Bad News.
 

Well, about 6 weeks ago I noticed that my left eye was unable to focus on small things while watching TV one night. I was shocked because I have always had better than 20/20 vision. Right eye was still crystal clear.

I chalked it up to eye strain and figured it would pass. It didn't. After about a week, I was at my Doctors office on an unrelated visit and I mentioned it to him. I asked if maybe it was just me getting old. he said "No, it's not normal to lose vision over night like that" and said he was going to send me to an Opthamologist. He thought maybe I had a torn retina or something similar.

I went to the Opthamologist for some tests. After about an hour and a half and some very uncomfortable moments (I'm "eye queezy") The Doc tells me I have Glaucoma in my left eye for sure. I was stunned. He set up more tests.

I found out today after several appointments and tests, that I have it in both eyes. The right side just hasn't deteriorated enough to notice yet. I guess there are several types/forms of Glaucoma and I have the crappiest one. It sounds like we can slow it down but eventually I'm going to lose my eyesight all together unless some new breakthrough treatment comes available.

I'm going to have to forfeit my Pilots License fairly soon and eventually, my drivers license.

I Don't get it. I'm not diabetic. I have no family history at all of this disease. 6 weeks ago I had 20/15 eyesight in both eyes. Now I'm going blind... WTF?

Anyway, I just wanted to let someone know so I could get it off my chest. You guys have always been supportive of the members here and I consider many of you to be friends.

Thanks for reading another long post.


Rod.

dude that's butt. sorry to hear it. good luck. it sucks to hear that that is happening to anybody

damn dude. that is terrible man. i could not imagine losing my vision. best of luck.


but hey, didn't CA just start with the pot vending machines???

d00d!!! There's no medical procedure / aid / cure for Glaucoma ???? All the things we can fix these days and this isn't one of them?

so.... no more Xbox live? i didnt even get to play you yet. (sorry if your not in the mood for a light joke i apologize in advanced)

seriously though, thats terrible. being on your medical record you wont be able to get a flight medical any more, so you got till that month of your last. which is horrible. im sorry. hopefully you can at least keep the drivers license till your to old to care. i hope for the best man and maybe, since your such a tough guy, you can fight it till a decent ripe age before it really starts to effect you. ditto on the question with the pot vending machines though E mentioned. saw that on the news. go enjoy it while you can, go and live it up cause who knows what time frame your really looking at.


man, first shady looses his job, now my personal ball buster has glaucoma. not cool..... hope this bad luck isnt a trend for zdriver members. stupid february.

zhag is right, dont turn down a fattie.

also theres some chemical that you can get over the counter found in some vegitables too that helps with the eyes, for the life of me i cant rember the name of it but my grandma kept taking it because it slowed the progress of her macular degeneration down but it does help with other eye issues.

Oh man, that is absolutely horrible to hear.:( I really don't know what to say. I will say I am going to pray for you bro'. I could not imagine, having this happen to me. I am at a loss for words. Just dumbfounded to hear this happening to you. Hopefully things will turn around. And you wont lose your eyesight. Keep the faith brother. And like I said...I will pray for you. And keep you in my thoughts as well. And you have a good friend here. Along with many others, on this great website. Keep your head up man.

Oh man, sorry to hear it Rod. I too thought they had a cure for this....but hopefully they'll come up with one soon. Good luck and hopefully this turns out OK for you.

I'm sorry to hear this Rod, hopefully you can retain enough vision in your eyes long enough for their to be some sort of treatment.

Hey, Thanks everybody.

As far as the Medical MJ goes... I'm not real fond of the cigaweed. :wasted: Not to mention I would lose my yob mang.

I'll keep y'all posteded.


Rod.

would you still loose it if it was medicinal? u should ask. if it'll help. and yeah, i cant stand smokin that stuff anymore cause i get baked (been a while now dont be judging) and its BAD! i cant keep my eyes open cause everything is all flashy and tunnel vision, i feel SOOO anxious, and if i lay down i feel like im angled sharply and will slide off the world. lol. in moderation though, crap is just funny. and hide it from the chitlens! lol

oh man Rod.. dude im real sorry to hear about your eyes... i cant even imagine what your going through... just know im prayin for you man.. i wouldn't give up if i were you.. go see another Opthamologist and get a second third or fourth opinion...

And this is better than glaucoma how????? :wasted:

Sounds about the same yo!


Hey Ice, I'm going to get other opinions, but we aren't done testing yet. I have to follow protocol with the insurance company too.


Z-Hag, My particular form of glaucoma is not pressure induced. The drainage valves are fine and I have no excessive pressure. Mine is a fraying/splitting of the nerve fibers that carry the optical signal to the brain. The exact cause is unkown but believed to be often caused by severe head trauma (Which I've had) or Massive rapid blood loss to the point of needing donor blood/transplant (Been there, done that too). Doctor guesses it probably originated about 22 years ago when I launched my older brothers Triumph Spitfire off a 70 cliff at about 90 MPH :) I survived, the car didn't but I was a tad messed up to say the least. Took until now for enough of the nerves deteriorated to notice the vision loss.

Pretty crazy huh?

The bitch is, it may have taken 22 years to show itself, but the progress now is notable. It's already noticeably worse than it was just a month ago.


Rod.

Man Rod, I'm really sorry to hear about your eyes. That sucks monster-hardcore but keep you head up, it could be alot worse. Wishing the best for you.

As far as that chemical goes, wouldn't happen to be Betacarrotine(sp?) would it?

Definitely get a second or third opinion regarding diagnosis and treatment. I have found the quality of doctors varies like the quality of Z's. I wish you the best, I've been glacoma "suspect" for many years.

vicodine and codene are sweet!

but uhhh... the AMA ???? whats wrong the the aeronaudical model association???? im a member, they insure my (liability only) up to 2.5 million dollars worth of damage. (dont as how a model could cause so much, maybe crashing a model onto a freeway and causing a 20 car pile up??? or killing someone?)

Rod-
I will never understand what you're going through. Nobody will. I can only offer my condolances and support. Suffice to say . . .its not the end, homie. Your eyes are not your only window to the world. Keep that in mind. You still have a loving family and friends who will help you with the possible transition ahead of you. I wish you the best man. And who knows. . . . the human body is an amazing machine. You might come out of this OK. Dont give in.

im sorry to hear that. i hope things get better for you.

They sure are. In fact... Heath Ledger used them both to prepare for his upcoming lead role in "Weekend at Bernies 3".


:wasted:


Rod.

now to be fair, im pretty sure there is still no autopsy report for his cause of death, he was on them because he couldnt sleep after making batman. its funny, apparently there's inherently bad luck with being the joker in the batman movie, somethign about all of them dying not to far after i think it was.

I thought glaucoma results in vision loss only if undiagnosed & untreated?

http://www.healthscout.com/ency/68/139/main.html

"Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that damage the optic nerve"

"While glaucoma cannot be prevented, the earlier it is diagnosed the better."

"There is no cure for glaucoma, but it can be controlled. Ophthalmologists use medication and surgery to prevent further vision loss. These treatment methods are used to bring the intraocular pressure under control."

rod i am sorry to hear, and glad i was able to meet you and cruise with you at the msa 2007 meet. hopefully by the next time i get down there you will be able to cruise more. maybe the desease wont have moved much by then.