The prosthesis itself is very realistic. People don't notice, generally speaking. Well-fitting prosthetics are generally comfortable and unnoticeable (unless you have something else going on with your socket) and don't usually need to be taken out and cleaned beyond the annual professional polishing. Very rarely, I'll get something stuck on it or an eyelash/hair behind it and need to take it out and give it a rinse, but that's maybe a once or twice a year thing.
As for how it feels in the socket, having a prosthetic eye feels a lot like having a real eye.
Mind you, my surgery was 27yrs ago, so I'm sure the process has only improved since then.
I had some nausea immediately after, but not too bad and had some pain the first night, but had good painkillers. I had a pressure dressing over it for the first 24hrs, and then switched to patching for a few more days.
After the first day or two, I was able to manage the pain with OTC pain medicine. It was swollen and tender for a bit, but all in all, the pain wasn't bad. I had my surgery on a Thursday and was back in school on Monday.
I remember having to flush out the socket regularly with sterile saline for the first few days.
As for the orbital implant, I've never really felt it and certainly haven't felt any discomfort from it. I wore a conformer for 6wks to allow for swelling to go down. - It's a roughly prosthetic eye shaped piece of medical grade acrylic that's meant to hold the shape of the eye socket. It's smaller than your prosthesis will be, because your socket will be swollen.
Once the swelling went down, I went to an ocularist to have my eye made. He sat across from me and hand-painted it. I've had a few eyeballs now. I, switched ocularists with the last one because my previous one retired. They've both done it this way (anyone who's in the southeastern US and needs an ocularist, Scott Fiscus in Nashville is great).
The prosthesis itself is very realistic. People don't notice, generally speaking. Well-fitting prosthetics are generally comfortable and unnoticeable (unless you have something else going on with your socket) and don't usually need to be taken out and cleaned beyond the annual professional polishing. Very rarely, I'll get something stuck on it or an eyelash/hair behind it and need to take it out and give it a rinse, but that's maybe a once or twice a year thing.
As for how it feels in the socket, having a prosthetic eye feels a lot like having a real eye.
Mind you, my surgery was 27yrs ago, so I'm sure the process has only improved since then.
TechnicalPragmatist 1 points 1y ago
Hopefully this does not need to happen. I would say eye removal is absolutely the last resort.
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