Eye problem and posting

[Paul_Guraedy]

I have not been posting much. Recently, a medication caused my blood pressure to crash 72/57 and a bp of 49 (saved by my pacemaker) and I collapsed ~ severely bruising my tailbone. A few hours later, I had recovered and thought everything was back to normal ~ except the bruised portion of my anatomy.

Then I started noticing difficulty focusing on carving and especially working on the computer. My left eye was totally out of focus. I went to the ophthalmologist yesterday and received notice that I had ruptured a blood vessel in the back of my eye ~ caused by a spike in blood pressure.

I informed him of the recent bp problem. He said, "That's almost certainly it. Usually the cause is a sharp upward spike from normal. But, I think your rebound from the extremely low blood pressure is the cause in this case.

Tomorrow I return to the clinic. They will numb my eye, and insert a needle to inject some medication into the rupture and hopefully ameliorate some of the problem. It is doubtful that vision will return to normal. So my Frien's as I recover from this situation, both physically and mentally, I may not be posting in the near future. My goal is to determine the impact on my carving and figure out a way to work around it.

[Magicman]

Sorry to hear about your eye problems Paul. I have a few also. I had catarac surgery in both eyes and since the surgery I have little white clouds that float across my eyes when I look at a bright screen or out a window on a sunny day. Also after the surgery my vision flipped, I was near sighted , I could see up close but not faraway. Now I can see far away and can't see up close. Anyway Good Luck, I hope it squares itself away.
Larry

[mpounders]

Hope things get better, but I know you will make it work. Prayers for you!

[Spiritwolfe]

So sorry to read about this news Paul. Smart of you to see an eye specialist.
i truly hope this procedure brings you comfort.
We need our sight in order to do the things we love.
This might not be the time but perhaps a high powered magnifying glass could help. I have to work with one or I can't see. At the moment it might be too much strain for your eyes but perhaps you could ask your eye doctor for suggestions. ( which I'm sure you were going to do anyway )
Either way take care Paul.

[scotia carver]

All the best to you Paul, hope everything works for you
Bruce

[Brian T]

I sure hope that there's some recovery in this. Best wishes.

[Mottles]

Dang Paul, sorry to hear the news sure hope that your vision will return to it's normal self and you will be back carving before to long. Will keep good thoughts for you.

[Nomad]

Dang that's a bummer. Hopefully the docs will get you fixed up and back to your ol' self soon. Hang in there. Health comes first.

[Arthur C.]

Sorry to learn of your eye problem, Paul. Let's hope and pray that the upcoming procedure does the trick.

[jimp]

I sincerely am hoping and praying for the best for you!
I always enjoy your posts and am looking forward to you being back as good as new!

[joepaulbutler]

There is hope Paul. Sorry for the old heart acting upon you, that is alway alarming. I don't know if we are haveing similar problems with our eyes, but about two years ago, the doctor who had taken my cataracts of sent me to a retina doctor. I too was having problems with blood vessels in the back of the eye.

I happy to say that it has improved and hopefully stabilized. It requires me going in about every six weeks and get a shot of Avstiin in each eye, not pleasant, but with aid of a lot of lighting and magnifying glasses, I'm still making chips., I also increased the size of the carvings I was trying to do.

Here is wish you be best of luck with your health problem.

[Tinwood]

Never good news when we have eye problems but speedy recovery Paul. Hopefully they have for certain found the correct cause of the crash and burn in the first place and there are no further repeats. Scared the bejeezus out of me when they put me on blood pressure meds (too strong a dose to begin with naturally) and I found myself laying on the floor in the middle of the night wondering how I got there.

Tinwood

[DiLeon]

I got some eye issues lately also....they do not know what is causing it. I know it is worry....but I figure if that one guy can carve blind ...then there is a will.... then there is a way to find away around issues and problems we may face in the future. You will be in my prayers....take care.

[Paul_Guraedy]

Good mornin' my Frien's. I very much appreciate the words of encouragement from my fellow woodcarvers. The treatment for my problem turned out to be a little more complicated than I had initially thought. It involves not the one treatment I expected; but will be repeated a number of times over the next six months.

Here's what happened. I went in a week and a half ago. The first step was to dilate my eyes and map the back. Then I had to sign a bunch of papers stating that I submitted to the treatment and understood the possible serious side effects. Scary!

I was then taken to the treatment room where a technician spent quite a while sterilizing the area around my eye. He then used several topical treatments to "deaden" the eye. The final required that I keep the eye closed until the Opthamologist arrived ~ about 15 minutes later. I had been advised to not panic when I opened the eye as the last topical was thick ~ "like grease". That is accurate if you imagine a coating of grease that only permits light to enter.

The opthamologist then used a hypodermic syringe to inject a solution in the eye to further "deaden" it. Finally the medication ~ injected into the back of the eye! The "good" side is that the deadening" worked. I only felt a push not a prick. Gives additional meaning to receiving an injury and stating, "it's better than a poke in the eye!" Under controlled circumstances ~ I will choose a poke in the eye.

Today, I woke up to more clarity in the eye and decided to attempt a post. It's going pretty well. Vision in my left eye is still blurred; but at least it does not feel as if a shade has been drawn over part of it.

This gives me hope for the next treatment (Feb 9th) and those following over the next six months.

[scotia carver]

That's good news Paul, hope next poke in your eye adds more improvement in your vision
Bruce