BS: I CAN SEE AGAIN!

Subject: BS: I CAN SEE AGAIN!
From: Deckman
Date: 30 Jun 06 - 06:49 PM

Howdy ... Bob(deckman)Nelson here.

Like most of you, I prefer to keep my personal life far away from the Internet. But ... I have just survived a medical condition that I want to share with you.

My ONLY reason for sharing this very personal story is to give hope to any Mudcatters out there that run into a similiar problem.

I started losing the vision in my right eye last December. It was a very slow process, but it was clear to me (that's a pun folks) that I couldn't see anything above the upper half of what was coming in through my eye.

I went for my yearly physical in January and told my Doctor of my concerns. He took it very seriously and had me into an eye doctor THAT afternoon. After many tests, he declared that I was fine and I should "stop worrying."

About two weeks later, as I saw (or didn't see ... another joke folks) my vision diminishing further, I went back to my G.P. and said, "somethings really wrong." He shedualed me with his personal eye doctor.

It turns out that my description of my vision problems matched those of a stroke. When he arranged for those appointments, he asked them to "look for symtoms of a stroke." Strokes are often diagnosed by way of an eye exam. So, he gave them a mind set to look only for a stroke.

After a two hour exam, he told me that at the age of 69, or is that 169, my vision loss was caused by a "drooping eye lid." I said thanks, I feel so much better now ... I'll go home and really sleep good tonight!"

Another two weeks passed and I knew that I could no longer build the beautiful decks I'm known for, I couldn't read my tape measure, I couldn't draw a straight line. and ... I COULDN'T SEE WHAT I SAW!

I walked myself into my reguliar eye doctor then and said, "Please help me ... no one's listening to me." He listened to me and gave me a 3 hour exam.

It turned out that I had a "dettached retina" (sp?). He got me into the one surgeon in my area that does that surgery. My condition was VERY DIFFICULT to diagnose, let alone see (oooops, yet another pun ... sorry).

Long story short ... I had the surgery two months ago, my vision has returned perfectly, and I feel like the luckiest dog on the planet.

Here's my lesson for all of you ... listen to your own body. You (we) all know ourselves better than any outsides (doctors). And if you know something is wrong, keep pestering until the "experts" get it right. I did and I'm glad I did.

Final note ... I'm doing just fine now and I don't need ANY sympathy notes! Hugs to all ... CHEERS, Bob

Subject: RE: BS: I CAN SEE AGAIN!
From: dianavan
Date: 30 Jun 06 - 06:56 PM

You are very lucky to have caught it in time.

I am always amazed about how persistent you must be with doctors who think its just another case of "mechanical breakdown due to wear and tear."

Subject: RE: BS: I CAN SEE AGAIN!
From: wysiwyg
Date: 30 Jun 06 - 07:03 PM

Good for you!

ALWAYS listen to one's body, is the lesson I see conmfirmed here.

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: I CAN SEE AGAIN!
From: Donuel
Date: 30 Jun 06 - 07:05 PM

I can see clearly now the lid is gone.

Subject: RE: BS: I CAN SEE AGAIN!
From: GUEST
Date: 30 Jun 06 - 07:11 PM

Hip Hip HOOORAY
For Bob Deckman today!

Excellent news!
Thanks for sharing!
Don't press your luck and go running with the scissors anytime soon!

Subject: RE: BS: I CAN SEE AGAIN!
From: GUEST,Wesley S
Date: 30 Jun 06 - 07:15 PM

Great news.

Subject: RE: BS: I CAN SEE AGAIN!
From: Bill D
Date: 30 Jun 06 - 07:17 PM

wow...at least you were in an area where experts exist! Imagine having this problem in Podunk, Iowa. So glad to hear GOOD news.

Subject: RE: BS: I CAN SEE AGAIN!
From: tarheel
Date: 30 Jun 06 - 07:23 PM

I can see clearly now,the blurr is gone...
'gonna be a bright, bright sun shinny day!!!
tar...

