Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: "Chambana", IL
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I am usually the type of a guy who has greath faith in the human immune system. I dont go to the doctor for every little thing, but do get the occasional check up.
Anyway, recently I had some problems with my eyes. Everything just seemed too bright, like staring at a bright light for a while- kind of bleaching your eyes temporarily. So I went to an optometrist, and had my retina checked amongst other things. She found a retinal hole! By themselves a retinal hole isnt serious, but it can lead to retinal deattachment that can lead to permanent blindness. According to the optometrist a 24 year old should not get these. Her surprise kind of shocked me. She insisted I see an opthamologist (an MD eye specialist), which I did today. Instead of one, he found two retinal holes. He recommended laser surgery to close the holes, so that no fluid could leak to the back of the retina and cause retinal deattachment. Normally the procedure is pretty painless, but one of the holes was right on a nerve so it hurt quite a bit. We are so dependent on eyes that we take them for granted. Although im hoping that I wont get any more problems, I cant ever say that for sure. This whole incident has reminded me of my mortality, so I guess its a good thing. The optometrist said that I was quite lucky, usually a thing like this goes unnoticed because it has no symptoms. But i dont know... Anyway I just needed a place to put thoughts down without people feeling sorry for me. And go get your eyes checked! |
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is the next Chiquita
Join Date: Feb 2005
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Wow.... That's a good thing you got them checked.
*makes a note to see eye doctor* |
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M AH - ch ain saw
Join Date: May 2004
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Feeling sorry for you, hardly, in fact I bet someone will flame you before the night's through.
Nice move on the checkup, now you deserve some rest and recovery. User formally known as Sh0eWax |
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reticulating your mom
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Yeah that's gotta suck... as a little kid I had amblyopia (lazy eye syndrome), and it took a few years of thick glasses to correct. I've never taken my sight for granted. Or hearing either for that matter... I'm always careful not to blast my iPod.
Edit: My mind, on the other hand, I take for granted far too often... like when it misread this thread title... You ask me for a hamburger. Last edited by atomicbartbeans : 2006-01-26 at 20:54. |
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Totally awesome.
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Not sayin', just sayin'
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Wow, my condolences about your troubles, ironlung. I suppose this might seem like an obnoxious statement, but I'm very aware of how important my eyesight is, and I go to the doctor on a regular basis. I can't imagine what I would do if I lost my vision. Good to know that you are well, and that some folks won't take their vision for granted. Thanks for bringing this up for us!
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Veteran Member
Join Date: May 2004
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I was diagnosed with lattice degeneration a couple of months ago - a few spots of failing retinal cells, but no actual tears or holes yet. Apparently about 1 in 6 has it, and most of the damage is done by age 20.
Glad to hear you got it checked, and keep us updated! |
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Veteran Member
Join Date: May 2004
Location: A small town near Wolfsburg, Germany
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Some years ago, on a routine check, we found out that I had the beginning of a retinal detachment. So it was 'welded' with a laser. Didn't hurt much, though. So far, everything is OK (knock on wood)... Losing my eyesight would be one of my worst nightmares, as I'm rather 'eye-centric' (i.e. photography as a hobby ...)
My photos @ flickr The man who trades freedom for security does not deserve nor will he ever receive either. -- Benjamin Franklin |
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Actually, this is becoming an increasing problem amongst younger people as well. My eye doctor had a 18-year old patient who suffered from it. Bottom line: it was diagnosed too late, and the patient will have very weak (and deteriorating) eyesight for the rest of their life.
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is the next Chiquita
Join Date: Feb 2005
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Is it me or is eyesores and eyeailments on rise, given that we send more time behind a monitor than our precessors?
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That's certainly part of it, although I see that decreasing again as LCDs (no radiation) become prevalent and pixel density increases (thus causing less eye strain).
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I shot the sherrif.
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any idea of the cause?
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Selfish Heathen
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Zone of Pain
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Geez... and I'm about a year overdue for my optometrist appointment.
*makes note* |
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25 chars of wasted space.
