Lost my vision in left eye

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dave holl

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Last Saturday while seated working on my chainsaw, suddenly a gray cloud blocked 95% of my left eyesight. Very scary. Called the eye doc and explained the symptoms. He thought it was a retinal bleed and referred me to a retinal specialist. Since the vision hadn't gotten worse or better he decided to wait until Monday to look at it.

Well, here it is. I had a retinal arterial occlusion, in other words a stroke in my eye! There is a small strip of vision but he said probably the part where the clot blocked blood flow would not return.:mad:
I am 76 yrs old, normal BP, not overweight, but have a history of afib in the past so I am taking Pradaxa, a blood thinner meant to prevent clots. It didn't work, so they switched me immediately to dreaded Coumadin(warfarin), to prevent it from happening again.

Just wondering if any of you out there experienced the same thing. It is a life changing emotional shock as well as physical. I am right eye dominate but shoot left-handed. This one-eye stuff takes some getting used to.

Should I be thinking of applying for a Golden Retriever seeing eye dog???
Wanted to share this with my friends here. Thanks
Dave
 
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Sorry to hear that. I've been without vision in my right eye since 1976, and it's not the end of the world. You will have to learn to do everything all over again, learn what zero depth perception is, and adjust for it. Your ATTITUDE will dictate how you adjust. Shooting should not be a (big) problem as long as the target is somewhat stationary. At 76, you got good mileage from the left one, now rely on the spare that God gave you. Best of luck !!!!
 
I feel your distress.

Nothing like your level of impact, but I’ve been losing my left eye vision to a fast-developing cataract over the last six months or so. All fine except reading glasses for small stuff, and suddenly late last year, bam!

As I type this on my phone, I see the reasonably clear text with my right eye, but through a fuzzy cloud put there by my left eye. I keep hitting wrong keys because of the spatial perception thing. Fortunately, in bright daylight outside the overall picture is still clear enough that I have decent depth perception, but no more driving at night: the left eye just generates halos, star shells, and other lovely fireworks from any oncoming vehicle or other light source.

Scary stuff. I’m waiting for a date for an operation, but the backlog because of Covid is long.
 
I'm very sorry to read of your problem, and I hope you'll be OK.

I know it doesn't help, but my father-in-law was blind in one eye and deaf in one ear most of his life. He adapted so well that nobody else could tell and he lived without restrictions to his lifestyle from it.
 
Hey, Dave. Sorry to hear of your issue. I can empathize.

About 2 years ago I was walking through Costco when I noticed a little something obscuring the vision in my left eye. I have very long hair, and sometimes a strand or two gets out of place and strays into my line of sight, so I thought that was it, and tried pulling back my hair. Didn't help. Then I took off my glasses, gave the lenses a quick wipe, put them back on, and went on my way. A few steps later, I had the same impression that something was obscuring my left eye.

Anyway, long story short...I had a detached retina. So, being in my late 50's, they had to do a cataract surgery first on that eye. Then, after recovering from that, they reattached the retina. Some vision returned, probably about 30-40%. Without going into all the details, a short while later the retina re-detached. Back in for another surgery. 4 surgeries on my left eye, in total.

So now, 2 years later...I've developed an ulcer, and Glaucoma in the same eye. As a result, I have lost all vision in my left eye. They say if the Glaucoma gets worse, which it probably will, that it may eventually become necessary to remove the eye. I'm not looking forward to that possibility.

I am (was) left eye dominant, right handed. I used my left eye while shooting a handgun (I wasn't even aware that I was doing that for the first 5 or so years of shooting), but used my right eye while shooting a rifle or shotgun. So, rifle shooting is unaffected, handgun shooting is, well...taking some adjustment.

Maybe I'm just an idiot...but I'm a bit stunned how much the loss of one eye has affected me. Balance, depth perception, trying to pour *anything*! But also...everything just seems much darker. Difficult to do things in lower light, when I know I used to be just fine in that same amount of light. The "blind spot" in my driver side mirror is much greater now, and changing lanes to the left is much more difficult...and I've unintentionally cut off several people, on the highway. I really need to get a fisheye mirror for that side.

But, my biggest concern is...trying to ensure nothing happens to my good eye. I've used up my "spare", there's no more backup. Frightening.

Good luck to you!
 
Very sorry to hear of the bad luck. Reading your description, my first thought was a detached retina. I’m a bit surprised the doc waited to treat you, but admit I know nothing about this type of affliction. I couldn’t agree more with Old Bear. :D Best of luck to you for the best possible recovery.
 
Doggone it Dave,That is scary and Miss Pam and I can both relate and appreciate your situation. Several years ago she lost vision in her right eye but it lasted for only about a minute. We forgot about it. At a check up later she mentioned it to the doctor and he became very serious and asked a lot of questions. Turns out it was a stroke and it could have gone to her brain just as easily as the eye. twice lucky, that and the fact that it only lasted a minute or so.