Subject: RE: BS: I CAN SEE AGAIN!
From: Deckman
Date: 30 Jun 06 - 07:27 PM

Bill D ... You are so correct. There are VERY few retinal surgeons around. And, yesterday, he told me that they are VERY CLOSE to solving the problem of MACULAR DEGENERATION with a simple injection ... in the doctor's office. That's a HUGE PROBLEM for the older population. (with my luck, I'll probably explore that adventure next)! CHEERS, Bob

Subject: RE: BS: I CAN SEE AGAIN!
From: Leadfingers
Date: 30 Jun 06 - 07:50 PM

Thats another bit of good news re a Catters Health situation !! Good for you Bob !!

Subject: RE: BS: I CAN SEE AGAIN!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 30 Jun 06 - 07:54 PM

Are you fairly nearsighted, Bob? I believe that detached retina is more common with myopia. I ask because I am only a bit less nearsighted than Mr Magoo...which means I have to "keep an eye" on things like this.

Subject: RE: BS: I CAN SEE AGAIN!
From: SINSULL
Date: 30 Jun 06 - 08:07 PM

Detached retina untreated can lead to permanent blindness. Another vote for being persistent.
Enjoy your sight, Bob.
SINS

Subject: RE: BS: I CAN SEE AGAIN!
From: SharonA
Date: 30 Jun 06 - 08:19 PM

Hi, Bob! I see (ha ha) that you have joined the club I joined in 2003, when my own retina detached. (Side note: I was 47 at the time, so folks should be aware that the condition is not necessarily connected [pun intended] with aging.)

Bob, I'm so glad to hear that your doctors were able to correct your condition and that you've recovered so well, but I'm shocked to hear that it took your doctors THREE MONTHS to diagnose and correct the detachment. I can't imagine why it was so difficult for them to detect.

My story is quite different: I noticed a sudden increase in the number of floaters in my right eye (I learned later that that was a result of my retina tearing -- the beginning of the detachment). Like you, I did not ask my doctor about it immediately. Several days later, I noticed a black spot in the lower-left corner of my vision in that eye.

The following morning before I went to work, I dropped in at my eye doctor's office without an appointment and described the symptoms to the receptionist. I was told NOT to leave for work and come back later, but to wait till the office could work things out with my health-insurance company and get an emergency referral from my GP so that one of the eye doctors could examine me that morning (#*$& health-care bureaucracy!!). The available doc turned out to be my regular optometrist, who immediately diagnosed the detachment.

What followed was a day of driving (with dilated pupils!) to two different specialists to determine the proper treatment, along with frantic phone calls to get additional referrals to see them. The first specialist said the detachment was too far along for her to treat with laser surgery alone; the second specialist, an eye surgeon, scheduled an operation for the following morning at Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia PA. So, roughly 24 hours after I said, "Hey, can somebody take a look at this?", I was being prepped for eye surgery. I have many people for whom to be thankful for cutting the red tape necessary to make that happen.

The operation was three-pronged: laser surgery to "tack" the retina back in place; injection of a gas bubble into the fluid of the eyeball (it pressed the retina against the eye wall so it would lie flat as it healed; and insertion of a scleral buckle under the surface of the eyeball to reduce the surface tension that caused the tear and to form scar tissue that helps hold the reattached retina in place. I spent the next 2 days in the hospital, positioned face-down so that the bubble would rise to the back of my eyeball, and the next several weeks being prohibited to lie on my back or tilt my head up (couldn't let the bubble put pressure on the front of my eyeball). My neck hurts just remembering that! I was also prohibited from flying while the bubble was there (because of cabin pressure) and had to wear a plastic medical bracelet with an alert about the bubble.

As the retina healed, there was swelling that made my vision look like a funhouse mirror for a while. But everything settled down eventually, the bubble was absorbed by my body, and the retina's fine. There's still a dark spot in my peripheral vision because of the scar tissue, but I don't usually notice it. What I did notice was the scleral buckle, which was so irritating every time I blinked or moved my eye that I had it removed in a second (minor) operation 8 months later.

