They replaced the lens and did some repairs on Friday. I can see out of it, but it's blurry and unfocussed. Also have a lot of flashing lights and floating balls. A lot of this I believe is normal and should diminish as I recover. Long term - I'm bloody lucky and will be able to function quite well in daily life, even if it doesn't get any better or is correctable with glasses. As for being able to continue to fly - jury is still out on that, and it will likely be a long time before I know.

Oh...you want some tech in this post? I'll give you some tech.....wear your fawkin safety gear!! The operation was a freakshow.....fully concious, covered head to toe, and even able to move the eye (in response to his commands no less) as he cuts and suctions out the old lens, then does some other shit I can feel pushing on and pulling at the eyeball...all the time able to hear him commentate to the student doctor and while still sorta seeing out of that eye.

HELLISHLY freaky...i nearly wigged out completely.....so be careful out there!

Sounds like so far so good. Good luck in your recovery Bill. I cant even comment on the rest all I had was visions of a clockwork orange in my head.

Good luck with your recovery. Makes you think of all of the times that you say to yourself, I'll only be a min.

Glad to hear you've got partial vision back Bill; sorry about your bad luck though.

Excellant Bill....I was wondering how that was all going to turn out.
As a past recipiant of eye surgery I can attest to the freakish nature it entails. WEIRD.......and extreamly unsettling is how I describe it.

NoRM
who see's allmost 100% these days.

No bullshit here- I put my safety glasses on this weekend just to drain coolant. I thought about your situation to remind me to do it.

I'm glad you're making sweet progress and good luck! :beer:

Sounds promising - the surgery and immediate results are very much like mine. Now that eye is at 20/15 with glasses and ca. 20/30 without - I hope this is encouraging to you. Oh yeah, and with a cornea transplant on it, too. Give it some time. Best wishes, Bill.

Well its working.That is that ive put on the glasses before every use of the grinder or the wire wheel,no matter how little.

Glad to see that you are making a speedy recovery!You offer good advice that every one here should yeald.

and remember guys, its not just the power tools that can get ya. Last night i was cleaning up some parts i was planning on building a metal sculpture out of. first squirt of carb cleaner on the piece and the shit splashes right back into my eye. FAWKIN HURT like a mother fawker. My eye is fine now, but it was a bitch tryin to drive to my girlfriends house with one eye closed and burning like hell. Worst part is this isn't the first time i've done it, last time i had the skill to get both eyes. From now on i'm puttin on the face mask before i even walk into the garage.

Glad to hear your recovering bill, good luck.

Dallas

Good luck Bill, while changing out the head gasket on my truck last weekend I remembered what happened to you and told my son to get the glasses. He complained a little but after hearing your story he's a believer!

Good luck!
Steve

Holly crap Bill!!

I missed the origional post, very, very sorry to hear about your misfortune. My greatest fear is to loose my sight, I can not even imagine who horrible it must be to be in your shoes right now.

I hope you recover well and are able to continue flying.

Good luck!

Originally posted by BillaVista
The operation was a freakshow.....fully concious, covered head to toe, and even able to move the eye (in response to his commands no less) as he cuts and suctions out the old lens...

I don't think I would handle that shit very well. Its creeping me out just thinking about it:eek: Best of luck with continued progress!
________
Jailbroken (http://jailbroken.org/)

bill between you and frogs finger post, I should remain safe(r) in my garage for a few weeks....

I've stoped several times in the last few weeks remembering your story (and my minor eyeball incident) to put on goggles or safty glasses, AND im trying to wear gloves where possible....

Good luck and a speedy recovery...

So since you were awake during the surgery did any weird conversation come up? Last time I was in the hospital the doctor was talking about what he was going to have for lunch, when I blurted out focus...I'll buy both just hury up this hurts!.....he finished and took me up on my offer.....best wishes......

Yikes :eek: I would have needed some seriousley heavy doses of valium to have made it through that. I am pretty damn brave and nonchalant when it comes to most stuff but I freak out with people getting near my eyes.


