THANKS to all for the kind thoughts and prayers voiced below! Much appreciated!
Saw my Eye Doc today and my eye had finally cleared up enough so we could confirm there was a large U-shaped tear in the retina. Not great news, but at least we know what we're dealing with and the best news is that so far, there's no sign of a detached retina (not 100% out of the woods on that, but fingers and toes are crossed...) So we fixed it up right then and there -- Carpe Diem! Why wait?!?!
My Doc is an ex-military hunter/shooter, so when I asked him "How's your aim?" with the laser, he replied: "Not too good, but not to worry, I have plenty of ammo!"
Whereas most patients don't feel the laser at all, I didn't fall into that group as my tear was right on a nerve. Then it got even worse when he turned the laser up a notch (to the "Destroy all tanks!" setting -- yup that's what he called it!), but I just grinned and beared it. Still very sore tonight, but at least I'm on the mend now, and where I couldn't even make out the eye chart in his office on Monday morning, today I made it to the 20/60 line. So it's finally getting better after all...
He did say that 50% of the population will get a PVD (see below) by age 50, but most of those don't bleed or create a tear. 1 or 2 floaters may be normal when that happens. But God forbid you may ever see "1,000's of floaters" and "black spider webs" like I was seeing (and I had not been drinking...), then get thyself to an ophthalmologist pronto.
So with God's good grace, your camaraderie and some good luck over the next week, maybe I'll be out hunting & shooting again by the following weekend.
Tight groups.
Nice "seeing" you guys again!
Old No7
= = = = = = = = = =
Hello all:
I purposely didn’t title this “Prayer Request”, as my situation is much less life-threatening or permanent (I hope…) than most of the maladies that Prayers are requested for on this forum... But darn it all -- I cannot see my rifle sights!!!
If you’ve seen my recent posts about the Camo Gun Wrap or Snow Camo, then you’d know I was all geared up for some winter fox/coyote hunting… But now I’ve been sidelined by an eye problem which cropped up without warning.
“As we age” (or so I’m told), it’s common to see 1 or 2 “floaters” in your field of view, which will usually disappear over time as gravity takes hold and they get reabsorbed back into your body. Well, I’ll give you a heads up -- if you ever see “1,000’s of floaters” and “black spider webs” in your vision, get yourself to an ophthalmologist right away!!!
That happened to me without warning on Saturday night, and my bride took me to the ER just to be sure I wasn’t having a stroke or something (“good woman”, think I will keep her!). The ER Doc said I had a “PVD” and needed to see a specialist on Monday morning pronto. By Sunday noon, the number of black spots had doubled and I’d lost about 40% vision in the right eye -- which is my SHOOTING eye!
A PVD is a “Peripheral (side) or Posterior (back) Vitreous Detachment”, where the egg white-like sac in your eye between the lens and retina pulls away from the retina. The tiny spots I was seeing, which an online search described as “like a broken bag of pepper on a white sheet” or “like being caught in a blizzard of black snow” (both very descriptive AND accurate!) are actually blood cells from a broken blood vessel. Now the only question is whether the PVD caused a retinal tear, but there’s so much junk in my eye, the Eye Doc could not see if there’s a tear or not. If there is a tear, I’m at high risk for a possible detached retina, as my late father had one in his 50’s (I’m not “there” yet, but getting awful close…)
So now I am limited to no driving, little PC work with frequent “eye breaks”, no heavy-lifting or vibrations, and I must sleep sitting up. My Eye Doc is a also a hunter and he just bagged a coyote last Saturday, but while he didn’t limit me from shooting -- I can’t even see the rear sight, never mind see through the sights… Not fun guys…
So, if you’re in the mood to please include me in your positive thoughts for the day, I sure would appreciate it. I sure hope this is temporary… But Lordy, I do wanna shoot again!
Oh, and by the way…
My experiences since last Saturday night have taught me that there is no reason to fear any one-eyed Pirates or Villains after all!
So far I have managed to…
* Pet the dog and get a handful of air…
* Reach for a light switch and miss by 3 inches…
* Put cream in my coffee and miss the cup completely…
Yup, the loss of binocular vision is a handicap, so I am staying away from my guns for awhile...
Tight groups, and here’s looking at ya -- even if it is only with 1 eye!
Old (and getting older…) No7
Dont over do it wait till the Doc says its cool to go shooting again.