And THEN, I noticed my vision getting fuzzy and was told that I was developing a cataract, a side effect of the invasiveness of the first operation. 15 months after the first surgery, I had a 3rd operation to remove the cataract and insert a lens implant. Unfortunately, because of the possibility of retinal re-detachment, I couldn't get the newfangled type of lens that focuses (docs can't see the detachments as well through that lens, and it's made of a material that would absorb the gas bubble!). I find that the lens implant makes my vision "jerky" sometimes, especially when I read. Also, colors look "colder" than through my other eye; I'm told that the colder colors are the true ones and that my natural lens is yellowing from age. The floaters from the retinal tear are still there and have formed annoying clumps that travel around my vision (hence the term "floaters"!).

All things considered, it still beats being blind in one eye! I have a cello-player friend whose retina was reattached and he has very limited vision, so I feel very fortunate.

One thing that amazed me during this process was the number of stories I heard from medical professionals and friends about people who put off seeking treatment even when they started experiencing vision loss. But then again, I kick myself for not running to the eye doctor the minute I saw a bazillion tiny floaters that hadn't been there before. If I had, I might have gotten away with having simple laser surgery to repair the tear before the retina started detaching, and I'd still have my natural cornea and I wouldn't have scar tissue from the scleral buckle that I still feel whenever I blink or move my eye.

So I'll repeat the moral of Bob's story: LISTEN TO YOUR BODY!!!

Subject: RE: BS: I CAN SEE AGAIN!
From: SharonA
Date: 30 Jun 06 - 08:25 PM

BTW, Little Hawk is correct. Myopia was the cause of my detached retina. But it can also result from a blow to the head.

Subject: RE: BS: I CAN SEE AGAIN!
From: freda underhill
Date: 30 Jun 06 - 08:35 PM

Fantastic news, Bob - the world must look beautiful to you!

freda

Subject: RE: BS: I CAN SEE AGAIN!
From: Amos
Date: 30 Jun 06 - 09:18 PM

Glad you eye is looking good, now, Deckman!! I have always appreciated your viewpoint, and never thought of you as a degenerate. He's looking at you!!


A

Subject: RE: BS: I CAN SEE AGAIN!
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 30 Jun 06 - 09:34 PM

"I can see clearly now, the rain has gone!"

Always trust your instincts Bob. Then seek competent medical advice.

Subject: RE: BS: I CAN SEE AGAIN!
From: Ron Davies
Date: 30 Jun 06 - 10:02 PM

CONGRATULATIONS!!! WONDERFUL NEWS!!!

Subject: RE: BS: I CAN SEE AGAIN!
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 30 Jun 06 - 10:19 PM

So glad to hear it, Bob!!!!!!!!! What a scary time you've had...

Enjoy your new vision.

May you become a visonary...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: I CAN SEE AGAIN!
From: open mike
Date: 30 Jun 06 - 11:16 PM

many good wishes on your renewed out look..

Subject: RE: BS: I CAN SEE AGAIN!
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 01 Jul 06 - 04:49 AM

Glad to hear the news Deckman.... now go rest those peepers on some beautiful view or the face of a loved one.... that's the best reason for having eyes.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: I CAN SEE AGAIN!
From: rock chick
Date: 01 Jul 06 - 05:03 AM

Well done for being persistent. I had a similar, not eyes though, about 19 years ago and had I not been persistent I would not be here today.

All the best rc

Subject: RE: BS: I CAN SEE AGAIN!
From: JennyO
Date: 01 Jul 06 - 05:04 AM

Wow - all this good news on Mudcat today! Congratulations, Bob - another success story!

It is a worry that it took so much persistence on your part to get the right diagnosis. It is very true what others have said that listening to your body is very important, and that it often takes a lot of persistence and nagging to get doctors to reach the right diagnosis and treatment. Unfortunately, all too often, they reach for the most obvious one (to them), without looking any further, particularly with older patients. It often seems that they don't take us so seriously as we get older.