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Things with no symptoms freak me out because I have great vision, I was looking at my high school file the other day and my vision was always 20/20 or better when the nurses did the tests. Loosing my vision would be horrible. |
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Space Pirate
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Atlanta
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Back around '97 or '98 I had something weird going on with my left eye and went to my opthamologist who had me to do a visual field survey test, the results of which established that I had a blind spot. From there I went to a doctor who photographed my eye. We did several other tests and they ended up sending me to a neurological eye doctor for even more tests. At the end of the whole thing I was diagnosed with asymptomatic big blind spot syndrome" ... which basically means that I had a "blind spot and that they couldn't figure out why. They said that it could get well on its own or my brain could map around the blind spot.
It's nice when doctors can diagnose a definitive problem, like on TV, but so often they can't do it. |
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The Hoarding Packrat
Join Date: Oct 2005
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Same here, I could never lose my vision. If I had to give up a sense, I'd say hearing, but I want them all. I have glasses now...does the two numbers on the nose bridge (seperated by a square) tell me what my vision is, or what the glasses 'vision' is to make me 20/20? I have 45|_|18..
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is the next Chiquita
Join Date: Feb 2005
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There is simply no way to know if you're going blind, espeically if it's deteriotating slowly. Contrary to what many people believe, you simply don't see black or white, or blurry spots if you're going blind. If you did, then you're probably not blind but suffering from some kind of disease. You just don't see it, in same sense that you can't see your hand behind your head. So if anyone think they'll know when they're going blind, they're either plain wrong or a incredible fool. |
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is the next Chiquita
Join Date: Feb 2005
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: "Chambana", IL
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They dont know exactly what causes retinal holes, but eye stress is a big problem. People who are near sighted and dont wear glasses put stress on their eyes, that can lead to the vitreous humor coming off the retina. This tugging can either result in holes or out right retinal deattachment. The vireous humor comes off the retina with age regardless anyway.. but it depends on how easily it comes off- basically stress is bad!
There are no early signs of retinal holes, but early signs of retinal deattachment includes flashes of light( kind of like electricity), vision suddenly becoming blurry and dark, seeing cobwebs or what people describe as a burst of small specks infront of your eyes, a sudden rush of floaters in your eye. If any of this happens, my doctor said to drop everything you are doing and find a opthamologist as quick as possible. The earlier they can reattach the retina, the more vision you can recover. |
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Veteran Member
Join Date: May 2004
Location: A small town near Wolfsburg, Germany
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My photos @ flickr The man who trades freedom for security does not deserve nor will he ever receive either. -- Benjamin Franklin |
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Veteran Member
Join Date: May 2004
Location: A small town near Wolfsburg, Germany
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. My photos @ flickr The man who trades freedom for security does not deserve nor will he ever receive either. -- Benjamin Franklin |
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Hoonigan
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Canada
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Holy shit. I haven't had my eyes checked since I was in grade 6.
My oldest daughter turns 5 next month, and she's already had 2. Be right back, I have a phone call to make. (yikes) |
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Member
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It has to do with the minimal size of the lens that fits in said glasses... the first number is the diameter of the lens in mm's , but the second i'm not sure of... |
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Member
Join Date: May 2004
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I would like to add my own experience.
In 2003 I was diagnosed with detached retinas. I had surgery within a couple of weeks, and I was off work for 3 months. When I returned to work, I wrote about my experiences and passed them to my colleagues. This is what I said: Quote:
However, the detached parts of my retinas have been lost forever. |
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is the next Chiquita
Join Date: Feb 2005
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Asen,
nice story there. Thanks for sharing. |
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: "Chambana", IL
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Thanks asen. Did you get your surgery done in Norway?
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25 chars of wasted space.
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This thread especially freaked me out because a couple weeks ago (maybe a month) I didn't remember looking at anything bright and I got the 'spots' that appear after a flash for a camera or something. Well they lasted, probably almost half an hour, and I couldn't read anything really because they were directly at the center of the eye where you'd focus. Then when they finally did go away maybe an hour after they started, I had almost tunnel vision where my peripheral vision was horrible. It went away then but it did have me freaked out.
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is the next Chiquita
Join Date: Feb 2005
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Someone once flashed a camera flash like, 2 inches away from my eye.
I went blind for two hours; saw nothing but blue in right eye. One of my scariest moment; it faded away and there was no permanent damage. But still, scary as shit. |
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Veteran Member
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Paris, France
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Addenbrookes is one of the UK's better hospitals. It also has some nice art on the walls from time to time if I remember right.
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