I got shot 1059 times!

[theperfessor]

I have some veins in the back of my left eye that leak occasionally. Part of it is congenital, part of it is a consequence of having diabetes for thirty+ years. My regular eye doctor sent me to a specialist, and to make a long story short the specialist, who I think would have made a good gunner on an assault vehicle, did the first part of some laser surgery on my left eye.

After numbing my eye she proceeded to zap me relentlessly, on full auto, with the brightest freakin' light I've ever seen. Kind of like looking into an arc welder and you can't look away. It was almost overpowering, no real pain but you just end up wanting to scream from the intensity. After she was done the pulse counter was 1059 and I was totally wrung out.

Once the numbing agent wore off it felt like someone poured bleach in my eye and was trying to scrape it out with a sharp stick; after a couple hours it just felt like ground glass, and by the next morning it didn't hurt but my vision was very fuzzy.

Two weeks and I get an injection in my eye, and two weeks after that I get another laser treatment. Oh joy. Well, if it helps my long term eye health, its worth it.

[looseprojectile]

ain't for sissies is it?
I fear that my time is coming.
I shoot bowling pins and have discovered that I can't see the sights on my Para-Ord P14. [white dots].
Hell, I don't know where they are.
May try a laser sight. Putting it off as long as possible.
We are so lucky to have the newest technology to fix us up after a lifetime of abuse.


Life is good

[WILCO]

Hang tough Perfessor! I'll shoot out a prayer for you.

[41 mag fan]

That made my eyes hurt, just reading and imagining that!!!

Hope it all goes good, and the problem gets fixed.
Need any help with anything Keith, give me a call, I'll come down.

[theperfessor]

Thanks to all for good wishes. Eye problems run in my family, but so does longevity. Parents are in nineties in good health but both legally blind, I'm just trying to prevent some problems from happening later. I'd like to still be making and selling nose punches and reloading tools when I get that old, I'm 58 now.

Today is also the day I celebrate being cigarette-free for one year. Plan to have a wild time later, with a large Diet Dr Pepper and some Oreos as an afternoon snack. Then I'm getting back to work on my new CNC lathe. What a wonderful tool!

[x101airborne]

Man, I thought you caught a load of birdshot or something. Well, I guess it would be several for that many pellets.
Get well and I will pray for you.

[fecmech]

Wow! that brought back some memories for me. While my experience was no where near as intense as yours I can understand your feelings. I had a rare eye disease back in the late 60's and went to Johns Hopkins in Baltimore for treatment. Part of the treatment was photographing the inside of my eye to show the effects of the disease. They did this by placing a lens on my eyeball under my eyelid and then proceeded to take a number of flash pictures of the inside of my eye. While there was no pain you just want to get away from the flashes but you can't. I hope your treatments are as successful as mine were. Today with glasses I'm 20/20 rt and 20/15 left eye.

[462]

I hope it all ends successfully, and congratulations on the non-smoking anniversary.

[41 mag fan]

Man, I thought you caught a load of birdshot or something. Well, I guess it would be several for that many pellets.
Get well and I will pray for you.


Wonder if Keith went Quail hunting with Cheney and just isn't fessing up!!! :Fire:

[nvbirdman]

I had the same treatment in my eyes a few weeks ago, but not as many pulses. I compared it to looking into a bright light and then having a flashbulb go off.
I have cataract surgery coming up on Thursday on my right eye, and then they will do the left eye two weeks later.
My medical insurance will pay for a standard replacement lens, or I can get an upgrade for one thousand dollars each, or the premium upgrade for twenty five hundred each. It's only money, and I don't want to be wishing five years later that I had spent the extra money, so it's the premium package for me. I'm just glad I'm not a spider (spiders have eight eyes).

[Hardcast416taylor]

I went thru a similar laser treatment as the perfessor had about 5 years back on one eye due to diabetes and a few other blood problems. I just had a cataract removed from my R. eye (dominant shooting eye) 1 month ago with an "new" style focusable lens implanted . Still have blurred vision with the "gravel" feeling there. They tell me it will get better, I`m hopeful it will be soon.Robert

[hiram1]

I do hope it works out for you .thay say no pain no gain. good luck

[Longwood]

I noticed a few days ago that my right eye is not working near as good as the left eye.
It is so bad, I am considering learning to shoot left handed.
I hope VA will do something.
Wouldn't you know it,,, I made a right handed portable shooting bench that I really like last winter. I don't think I can modify it and make it work for a lefty.