I suspect the medical world doesn't take any of us seriously enough actually. On both occasions when I was in labour with my children, I could tell that things were moving along to the next stage, but would the nurses listen to me? My doctor was 20 minutes away, but they wouldn't call him until THEY thought they needed to, so he arrived after the event. You would think that after that, they might believe me the second time around (same hospital, same situation), but no, they knew best ('Oh no dear, you've got a way to go yet!') and the doctor swanned in after the event yet again. GRRR! Everything went perfectly well without him, but it did strike me at the time how hard it is as a patient to be listened to and be allowed to have any kind of input when the 'experts' are in charge. I think a lot of them regard the idea of 'listen to your body' as a load of new-age claptrap, which it isn't.

Subject: RE: BS: I CAN SEE AGAIN!
From: Mr Red
Date: 01 Jul 06 - 06:17 AM

Well you are in good company here - no detached retinue

Aye aye.............

Subject: RE: BS: I CAN SEE AGAIN!
From: gnu
Date: 01 Jul 06 - 06:24 AM

Thank goodness everthing turned out okay!! Good on ya for being persistant.

Subject: RE: BS: I CAN SEE AGAIN!
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 01 Jul 06 - 07:09 AM

Congrats Bob on an a disaster avoided.
Giok

Subject: RE: BS: I CAN SEE AGAIN!
From: catspaw49
Date: 01 Jul 06 - 07:43 AM

Absolutely wonderful news!!! Hope you never have to go through that again!

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: I CAN SEE AGAIN!
From: Deckman
Date: 01 Jul 06 - 07:49 AM

Bob here again. This might be a long note:

First, I'm glad that I did post this story. As I said earlier, I'm doing fine now but it's a reminder to us all to trust your own instincts.

Now then, to "SharonA": It's so good to talk with someone who's been through that gas bubble experience. It was probably the weirdest thing I've ever lived through. I've never been a druggy (I kill druggys) but it must be similiar to an LSD trip. It was like having three eyes.

I also had to keep my head "looking at the floor", night and day, for two weeks. But because I was so faithful to that chore, I avoided a second surgery.

I hold NO anger at the missed diagnosis. As I said, my initial symptoms matched those of a stroke. As I've had heart bi-pass surgery, that was my G.P.'s initial concern, and he preduced the first two eye doctor's to look for that. It really was an understandable mistake. Besides, my G.P. plays five string banjo and comes to our hoots!

I've always lived in a black and white world. I was not born with enough "rods and cones" to see colors, so the increasing diminshing of my color vision is not important to me. And, when you think about it, being "color blind" is important in today's world. Right Jerry?

And yes, I've been quite bearsighted all my life. I've not heard that that may have contributed to my retinal tear. I suspect it happened when I accedently walked into a display cabinet at a store a few weeks before my vision started getting weird.

So, thanks for the good thoughts, and everyone ... LISTEN TO YOUR OWN BODY CAREFULLY! CHEERS, Bob(deckman)Nelson

Subject: RE: BS: I CAN SEE AGAIN!
From: Deckman
Date: 01 Jul 06 - 08:05 AM

To catspaw49 ... TOO FUNNY!!!!!!

Subject: RE: BS: I CAN SEE AGAIN!
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 01 Jul 06 - 08:14 AM

"I can see clearly now, my brain has gone"....

Subject: RE: BS: I CAN SEE AGAIN!
From: Deckman
Date: 01 Jul 06 - 08:35 AM

Actually, that's not too far off. When my "bubble" finally dissapeared, I felt like I'd lost a friend.

It's really amazing to me just how much that bubble in my eye screwed up my brain. It was bad enough to have to have "bad vision," but living through an experience that no one around me could relate to was very confusing and disturbing.

Oh well, maybe there's a song in there somewhere! Bob

Subject: RE: BS: I CAN SEE AGAIN!
From: MBSLynne
Date: 01 Jul 06 - 08:42 AM

I've actually been trying to bring my kids up all their lives to listen to their own bodies and KNOW them. Most people don't really know themselves at all. If you do tune into yourself properly, you can catch all sorts of problems very early on because you spot the very first signs of change or difference. Some of these might only be small or irritating problems, others can be serious.

