The New And Improved Unofficial R65 Forum V2
General Category => General Announcements => Topic started by: montmil on March 23, 2009, 04:46:44 PM
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There's an old saying that goes, "In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king." That be me, at least for the next few days. 8-) Arrr !
Earlier today, I experienced a not too unpleasant surgical procedure that removed a cataract from my left eye. I now have a huge plastic guard thingy taped over most of the left side of my face. Back to the medicine man tomorrow for a look see, then a total of three more checks scattered over a full month. I'm not the best patient in the world...
Depth perception is really messed up. Can't drive, can barely navigate to the frig for a beer and certainly can't get on the bike.
Hopefully, I believe this will keep me 'current' with both my FAA and DOT licenses. I also expect I'll soon be able to out shoot my wife on the range, but that may just be wishful thinking. Arrr!
Monte
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Hang in there buddy and get well soon. My dad had a cataract done a few years ago and he came back 100%. Try to be patient. I have no doubt you will be back on the road soon. Maybe a nice set of goggles for the short term... 8-)
John M
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You will be back to normal in no time.
Don
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Monte, if you have the kind of luck I had, your distant vision will be better without your glasses than it had been with them. I had retina and cataract surgeries done on both eyes between June (D-Day, to be precise) and Christmas; because of some slight retinal swelling, I finally got my glasses a week ago. Haven't seen this well overall since I was 13. In fact, at some distant-vision ranges my binocular vision is slightly better without my glasses. When riding, I intend to carry my glasses in my vest pocket & put them on only if there's danger of a cop checking my license. (I hate having to wear glasses with my helmet.)
The post-op plastic bubble is the worst part of it. I went through that drill four times, and hated it each time. After about 6 hours (each time), my eyelid started to itch. Most unpleasant—I think I prefer moderate pain!
The only thing I found weird about cataract surgery was the sedative. I was "asleep" for only a very few minutes at the start. For the remainder of the surgery the anesthesiologist gradually brought me back to a twilight zone so that I felt nothing, but I could hear the surgical team talking. I distinctly remember hearing the surgeon say "Oops!" at one point. Apparently the artificial lens either tore or folded, so she had to insert another one. I thought it was funny at the time, like a "Far Side" cartoon, and it still amuses me. I might joke with her about it during my checkup in May.
Congratulations!
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Hi Monte!
My Mom had cataract surgery maybe 15 years ago on both eyes (no, not at the same time ::) ) and she had no problem at all. She was amazed how much better her eyesight was after the surgery - hadn't realized that it had gotten so bad. So, good for you to have it done.
My sweety needs to get it done, but he really doesn't do well at all with doctors and surgery and stuff. He's really fighting it but knows it needs to be done. I don't know what to tell him to ease his mind. I've already told him about the drugs ( [smiley=happy.gif] ) but even that hasn't worked yet. I sure would like to see him get it done before riding season starts in earnest.
Keep us posted to how things are going.
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There's an old saying that goes, "In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king." That be me, at least for the next few days. 8-) Arrr !
Is that a pirate Arrr?
good luck with the post-surgery recovery, you'll be back on the bike before too long.
John
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Cataract surgery at your age? Sheesh.
I hope that it goes well for you and you'll not have to be a 'king' for too long.
Take care and have a tub with the beer next to the couch. Just tell your wife: 'After all dear - I've been through a near death experience, and nothing says I love you more than doing this for me...' ::)
'Course she may tell you to 'go and get knotted.....' ;D
Aprapos of nothing really - I thought I'd just share....
There is a radio station doing segments on men's health at the moment ...one of the ads goes:
'Go out for a walk and make sure you take you partner with you. You can hold hands and she'll think that you're becoming a more rounded and loving person. On the other hand you know that exercise does wonders for the health of your thingy.....' Cacked myself when I heard this.
LOL - now ain't that interesting - this site has a 'built in censor'. I didn't type 'thingy'...but it wasn't rude (after all it was on the ABC - Australian Broadcasting Corp) - at least I didn't think so....
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Is that a pirate Arrr? John
Aye, Matey. A pirate I be... and got the T-shirt swag to prove it.
There's an indie German auto repair shop in Austin (That be in Texas, Bucko) that's run by a guy named Terry. They are very active in vintage sports car racing. The shop shirt has a skull and crossbones on the front and cool graphics on the back. They be known as Terry and the Pirates.
