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The loss of an eye either through surgery or trauma can cause visual difficulties. A period of adjustment is needed for activities such as: driving, work, recreation, home activities or walking. One study has reported that 93% of their respondents had completed their adjustment by one year. Unfortunately, I must be in the 7% that has persistent visual problems. After 15 years I still have problems with depth perception. I must be careful when pouring liquids, cutting along a line is a challenge when I can't see both sides of the line and I usually walk looking downward so that I don't stumble over uneven surfaces. I was able to drive 4 months after my eye was removed but I remain unable to drive at night, in rain or in snow. When driving after a new snowfall I am unable to see the medians or curbs. Monocular vision can also cause reduced contrast sensitivity and form recognition. When I enter a room full of people it is difficult to "see" a certain person. It is like trying to locate one face in a group photograph.
Many of my difficulties in driving are related to "phantom light". I describe it as low level white light that moves over my visual field in a mottled pattern. Five years after my eye was removed the phantom light covered 70% of my visual field. Initially the doctor told me that it would go away once my remaining optic nerve degenerated. That has not happened. A study by Lubkin and Sloan states that after the loss of an eye " The internalized body image must change; some persons cannot accept a prosthesis until after they have finished the mourning process for the lost part. This process may include fantasizing that the organ has returned, or feeling a phantom phenomenon." I know that my grief work is finished but the light remains. I have also reluctantly accepted the fact that I hallucinate this light. Since others do not see it it is my personal hallucination.
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