Good luck Bill

While doing our annual winter run last weekend, a club member blew a u-joint. While driving the old joint out, a shard flew off it and hit his passenger just below the eye. Had it been 1/2" higher, he could have been blinded. We were about 6 hours from the nearest road, and another 2 from the nearest doctor.

http://www.alaskaoffroad.com/images/Caribouhills110902/Throwing_Stars.jpg

I try to wear my safety glasses on the trail all the time. That way I dont have to think about putting them on when I might need them. I've caught some flack from people about how dorky they look, but its worth it.

The easiest way to ensure you will actually wear your safety glasses is to buy several pairs. Go find a style that looks cool, and buy a half dozen pairs. Put them all over the garage and in all your rigs so that they are handy when you need them.

When I was younger (about 6, I'm 22 now) we were camping in the middle of the Rockies... It was 4th of July weekend, and my mom and her friends were all throwing this big party at a friend's cabin...

Well, little insomniac me was up after all the other kids were in bed, walking around the big bonfire... The friend whose family owned the cabin had just lit a cigarette and was putting her hand down... BAMM!!!! walked right into that sumbitch... 80 miles from anything. Went straight into the middle of my eye... Burned it... Looked like a fried egg around the mini-crater...

So, we hauled ass to a hospital (few hours drive) and all I remember is the doctor was wearing pink scrubs... Mom said they put liquid cocaine into my eye, but i'm not sure about that... vision is fine though... I'll remember this from now on...

Glad to hear your eye is doing good!

Ya this eye stuff sucks I have had all kinds of sergerys on my eye and just look at my user name;)

Glad to hear you got through the surgery ok and hope it improves over time. It's too bad it had to happen but it sure has me (and many others) putting on their safety glasses more. Best of luck to you!

my Dad says the freakiest part of his cornea operations is seeing that huge needle comming right at you. (he's had 4 operations ie he's on his 3rd pair of corneas) His descriptions of his operations is enough to make you never want to go through it. Having groen up with my mother totally blind and my father having partial vision. I will tell everyone that being blind is one of the worst things that can happen to a person. Please everyone wear your saftey glasses. One more thing if you have running water in your shop I reccomend installing an eye wash station.

Glad to hear you're starting to recover...

I told your story to about 10 guys who came to my place last weekend to work on their junk.. everyone wore safety glasses when doing ANYTHING with power tools or chemicals.

glad to hear your doing better Bill ! hope things continue to improve.

- jack

Get well soon.

Originally posted by Indyguy


I don't think I would handle that shit very well. Its creeping me out just thinking about it:eek: Best of luck with continued progress!


Then hope you never develop cataracts. That's the same basic
operation that's used to correct them. They remove your old lens
and implant an artificial one, all while you're wake. You can "see"
the probes go in and out of your eye as the Dr. is working on it.

You really got me wearing my safety glasses. I would always try to wear some whenever I thought there was danger but you always say, aww I just need to grind this little edge and forget about the glasses. I have since found a pair of comfortable glasses that don't look too bad and I don't even feel the need to take them off. I actually forget I have them on sometimes. I hope you have a full recovery

good luck on the recovery! i'm afraid i'm not sure what happened, anyhow, wish you best of luck! i have had two surgeries my self, yet niether one on my eyes....i can only imagine.
greg

Glad to hear your on your way to a good recovery, hope it clears up and gets back to normal soon. I was thinking of you the other day when using a wire wheel on the grinder, and pulled out 3 pieces of wire that were embedded in my coveralls. Think safety first!

-Jeremy

sure glad its working out for you, :eek: scary:eek: i just got some hot slag in the corner of my eye this morning....ouch!

I was just wondering how things were going. I'm glad to hear that things are getting better even if they're not the best. good luck.

As a fellow pilot, I hope you get back in the sky as soon as you can! I have gotten really paranoid about my eyes ever since I started flying. Good Luck!
Brian

Awwww schucks...you fawkers are making me feel all warm and fuzzy inside........thanks....really (sniff)!

I'm thrilled to hear of you guys wearing glasses/shields more.....I'm not much of a "fate" kinda guy....but if some good can come of it, at least it makes me feel like less of a total fu%$ing idiot!

all I had was visions of a clockwork orange in my head

Funny you should say that Mike! That was a huge part of my problem...that's all that was in my head too! When they snap on that clamp you can't help thinking....this isn't going to be any fun!

