Striowski Prosthetic Eyes
“My advice to patients is to take advantage of all the supports that the healthcare system offers. Many patients wait too long to have their needs addressed and suffer unnecessarily as a result.”
As a Canadian artist and ocularist, I am passionate about providing a holistic approach to ocular adversity. Initially, I was drawn to learn the art of making prosthetic eyes because it is delightfully analog in a digital world. Over a decade ago, I discovered that ocularistry is a profession that still uses traditional visual arts skills such as sculpting shapes out of wax and painting individual irises directly from life, with the patient sitting right there as the model. My background as a portrait painter and sculptor prepared me well for this kind of work. Moreover, making eyes provides me with an opportunity to integrate my artistic sensibilities with my aptitude for biology and material science. I get to combine my love of making beautiful objects with the care and healing skills of the medical arts.
During the past decade, I have become increasingly interested in providing customized patient care as an ocularist. Not only is your eye custom painted and shaped to fit your unique features, but your individual needs and goals are recognized and respected when you access my services. For instance, many patients are grappling with pain or trauma following eye loss and surgery, and we meet those needs with care and compassion. On the other hand, some patients would like the chance to embrace the fact that they are wearing a prosthetic eye and have an eye made that is an artistic expression of the strength and bravery they have discovered in themselves as they heal from eye loss. Helping a patient design an artistic eye for themselves with a special meaning that empowers and liberates them from the pressure to conceal their ocular adversity from the people around them gives me great satisfaction.
One initiative I am excited about is putting together a support group for people with eye loss. Even the most high-functioning person wearing a prosthetic eye is doing a fair bit of work behind the scenes to keep up the appearance of fitting in while wearing a prosthesis in a binocular world. Our group will offer patients a place to connect with others and share tips about the creative ways they have learned to care for themselves.
Advice to patients
My advice to patients is to take advantage of all the supports that the healthcare system offers. Many patients wait too long to have their needs addressed and suffer unnecessarily as a result. For residents of Ontario, OHIP provides 75% coverage for a professional polish of your prosthesis with a qualified ocularist every six months, a new eye every five years, as well as any medically necessary adjustments in the interim. Anyone experiencing discomfort from infections, irritations, or ill-fitting prosthesis should reach out to an ocularist as soon as possible because an update to their prosthesis might be just the thing they need to feel much better. Additionally, don't forget to be kind to yourself and proud of what you have overcome in your healing process up to this point. Losing a part of your body isn't easy, but it doesn't mean you cannot feel whole again. Surround yourself with people who care and appreciate what a champion you are. And, wear glasses with sturdy frames and polycarbonate lenses to protect the sight in your remaining eye ;)
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