Darwin’s artificial eye clinic this time round was everything I’d expected, and more.
It was the busiest, most rewarding and most eventful clinic yet.
Thanks to ophthalmologist Dr. Mahendra and the team at Royal Darwin Hospital, my two week clinic was booked up. In this short time, I made a total of nine new artificial eyes.
And somehow, I always manage to squeeze in a last minute appointment before stepping on the plane back to Perth.
The man had his eye removed two days before I left Darwin. The eye clinic called me and wanted to know when I was coming back. I told them to send him around and I would take notes for a temporary artificial eye. The temporary eye would have to be made in Perth and posted.
Usually, clients in this situation either have to wait until my next visit to Darwin, or get sent south to have an artificial eye made.
During this trip, I was invited to teach the eye clinic nurses how to fit and maintain artificial eyes. The session with the nurses went so well that they have asked me back. Next time I’m in Darwin, I’ll be conducting an in-service at the hospital for a broader group of Nurses.
Because of the nurse training, I can post this man’s temporary eye up to Darwin knowing that one of these nurses will fit it for him. I am looking forward to getting a digital photo with him wearing the eye.