Now that eye is at 20/15 with glasses and ca. 20/30 without

That's sweet - I'm hoping to be fortunate. As the cataract grew in respons to the trauma, they kept testing me, at one point I was 20/10 in the good eye, and 20/400 in the other...that's the really BIG E on the chart ;). Go back for more testing friday.

and remember guys, its not just the power tools that can get ya

That's good advice! As an ex-chemist...a chemical burn scares me WAY more than physical injury, at least a wire doesn;t keep burning till it's neutralized!


So since you were awake during the surgery did any weird conversation come up?

Funny you should say that. He was clearly teaching another doc along the way. His conversation was all about that. When the old lens was out...the student was asking "how do you tell which way up it goes (talking about the new lens) and I'm thinking "For Christ's sake - put it in and get it done...you can debrief later!!!"

Looked like a fried egg around the mini-crater...

Yikes!!! glad it turned out OK.

If ya missed the first post - I got wire from a wire brush on sir die grinder embedded in the eye. here's a pic - you can see the curly steel wire between the eyelashes, it penetrated about 1cm right into the coloured part.

:Monty Python Black Knight voice: It stung a bit !

http://www.rightcoastcrawler.com/billaVista/Dcp_5288%20copy.jpg

I couldn't believe you wanted to take a picture of that...... you're making me cringe again!

ditto !

- jack

Originally posted by ChadLloyd
I couldn't believe you wanted to take a picture of that...... you're making me cringe again!


WUSSY BOY

Thanks for shring this info, I started to grind off some spring perches last night (w/o safety glasses) I had a pause 30seconds into it and this story kinda went through my head, I put down the grinder and found some glasses. Thanks for putting the consequences out there in front of us!

Good luck MAN!

here's what I do.

I have a pair of sport's glasse (shield type) that I used for bike racing with interchangeable lenses. They meet osha impact standards on all lenses. They also take prescription inserts if you need them.

Just switch out the tinted lens for the clear and away you go.

Plus they look cooler than most "safety" glasses.

j

Glad you're feeling better.....hope you're back in the air soon.

Andy

Originally posted by BillaVista

Funny you should say that Mike! That was a huge part of my problem...that's all that was in my head too! When they snap on that clamp you can't help thinking....this isn't going to be any fun!


So did it ruin the glorious Ludwig Van for ya? That scene has ALWAYS made me cringe.

So did it ruin the glorious Ludwig Van for ya?

Ha! Kubrick did that when he made the flick.....never sounded the same after!

Best of luck from with the recovery!!

That Bill... what a trooper. In spite of terrible pain and the potential for permanent damage, he made sure to get a picture just for us!

You kick ass Bill! :beer: Get better soon.

good luck, I've always worn glasses, especially after my dad had an MRI. They said if you don't wear safety glasses, little metal chunks build up in the eye, and when you go into the MRI, they all go toward the MRI magnet, whether your eye is in the way or not. I've been hit right in the glasses with parts of dremel discs while doing simple cutting, so I always wear em.

Good news Bill - hope the recovery continues to your satisfaction - keep us posted.

Good luck man.

glad things are working on working out for you.

what's the status on the eye Bill ?

- jack

Seems to be getting a little better every day.

I will definately need glasses for both distance and reading...Bi-focal Billy I guess!

Next apointment is in 2-3 weeks after all the healing has happened and only then will he talk long-term reprucussions.

So far so good - and damned lucky.

Still a bit of a shock when I used to be 20.10 in both eyes...oh well.

I just bought a full visor that goes over goggles that go over safety glasses that go over prescription lenses :D :D

glad to hear things are getting better Bill. hope they continue to improve for you ...

- jack

Originally posted by BillaVista
I just bought a full visor that goes over goggles that go over safety glasses that go over prescription lenses :D :D


Can't be too careful.....Yup, belt and suspenders all the way, or my favorite, rubber and diaphram. I guess in your case it's more like rubber, diaphram, pill, and.......anal?

Glad to hear your recovery is going well and you should feel proud that your misfortune has caused my stock in www.safetyglasses.com to triple in value and split twice.

