a patient's progress
Deborah's Story
When I was nearly 2 years old my dad noticed my right eye had a silver pupil instead of a black one this only showed up when the light caught my eye. So I was taken down to Manchester Eye Hospital where they said they would send me to see a consultant called Mr Hungerford at St Barts Hostipal in London.
Mr Hungerford checked both my eyes and said, there was a large tumour called Retinoblastoma in my right eye and he would have to take the eye away as the tumour was to big. When I had the eye removed I had a clear shield with a small hole in the middle put in its place until the socket got better. The eye was taken away to be checked if any cancer cells had gone down the optic nerve. 2 weeks later the results came back clear and no treatment was needed only regular check-ups.
The next step was to see Mr Brammar at the Manchester Eye Hospital. He made my eye by getting an impression of my socket which was by putting some orange compound in it. It felt uncomfortable but it was only for a few seconds even minutes. When he made the mould into the shape of my eye it was time to handpaint the eye. He puts a bubble of water on my eye and paints the colours just the same as the other one. Now I am 10 years old and I am going for my 3rd new eye because I grow out of them every few years. When I am at school my friends don't notice I have a false eye and I even forget.