I also tell thaem that if you find you really want some particular thing to eat (and that doesn't include sweets!) then you should have it because your body is probably telling you you need it. I was vegetarian at one point, and I used to get cravings for fish, so I gave in and started eating fish again, because a craving like that is there for a reason.

Good news Deckman, I'm really pleased it worked out so well

Love Lynne

Subject: RE: BS: I CAN SEE AGAIN!
From: Deckman
Date: 01 Jul 06 - 09:18 AM

A hundred years ago, when I was younger, my mother took on the responsibilty of raising her nephew's three old son. One day she discovered him eating, yes EATING, the blackened heads off lighted (burned) matches. She took him to a doctor and they figgured out that he craved an important mineral in his diet. I think it might have been magensium, but I'm not sure. As I said, it was a hundred years ago. Bob

Subject: RE: BS: I CAN SEE AGAIN!
From: JennyO
Date: 01 Jul 06 - 11:02 AM

Speaking of cravings...

I dreamed I was eating marshmallows, and when I woke up, the pillow was gone!

Subject: RE: BS: I CAN SEE AGAIN!
From: SharonA
Date: 01 Jul 06 - 12:12 PM

Deckman sez: "...living through an experience that no one around me could relate to was very confusing and disturbing."

Well, now, y'see, Bob, this is why people sometimes post threads about "personal life" and the medical crises that they're going through! Maybe no one around your area can relate, but it's a pretty good bet that someone somewhere around the globe has either gone through the experience or knows someone who did, and they can put you wise to some helpful websites and other resources. So the next time something like this happens and you feel alone, remember: you're not!!!

As to your comment about your diagnosis: I can understand that a detached retina wouldn't have been your G.P.'s first guess, especially with your medical history, but how could two eye doctors run a bunch of tests and still miss it? I don't get it. Even if the G.P. put them in the mindset to search for stroke symptoms, how could they let you walk out the door with a vision loss and say "stop worrying"? Drooping eyelid, my fat fanny!

As to nearsightness being a factor: The way it was explained to me, it's because the myopic eyeball is more elliptical than round (the focal length between cornea and retina is all wrong, hence the nearsightedness). However, the retina of this oval eyeball is no larger than that of a normal round eyeball; it's just stretched over a wider area. The stretching can eventually lead to tearing, and tearing if left unrepaired leads to the detachment of an ever-larger "flap" of retina from the back wall of the eye.

Now then, as for the gas bubble: it is weird, isn't it?! I've never been a drug user either, so the LSD analogy never occurred to me. The way I tried to explain it to people is that I felt like a living, breathing carpenter's level. Whenever I moved, the bubble moved. Whenever I tilted my head to one side, the bubble would rise to the other side. Of course, since the retina receives an upside-down vision of the world outside the eye, and the bubble was INside the eye, the rising bubble always looked like it was sinking! I could see people's heads but their bodies were consumed by The Bubble That Ate Philadelphia. As it was slowly being absorbed into my system, the bubble broke up into groups of smaller and smaller bubbles that looked like suds. Like you, I felt a sense of loss when the last tiny circlet disappeared: I felt a bit like the net had been removed from beneath the tightrope I was walking on.

I'd never thought about writing a song about the bubble, but maybe I will. I am a songwriter, after all!

Anyway, Bob, I sincerely wish you all the best in your continued recovery. Feel free to PM me if you ever feel the need to chat further with someone who can "relate"!

Sharon

Subject: RE: BS: I CAN SEE AGAIN!
From: Alice
Date: 01 Jul 06 - 02:24 PM

Bob, I had an exam at my optometrist a few months ago and he told me I have thinning on the edges of the retina that may lead to a detachment. He described a sudden flash of light that is the clue that the retina has detached and said IMMEDIATELY call and get into surgery. He does a routine exam that looks for detached retina and thinning of the edge when he does an eye exam. Everyone should know about this! One of his new patients that came to him had had a retina detached for some time, and had even gone for laser correction in Las Vegas, had it done, and the doctors didn't see that her retina was detached!
Good warning to everyone. Glad you got it cared for.