[Roger Ronas]

Back in July of 00, within 3 days both eyes blew out with bleeding veins. I had that laser injection to seal the vessels. Close to 40,000. Then it was cataracts in both eyes and surgery on both eyes, filled with oil 4 x each. I am legally Blind from the diabetes and this was the only treatment to stop the damage. Dr says I'll never lose sight completely but my eyes look like war zones. Every Dr that looks at my eyes with a scope, Can't believe that I see at all.
I have felt your pain and can only say that your saving your eye by doing it,

Roger

[Mooseman]

3 years ago I had cataract surgery on my right (shooting) eye. They Installed the wrong lens that was +1.5 more than I needed, so I have to wear contacts to correct.
Now my eye is clouding up behind the new lens and My Eye doc says They need to blow a hole in the cloudy tissue with a laser beam shot in my eye...
I am not too keen on this idea.
I think my competition shooting days are about over with since I cant focus on the sights anymore.

Rich

[EMC45]

Sounds like welder's flash.

[shooter93]

Perfessor...I know how you feel. I had a vein go in my left eye 15 yrs ago and miracle or miracles it healed on it's own. I had one go in my right eye almost 2 yrs ago. It baffles them because I am not diabetic nor have any or the traits I should have. Anyway.....I've had 16 injections in the eye and 2 laser treatments like yours...I'm a friggin regular at the doc's office.....lol. Once again I'm fortunate as it's out of my line of site and after the last laser treatment it appears to be healing. Worst case for me will be the injections are much farther apart instead of every 4 to 6 weeks. Hang in there and good luck.

[geargnasher]

Ouchie.

I had four argon laser surgeries to repair a retinal tear, no anesthesia. It's the worst pain I've ever experienced. I took two unprescribed Vicoden before each of the next three, it barely dulled it. And no, you don't get used to it, even though I'd like to tell you it gets better. After each surgery I spent a nice long time folded up in the waiting room holding my face in a towel and sobbing like a baby, no--- actually not like a baby, but like a grown man who's never been so glad that something was over with in his whole life. The effects of having my entire being on a five-alarm freak-out from 15 minutes of unbelievable pain and the continuing pain afterward is just a little much for composure. I eventually fired that opthamologist because he couldn't figure out why I was going blind even after he fixed the tear, the next one I went to figured it out right away and is MUCH more concerned about patient comfort than "Laser Bob" as I call him. Asians have zero compassion.

I've had plenty of Kenelog injections since then as well for the underlying cause of the tear, pars planitis. They're no cakewalk, but once you get over the psychology of having a 30-gauge needle shoved in your eyeball it really ain't too bad, although if you are having steroid shots, the posterior sub-tenon's are far more comfortable the following day than temporal or nasal scleral injections, so talk it over with your doc.

I wish you luck, stay strong, be glad for all modern science can do to help preserve your vision, the treatements for various things aren't fun, but it beats the alternative.

Gear

[pmer]

[QUOTE=Longwood;1777536]I noticed a few days ago that my right eye is not working near as good as the left eye.
It is so bad, I am considering learning to shoot left handed.
I hope VA will do something.
Wouldn't you know it,,, I made a right handed portable shooting bench that I really like last winter. I don't think I can modify it and make it work for a lefty.[/QUO

I had that in my left eye and it turned out to be a detached retina. In my case straight lines appeared to be curved from that eye and it was laser time for me.

[popper]

Can't be worse than having your bladder emptied by a SS tube. shooter93 - You see those squiggly bright halos all the time? Had my 'fried egg' eye pics taken when I was working with lasers. Then they tell you to DRIVE home. No waiting room in the mall clinic, don't know how many people I bumped into on the way to the parking lot. Scariest one was the gal taking that piece of muffler steel out of my eye with a magnet.

[shooter93]

Actually I'm rather used to it but when getting the laser treatment.....at least 1059 shots....lol...you're thinking the whole time....what if I move. The pain keps intensifying and some of the shots give you a headache you'd never believe. When they first told me about getting the injections everyone you saw at the office said.....it sounds worse than it is.....I said....I'm not sure how it could be worse than it sounds. I don't regret having it all done. Might be a pain but it beats blindness.