Fitting Your New Eye
Your real eye had muscles attached all around it, that kept your eye in the socket and moved it around. When your eye is removed, the surgeon inserts what amounts to a small ping-pong ball sized insert into your eye, and ties the muscles up around it in. So, what you have in your eye is a small ball which is surrounded by muscle tissue. Your muscles continue to move around this ball, similar to how they moved when your real eye was in.
Your new eye will NOT be -- contrary to popular expectations -- round like your real eye. Instead, it will be sort of in the shape of a bottle cap (although very smooth) and will fit OVER the ball of muscle with the ping-pong sized insert inside.
The making of your new eye takes about a day to accomplish, and can either be done in one session or in several depending on the preferences of your ocularist. My ocularist (name and contact info below) generally gets the job done the same day -- although it is certainly a full-day affair.
Your new eye will be created in a multi-step process. It is not painful, though it is tiring and towards the end you will probably be worn out (I was) and your eye socket slightly irritated.
Going to the ocularist your greatest fear will be that you will experience severe pain in the fitting of your new eye. This will not happen, although you will get some very weird (though not painful) sensations. The problem is that psychologically you are not accustomed to somebody sticking something into your eye socket. You've gone your whole life protecting the eye in the socket, and your mind and body is geared to reject anything in the socket.
You can -- and must -- overcome these fears simply by reminding yourself that there is nothing in the socket that can be harmed. You have to psych yourself up that it will feel weird, but there will be no pain.
The first step is that your ocularist will place a "plunger" into your eye socket. The plunger looks very much like those suction-cup arrows that shoot out of a child's toy. You really will not feel the plunger in your eye, but you will get a weird sensation because of your eyelids resting on the portion that it sticking out.
This doesn't hurt, but psychologically it feels very weird. It takes a few seconds to get used to, but you will do so as quickly as you realize that it doesn't hurt, it just feels weird.
Next, your ocularist will insert some plastic-like materials through the plunger into your socket. This doesn't hurt either, but it also feels weird. You have to sit there for a couple of minutes while the plastic-like materials hardens. Then, when the ocularist removes it, the sensation is gone.
Psychologically, this portion is the hardest part, not because it hurts, but just because it is weird. Fortunately, this entire process only takes about 5 minutes and IT DOESN'T HURT. Again, just weird.
What the ocularist does with the plastic is create a wax impression similar to the cavity in your eye. He will then take the wax impression and place it into your eye to see how it feels. You probably won't feel some parts of it, and other parts will cause pressure inside your socket. You will tell your ocularist which parts are causing pressure, and he will take it out and smoother wherever, and then reinsert it.
Your ocularist will primarily be smoothing and reshaping the wax so that the impression is the right shape for your eyelids to rest properly when your eye is open, and then to close properly when you blink. He will also be trying to shape the wax so that it fills out certain areas around your socket to give your eye a natural look.
The ocularist will insert and take out the wax impression several times during this process. It is not painful, although your eye socket may get a little irritated. My eyelids in particular got irritated, but not by the wax but by one of the lubricants the ocularist was using. When he switched to a heavy silicon lubricant, the irritation went away (so don't hesitate to tell your ocularist if your socket is irritated as he can probably do some to lessen this).
After the ocularist has your wax impression right, the plastic insert will be made. This takes about an hour and you end up with a plain white piece of plastic the same shape as the wax. The ocularist will place and take this out of your socket several times, adjusting the shape for comfort and so that the eyelids rest and close properly. The plastic is completely smooth -- and tough! My ocularist probably dropped mine on the floor a half-dozen time during this process (it is slick because covered with lubricant) with nary a scratch or dent!
After you and the ocularist are satisfied with the shape of the insert, and how your eyelids rest, the ocularist will take a few seconds to draw on the insert how the eye hole should be aligned.
The next step is for the ocularist to drill the eye hole in the plastic, and insert the colored area. The ocularist actually starts with something which looks like a button which is very close to your own eye (I was a "T-17" colored insert), and it fits over and around the hole which the ocularist has drilled.
You will then sit next to the ocularist as he paints your eye, looking closely at your remaining eye for a guide. The painting process is interesting, for instance the small red veins in your eye are duplicated by taking small strands of fabric and carefully placing them on the plastic. When completed, you new eye should pretty much exactly resemble your remaining eye.
There is a final fitting, and then you are done!
Your new eye should look and act very similar to your remaining eye, except that there will be some slight variation in how your eyelids rest, and your remaining eye will not have the movement of your remaining eye. If there is significant variation in how your eyelids rest, you may want to consult with your surgeon about making some slight alterations so that it blends in better.
Painful no, weird yes, tiring yes.
You should get used to your new eye in a couple of days, and probably won't think much about it after that. It will, for all practical purposes, look and be like your remaining eye -- but it won't see worth a darn (I'm told they are working on that!).