I just had cataract surgery on both eyes getting the triple visiion lenses with "fog package" in both eyes. But I was referred to a retinal specialist because I had "druesens" sp. That sounded pretty scary but all it is is a calcium build up in the back of the eye. The specialist explained that it was caused by the fact that I had cancer on my thyroid and that resulted in the problem. I lost half my thyroid and half my parathyroid. But my calcium balance was restored.

So now it is not expected to get worse but if a blood vessel or nerve or anything should ever come in contact with it I would lose at least partial vision in that eye. Like I need something else to worry about....

Anyway I'm sorry this happened to you and I hope you can carry on satisfactorily.
 
Sorry about that, I hope it works out better than the Doctor expects. After all he got there taking multiple choice tests.
 
My Dad was on Warfarin for years...he retired and his "new" doctor took him off it....He died within the next year.....preventable?? maybe? we'll never know....Best of luck to you!!!!!!!
 
Good luck! Had a friend who had that problem and had a pretty good recovery before cancer got him . Praying really helps.
 
I am really sorry that you have that problem and I wish you the best of luck dealing with it.
My mother passed away at 93 but was blind the last ten years because of wet macular degeneration. At that time there was no fix.
My bedroom has huge by windows mostly covering one wall. About four years ago I got up and sat on the side of bed and just happened to look at the blinds and they had a curve in them and my left eye had a pretty large dark spot in it. I thought it had something in it and washed it out, same deal.
Because of my mothers problem I was pretty sure that it was blood on my eye and immediately call my eye doc and got to see him that day. He checked me out and it was wet macular degeneration. There was a retina doc in the other end of the building and Dr. Pickard walked down there and got me in, came back and went with me and made sure that I was going to be taken care of.
I was so fortunate, got a shot that day and as I got more shots the blood cleared up and I am getting a shot every three months. If I close my right eye the left eye still has a little curve when looking at straight lines but my right eye overcomes it and everything is straight.
I think that Dr.Pickard, by personally getting me in and getting me a shot the same day saved my sight in that eye.
There are several people on this Forum that take shots. I am no doctor but I can't help wandering if they might dissolve some of the blood causing the streak. I hope and pray that somehow things will improve.
 
dave holl said:
Last Saturday while seated working on my chainsaw, suddenly a gray cloud blocked 95% of my left eyesight. Very scary. Called the eye doc and explained the symptoms. He thought it was a retinal bleed and referred me to a retinal specialist. Since the vision hadn't gotten worse or better he decided to wait until Monday to look at it.

Well, here it is. I had a retinal arterial occlusion, in other words a stroke in my eye! There is a small strip of vision but he said probably the part where the clot blocked blood flow would not return.:mad:
I am 76 yrs old, normal BP, not overweight, but have a history of afib in the past so I am taking Pradaxa, a blood thinner meant to prevent clots. It didn't work, so they switched me immediately to dreaded Coumadin(warfarin), to prevent it from happening again.

Just wondering if any of you out there experienced the same thing. It is a life changing emotional shock as well as physical. I am right eye dominate but shoot left-handed. This one-eye stuff takes some getting used to.

Should I be thinking of applying for a Golden Retriever seeing eye dog???
Wanted to share this with my friends here. Thanks
Dave
Click to expand...

A friend of mine had Afib, and he had strokes in BOTH eyes. One of his eyes is basically gone, the other is OK, and so far, he's not had any more issues with them. They did get the Afib taken care of by some strange procedure that I really don't understand too well, but it worked. He's still on some kind of blood thinner as he had a clot in his leg years ago. Good Luck!
 
Thank you, friends, for your thoughts, stories, well-wishes, and prayers. It is what it is, and I am going to make the best of it.
I can still care for my honeybees.
Dave
 
Dave, sorry that you got hit with this.
From experience over the past 3 1/2 years:

Loss of judgment of distances--large and small--is a PITA. However, you will find that reaching for things, walking on smooth surfaces, and many manual activities can get better to the extent that muscle memory gradually takes over for the depth perception. YOu may teach yourself, without even noticing, to use more "feel" to substitute for depth perceptiton.
Your brain is also likely to have you lookiing twice a things--both times with the good eye, but turning your head slghtly for the second peep--in a subconscious effort to approximate the dual vision necessary for depth perception. You will for sure find youself doing this deliberately if you are doing some precision activity like locating where to put a hole with a drill press.
Driving may or may not be out of the question--be very careful. E.G., I will probably never again pass another vehicle on a 2-lane road. In fact, although I passed my latest driver's license test, as a matter of domestic tranquility I let SWMBO drive me when I'm out and about.

Re the dog--I got a pup with the intention doing what training I could get done locally as a service dog, and got lazy when my vision did not deteriorate further, She is now a family member, and I'm damned glad she's here being just a dog. I'd recpmmend that you do better, and get yours trained up at least to good obedience in public places--then be very glad if you do not need her/him as a service dog. Goldens are generally great companions. Mine's a half-golden, half poodle--seems to have golden personality and poodle smarts. If you go looking,avoid the puppy mills and find a reputable breeder with the pup's parents on the premises.
Apologies for the long ramble.
The point is that life is different now, but you can make things work.
 
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