Alice

Subject: RE: BS: I CAN SEE AGAIN!
From: GUEST,Katherine
Date: 01 Jul 06 - 05:28 PM

Deckman - they're not merely close to solving one form of macular degeneration, the wet form, they know how to do it. In February this year, the European Commission approved a new drug, Macugen for treatment of all types of wet AMD. This, and another drug, Lucentis, are both awaiting approval from the National Institute of Clinical Excellence. NICE is reviewing Macugen in 2007 with the second appraisal meeting on 28 March 2007 and guidance not being given until August 2007. This is horrifyingly slow and it should be fast-tracked through the system.

Katherine

Subject: RE: BS: I CAN SEE AGAIN!
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 01 Jul 06 - 05:38 PM

That's funny.. I used to eat burnt match heads too... not good though, you end up with Phossy jaw. I think it's the salty taste of them and the satisfying crunch.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: I CAN SEE AGAIN!
From: Deckman
Date: 01 Jul 06 - 05:55 PM

HEY HEY ... whatever lights your fire!

Subject: RE: BS: I CAN SEE AGAIN!
From: Deckman
Date: 01 Jul 06 - 06:38 PM

Katherine,

I learned of this new drug and treatment in a conversation with my eye surgeon's nurse. They, the whole staff, is very excited about the possibilities. My surgeon, Dr. Ositinsky, is highly regarded in this area. Several other doctors have told me that they think he can walk on water. I mentioned that to "Dr. O," and he laughed and said that if he did that, someone would just complain that "he couldn't swim!"

Beyond saving my sight in my eye, I think he's one heck of good person. And, talk about skills! One week after my surgery, and my eyeball looked like a piece of chewed up hamburger, I complained because one of the stitches was too long and was scratching. He grabbed a pair of small scissors, said "Don't move," and went between the eyeball and the inside of the eyeball housing, and just snipped the end off. Talk about steady hands. And NO, I didn't move a muscle!

I do hope that this thread gives some hope and encouragement to others. CHEERS, Bob

Subject: RE: BS: I CAN SEE AGAIN!
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 01 Jul 06 - 07:54 PM

There is phosphorus in match heads - traces even in burnt ones.

My brother's cat would eat dead matches - but then that tub of lard would eat anything... the cat that is...

Hmmm, flashes of light? I was getting them for a while - nice blue vertical lines while walking around (and moving head around) in total darkness - but I have regular eye exams - necessary for eye health with contact lenses - and no mention of retinal detachment - I have mentioned such fears ... I have had a lot of stress related issues lately though...

Subject: RE: BS: I CAN SEE AGAIN!
From: kendall
Date: 02 Jul 06 - 06:22 AM

Bob, that is great news, good on you man!

Subject: RE: BS: I CAN SEE AGAIN!
From: fat B****rd
Date: 02 Jul 06 - 08:07 AM

Smashing news. All the best from Charlie.

Subject: RE: BS: I CAN SEE AGAIN!
From: jacqui.c
Date: 02 Jul 06 - 08:16 AM

What great news and so lucky that you just kept plugging away at your doctor.

Subject: RE: BS: I CAN SEE AGAIN!
From: GUEST,Katherine
Date: 02 Jul 06 - 08:23 AM

Hi Bob
I'm delighted that your eye problem has been solved and can truly understand your relief. Your surgeon sounds fantastic. I've got macular degeneration in both eyes and am working with my ophthalmologist, Dr Helena Cilliers to see if the treatment you're discussing is appropriate for the one which has 'wet' AMD. At the moment it's only available privately, and you're right, it's an enormously exciting development which the Government ought to put on the NHS a.s.a.p.

Good luck
Katherine

Subject: RE: BS: I CAN SEE AGAIN!
From: Flash Company
Date: 02 Jul 06 - 10:03 AM

Guy I worked with came in one morning saying, 'I can't see out of my right eye!'
Our then boss, who had some regard for his staff, loaded him into his car and took him to Manchester Eye Hospital, That too was a detached retina, but he was not as fortunate as Deckman in that the op didn'y work out. Finished up taking early retirement.