Sorry for dragging your thread into the gutter, now, back to your regularly scheduled tech.

Good luck Bill. No shiat, last week I picked up the Ryobi drill with wire brush, hardly high speed, to clean off the rust from the rear seat bracket. I heard music. Ludwig Fawkin Van. Cheap, but strong clear safety glasses, where the Fuq are they ? I found em. Used em. Allways will from now on. As above, thanks for sharing with us. As Alex said in Clockwork Orange, " A tolchock to yer yarbles, if ye got any !!" :flipoff2: :flipoff2: :flipoff2: My bro had an eye damaged by a bullet, the brain compensated for what the shattered rods couldn't get straight.... He ended up Ok. Hope the best for ya.

Bill, only you would take a picture and draw a diagram like one of your tech articles, LOL


Did you say to your wife- Uh, we need to go the the emergency room, but first I need to find my camera! :flipoff2:

Best wishes with the eye. I have had my share of problems with mine so I have a great deal of empathy for what you're going through.


Johann

Fortunately my yarbles are in fine shape !

Bill, only you would take a picture and draw a diagram like one of your tech articles, LOL

Yea - not hard to tell who did that! :D

Did you say to your wife- Uh, we need to go the the emergency room, but first I need to find my camera

Actually - it was more like: "Honey - while I'm sitting here waiting for the ambulance (we live in middle of nowhere), would you mind snapping a pic"

She replied with something like "You bloody fool - you're going to paste it on that black website aren't you" She snapped it anyway. I love her :D

how's the recovery coming Bill ?

- jack

Well, thanks to all the thoughts and prayers of you good folk....I got my Christmas Miracle early!

Surgery is all healed. I've almost completely stopped seeing the floating balls and spider web patterns. The surgeon says I don;t even need glasses - I got 50% correct on the 20/20 line :-)

It still seems wierd to me - as I've still got 20/15 in the other good eye - so the injured one will never be as good, and always look a bit off.

I also can't read with the injured one, as the replacement lens is a fixed focal length for distance (infinity) - but my brain is learning quite well to read with my right eye only.

Altogether - I'm terribly, terribly lucky!

What it all means to the Military Medical burocracy and my flying category I don't know, and won;t know till at least January.

I have safety glasses that fit under goggles that fit under a full face shield now!

I always wear my glasses after I got a piece of metal in one eye from grinding. After reading your story, I have named my safety glasses 'Bill'... :D Now Bill is with me every time I work on anything...

Damn Bill, Im glad to hear it's all worked out well so far :D Good luck with the flight surgeon!

Glad to hear all is well with your eye Bill.

Been wondering how it was going.

Plan on SEEING me in person this summer at Rockathon!!

MJ:cool:

Originally posted by bgreen
While doing our annual winter run last weekend, a club member blew a u-joint. While driving the old joint out, a shard flew off it and hit his passenger just below the eye. Had it been 1/2" higher, he could have been blinded. We were about 6 hours from the nearest road, and another 2 from the nearest doctor.

http://www.alaskaoffroad.com/images/Caribouhills110902/Throwing_Stars.jpg

I try to wear my safety glasses on the trail all the time. That way I dont have to think about putting them on when I might need them. I've caught some flack from people about how dorky they look, but its worth it.

The easiest way to ensure you will actually wear your safety glasses is to buy several pairs. Go find a style that looks cool, and buy a half dozen pairs. Put them all over the garage and in all your rigs so that they are handy when you need them.

its sad that tit takes people to get hurt to actually practice safe working practices, but im a bit guilty myself, thinking ill just be quick, or the safety glasses are too far away!!

bgreen, thats a awesome idea, ill be doing that!

Cool man, I also have several face sheilds around the shop too. I always keep one by my welder, and ALWAYS one by the chop saw. Same with ear plugs. If they arent really handy, its too easy to ignore the danger, and do stupid shit. (LOL, now that I think about it, I do the same thing with gloves)

Bill,

Glad to see things worked out all around for you.

Now, get back to work on that damn contraption. And wear dem goggles:)

See you 2003 Rockaton......

Shane