Max: “My name is Max Grootendorst, and I live in Haarlem Noord. I’m a community nurse. Right now I still live at home, but soon I’ll be moving in with my girlfriend. I have a variety of hobbies, such as fishing, playing soccer, car racing, and doing fun things with my friends and family. Two years ago, on New Year’s Eve, things went wrong for me. Because some legal fireworks went off prematurely, I lost the sight in my left eye. At first, I was very uncertain about my future and my job.
Avoiding Eye Contact
The “rehabilitation” took about a year. During this time, I underwent four surgeries. The initial goal of these surgeries was to save my left eye. It gradually became clear that I would never regain vision in that eye. Because my eye looked very red, swollen, and strange, it was often the topic of conversation. Something I eventually began to find annoying. To avoid questions, I would often look away or avoid eye contact with other people. To be honest, I’m really fed up with this situation because I’m naturally a cautious person, but I can’t turn back time. I had a hard time at first—especially during the period when there was still so much uncertainty.
Eye prosthesis
I discussed my options with Dr. Dyonne Hartong and ocularist Jelmer Remmers. In the end, I decided to have the eye removed and get a nice ocular prosthesis. Besides the cosmetic aspect, no longer having to avoid eye contact was one of the main reasons I chose to wear an ocular prosthesis . Of course, there are some less pleasant aspects to wearing an ocular prosthesis. Because I unfortunately can’t close my eye completely anymore, I have to clean my ocular prosthesis a little more often. Also, my eyelashes curve inward slightly, so the prosthesis gets dirty a bit faster than usual. It takes some getting used to, but I’m just learning to deal with it. I do let out a sigh every now and then, but then I just carry on.
Getting Used to It and Accepting It
I still really enjoy my hobbies. I can do all of this just fine with one eye. Every now and then, I lose peripheral vision and bump into something. That’s what bothers me the most. It’s become part of my life. It’s a matter of getting used to it and accepting it, but it’s not the end of the world either. Many people don’t even know that I do all my hobbies while seeing with just one eye.
The things I can no longer do can be counted on one hand. For example, I can no longer play soccer at a high level, which I used to be able to do. Simply because the game moves too fast to follow with just one eye. At first, I had to get used to depth perception, but I adapted pretty quickly. I’ve always had excellent hand-eye coordination, and that hasn’t changed much. Every now and then, I have to do something two or three times, whereas before I could always do it on the first try. Other than that, I don’t have any problems. I’ve just let things come at me. I’ve simply gone on to experience life in my new situation. I haven’t adapted to anything; I’ve learned to live with it instead of letting the disability take over my life. After all, life just goes on.
Sitting still isn’t my thing. I still have ambitions: I’d really like to advance in my career. Right now, I’m developing my skills in general healthcare (AGZ). I’d like to delve deeper into that by taking courses. In November, I started a course on “dementia case management.” In this course, I’m learning how to support older adults and their families through the dementia process and everything that comes with it. I’d also love to travel far away to beautiful countries. Japan and Hawaii are at the top of my list.
Talking to someone in the same situation helped
I had the accident right after I graduated as a nurse. Fortunately, I’ve been able to continue my work as a (community) nurse. At first, I was really worried about this. Fortunately, I found someone I could talk to. He was in the same boat and reassured me about working with only one eye. That was a huge relief and gave me a sense of security again. I love helping people who need assistance. Sometimes I even forget that I, too, was once a “patient.” Through my work, I’ve learned that so much is still possible, despite my disability, and that it’s a shame to just give up. I’m very glad I ended up with Dr. Hartong and Jelmer Remmers. They’ve helped and guided me wonderfully with all my questions. They were—and still are—very committed, and I can always turn to them. I’m also glad that I can tolerate the prosthesis from Jelmer Remmers and that I can do pretty much the same things in life as I did before the fireworks accident. I have dear friends, family, and a wonderful girlfriend who have often helped me through the entire healing process. Especially when I was having a hard time or had to go back to the hospital. I’m very grateful to them for that. They’ve played a big part in helping me accept my “disability.”
Life is precious
Living with one eye isn’t always easy, and I, too, have days when I feel really down. There’s nothing wrong with that. Then I remind myself that life can still be meaningful with the vision I do have. This has made me appreciate things more. After all, life can suddenly take a different turn than expected!”
