Hello, I am new to this whole computer thing and this forum, but just wanted to say hello. I had a terrible fall on 9/11/07 which resulted in the loss of my right eye. What a wonderful day for that to happen. I also fractured my right upper arm and shattered my orbital bones in my face. I just have a few questions; How has everyone dealt with the loss of an eye, because I have had a horrible time. Will I ever get my balance or my depth perception back? Have any of you had problems returning to work?

Hi nursemills,
I am sympathetic to what happened to you especially on that particular date. I had a bad accident while on vacation and lacerated the right eye schleral, ruptured the right eye globe and fractured my orbit( right eye). I spent a night in the hospital and when I returned to US ( was out of the country) I went immediately to the emergency room when I got home. I had not light perception for a month and on the urgency of my glaucoma specialist I had the enucleation on April 3rd. I am doing what I can to adapt and adjust but there is a long road ahead for me, I know. I have not returned to work. I am a teacher in a high school and I am not emotionally or physical prepared to handle a 6 hour day but I do expect to return in September. I can only speak for myself but I am dealing with a lot of self esteem issues and anxiety. I am taking Zoloft for depression and that seems to have been helping me deal with the situation( I am seeing a counselor for my anxiety and that has helped, too). I just began seeing an Occupational Therapist who is teaching me how to retrain my brain to monocular vision. I have found myself easily disoriented and anxious when I am in new areas and trying to find my way back to where I came from when I am on my own. I started driving locally a few weeks ago and that has not been as big of an issue for me, as walking especially at dusk or when an area is not well lit. You mentioned you fractured your arm along with the eye injury so you had much more trauma then I did. There are several people here who have had very serious accidents, also and I am sure they will read your post and reply to your questions. One thing I am told over and over again by my family and friends, that everyone heals and recuperates at their own rate and not to rush anything but just continue to take baby steps when I feel I am not getting any better. I hope you continue to stay here and talk because that was one very positive action I think made things I had to deal with seem ok after my girlfriend told me about this site. (P.S. I am 56 in case you wondered about my age. )

take care,
Pam

Hi Nursemills; and welcome and glad you found us all; sorry to hear about your accident; it does take time to get your head around 1. what happened; 2. how it effects your everyday life and how to cope.
We are all different here; I was 40 when I had cholordal melanomia and after treament I had no vision and 8 years later had my eye removed; I went back to work 2 weeks after the cancer and continued to work until I was 50 and could afford to finish working; balance will adjust but depth perception will not return to what it was with two eyes; but us monocular people have a lot of successes and live fulfilling lives; Welcome; Vera

Well thank you for the warm welcome. It was very uplifting to here that i'm not the only one going through this. I'm also having a hard time with getting a prosthesis. My first one felt like a golf ball in my face. It looked like a bug eye it was so big. And now i'm waiting on the next one to see how it fits. Are yours comfortable, and do they fit well? or does it always feel awkward?

My eye fits well; I liked it from the first day; had no adjustments; however because my socket had shrunk a lot occularist bulked it up a lot and it sits right on lower lid; so much so that when tired or I touch my face in the wrong spot it will slide out but after 8 years I'm very used to it; mine also felt comfortable from the beginning and I really do forget it is there; also I have movement up/down; left and right; I wish you well with the 2nd eye; I'm contemplating my second one; but I sometimes think leave well enough alone!! Vera

Welcome Nursemills , Laurie and I were very sorry to hear about your fall and the results of it . Laurie is not coping very well either with losing his eye but hopefully things will get better . Everyone has to deal with things in their own time and in their own way , Do you have support from family and freinds ? Lots of people on this site seem to cope very well so probably it is just a period of adjustment .
Your name intrigues me , I have this mental picture of you being a district nurse riding a bike around a beautiful English village . Just out of curiosity what did you fall from to do that much damage ?
Hope you have better luck with your new prosthesis .
Brenda

Well I'm actually a correctional nurse, but still wish I could ride a bike Well i'm sorrry to hear about Laurie, I know exactly how he feels. I just fell likeI'll never be ready to go back to work. As for my fall it was actually in my bedroom. I tripped and fell and as I fell my face hit the corner of my step stool, shattering the orbital bones on my right side, split my eye in half, and also fractured right arm. Luckily my husband was just walking in the door when it happened and called 911 right away.
Well I have a lot of support from family and friends, but would like to know if there are local support groups and if anyone knows where and how to find them?
I once again thank you all for your replies and compassion.

Hi NurseMills; pardon my igorance but what is a correctional nurse??? and where do u live?? i 'm in OZ and here Vision Australia (Used to be Blind Institute) have a monocular club which is very supportive and have great advice and information; Best wishs Vera

I would say that 6 months later, I was 99% of normal. Welcome aboard!

A correctional nurse is one who works at a jail.
I'm in Arizona. Know of any here?
Thanks for the welcome Jay.

Hi Nurse Mills; thanks (must've had my dopey hat on that day!!) of course I've heard it on American shows ""correctional facility"""didn't connect the dots; I'm sure in Arizona there would be something like The Blind Institute; or Vision America or something; maybe PM Kendra she knows a lot about Blind Associations; Best wishes; Vera