FC

Subject: RE: BS: I CAN SEE AGAIN!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Jul 06 - 11:13 AM

Pay attention to those flashes! My ex called me from the doctor's office one morning a few weeks ago and asked if someone could pick him up later that afternoon. He'd gone in for an exam because he'd noticed a flash in the side of his eye when he was driving a couple of nights earlier. The doctor wanted to treat the torn retina (laser surgery) right then. Our daughter drove him home with just a patch over his eye. It was tender for a few days, but the patch came off the next day.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: I CAN SEE AGAIN!
From: Mingulay
Date: 02 Jul 06 - 07:51 PM

Good news Bob. I know a little of these things as I had a Vitrectomy last October to remove a whole load of blood from my left eye. Now I'm due to have a cataract removed on August 7 from the same eye. Should be better than looking through net curtains though. In my case it is a side effect of diabetes (and age).

Subject: RE: BS: I CAN SEE AGAIN!
From: Rapparee
Date: 02 Jul 06 - 08:48 PM

Great! All I can say is that you're strong to the Finnish.

Subject: RE: BS: I CAN SEE AGAIN!
From: Mudlark
Date: 02 Jul 06 - 09:23 PM

Hi Bob....Thanks for this cautionary (and TG positive outcome) story. The urge, especially if there are other anxieties and worries, is to ignore clear body messages in the hopes that they will go away. You have done us all a good turn to remind us how foolish that is. Losing vision is incredibly scary, as it's so life altering. I lost central vision in my L eye about 4 years ago...my next driver's license exam comes up in 12/07 and I'm dreading it. Peripheral vision still there, but looking straight ahead I can't even see the chart, let alone the letters. Very glad to hear you've had such a good outcome, and can go on making your beautiful decks!

Subject: RE: BS: I CAN SEE AGAIN!
From: GUEST,Art Thieme
Date: 02 Jul 06 - 09:31 PM

Bob,

So glad to hear of your good outcome.

For me, it was a decade of spinal surgeries with 3 discs removed from my neck before the fact that I wasn't getting any better made me go to Mayo Clinic. Although it was never said outright, they found that I'd had MS for 15 or 20 years already---. Some, maybe all, of the surgeries and fusions were moot points. My symptoms were POSSIBLY never spine and neck related in the first place. But MS was never ever considered!

My frustration comes from the tunnel vision of medical specialists who refuse to see a larger picture than the limited confines of their own expertise.

Art Thieme

Subject: RE: BS: I CAN SEE AGAIN!
From: Deckman
Date: 02 Jul 06 - 09:38 PM

There's lots of good lessons for all us here. Thanks for all the good thoughts and the very sensible postings. Bob

Subject: RE: BS: I CAN SEE AGAIN!
From: Tannywheeler
Date: 02 Jul 06 - 11:25 PM

Shoot--yeah, Deck. Always better when ya take off the blindfold. Some docs need their own eye exams.       Tw
P.S. Congrats. The word relief probably doesn't even begin....

Subject: RE: BS: I CAN SEE AGAIN!
From: Bert
Date: 03 Jul 06 - 03:49 AM

Thanks for sharing that with us Bob. I'm glad the result was so positive and that you have kept your sense of humor through it all.

(Spaw, you are a rotten git *GRIN*)

It only took a few weeks to diagnose and treat your problem; you are quite lucky. They (THE QUACKS) were treating Lou for months for obesity and poison ivy when she was dying from Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma.

They would put her on one starvation diet after another, and you know, not one of them ever reduced that tumor.

I don't know about a song, but I think that you and SharonA should make a movie about that bubble.

Subject: RE: BS: I CAN SEE AGAIN!
From: Wolfgang
Date: 03 Jul 06 - 12:17 PM

GOOD NEWS, BUT YOU SHOULD GET YOUR EARS CHECKED.

WOLFGANG