I’m feeling elated tonight as I’ve just heard from the prosthetics department at the Royal Melbourne hospital that with some new technology, they’re able to design a customised silicon eye patch!
It’s been a year since I had my cornea graft and since then, every night I go through the process of needing to ‘GLAD wrap’ my eye. It’s not only cumbersome, time consuming and expensive but it also takes an emotional toll. And it wasn’t long after the very invasive surgery that I realised that this level of care for my eye is something that is permanent and needs to be factored into my daily care needs.
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My care for my eye has been a somewhat silent experience as so many people comment “Em, your eye is looking so great.” But what they aren’t seeing is the nightly ritual which zaps my energy and the discomfort in sleeping with a plastic eye patch.
Despite the wonderful support I have to dress my eye every day, it adds to the list of things that I need to do in managing my disability. Now, the amazing team of prosthetics doctors at the Royal Melbourne Hospital are creating a silicone eye patch for me which will ensure that this process is easier, less time consuming and my eye will experience complete darkness at night.
I’m so grateful to this team of experts who are able to do such amazing things with new technology. People who suffer loss of extremities due to all kinds of conditions now have hope that they can create 3D prosthetics specific to their needs, and now I am one of those patients who will get to receive this incredible treatment. 
After going back and forth with my therapists and supports on what the long term management will be for my eye care, I am feeling so relieved. Although I know that I will encounter ongoing challenges in this new regime, this feels like a step forward; taking a lot of strain away from this nightly routine and enable me to focus on other aspects of my life.
I also want to share and influence others that there is hope in these new technology advancements that can help shape your care – taking some of the burden away from daily routines that take up our attention and effort.
How does new innovation and technology enhance your care and instil hope? How can it ease the load of care for yourself and another?