Cataract surgery at your age? Sheesh.
Actually, I'm 62. That is a bit early for a cataract issue.
Two years ago, the same eye had a much more serious procedure to relieve excessive pressure that was going to result in glaucoma and loss of vision. No problems in the right eye, so far.
The high muckety-muck surgeon theorized the issue was directly related to a heavy get-off and left side head impact during my early MC days. Said these issues can manifest themselves years later... The price for being a bad influence in my old Dallas neighborhood. [smiley=evil.gif]
Thanks for the notes, y'all [smiley=dankk2.gif] Monte
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My sweety needs to get it done, but he really doesn't do well at all with doctors and surgery and stuff. He's really fighting it but knows it needs to be done. I don't know what to tell him to ease his mind. I've already told him about the drugs ( [smiley=happy.gif] ) but even that hasn't worked yet. I sure would like to see him get it done before riding season starts in earnest.
Melena, Perhaps you might get your husband to read this note...
I am an admitted sissy and get extremely anxious when it comes to doctors, DENTISTS, drugs of any kind and SHOTS.
Back in the dark ages before my first marriage, Texas required a blood test before a marriage licenses was approved. I watched the doc drawing a syringe of my blood and the next thing I recall was waking up on the office floor. Then, many years ago, I actually passed out while getting a flu shot from the school district's RN. Yep. With needles, I'm a card-carrying wuss.
The first eyeball procedure, June of 2007, was the first time I had ever been in a hospital for any kind of event and I was terrified. My ol' Flee or Fight psychological mechanism was in high gear.
However, it was all for naught. The medical team treated me with calm professionalism and got my blood pressure and anxiety levels down to a survivability level. The next thing I remembered was the crew pulling off the EKG 'badges' and asking me what I wanted to drink. Unfortunately, the beer truck must have been late...
Same deal yesterday for me. The out-patient clinic staff were so professional, friendly and calming that I didn't even need my wife to hold my hand.
So. I'm still not too keen on some issues but my strong fear is just about gone; thanks to good health care professionals.
Go get it done, pardner. Ain't no longer a big thang.
Monte
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Whew, it's good to know that it'll be safe to motor around the Denton area in complete safety for a few days! ;D
My mother had surgery and implants done back in the 70s and that went fine so I imaging todays techniques make this sort of a non-event. Good luck!
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Keep a strain on her pardner. I would be terrified of having eyeball surgery. Most other medical procedures seem pretty ho-hum to me but that one would get to me.
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Yarrrrrr, I've had one eye messed with, once.
Years ago I was sandblasting a set of MGBGT rims and just thought I had sand in my eye. I finally went to the doctor and there was a small piece of metal in it. My GP got it out but I had to go in and have a "rust ring" removed. I remember them clamping my heads into some sort of vise/cage, numbed the eye, and went after the ring with what I can only describe as a high-tech dremel tool and ground it off. I had to wear a patch for a couple of days and , Monte is correct on this, depth perception was non-existent. I had to drive about 5 miles to get home and I didn't think I was gonna make it!
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Yet a friend of ours in Australia, rode around with a glass eye with a BMW roundel in place of the pupil. I guess you get used to it, if you have to.
All I know is when a contact lense drifts off center, I stop as soon as I can to maneuver it back. If my insurance would pay for cataract surgery and fix my vision at the same time, I would be going for it. So far I just put up with contact lenses.
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Hey Monte!
My dad sees great in the distance after his cateract surgeries. Has to have glasses for read though! Good luck. +1 on the Pirate Thing. Someday I will publish the Episcopal Pirate Church Service here. Our choir seems to like all things Pirate.
Hey Melena,
Didyougetmarried? ;)
TTFN,
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Healing up after the eye procedure. Kinda stuck at home and gotta go back to work tomorrow...
"Could be worse. Could be raining." Sheesh! Now it is raining.
OK, here's some pirate lingo I tripped across. Well sink me... Sounds just like some of me Aussie mates here on the jolly ol' Sloop R65.
http://www.puzzlepirates.com/Vocabulary.xhtml
Have some fun with it. Monte
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I had surgery back in 1998 to have a large cataract removed from my right eye. I admit I was a little nervous of the procedure, especially since the surgeon said I wouldn't be completely "under" during the operation.
To tell the truth, I remember very little of the who deal, other than counting backward from 100 (I think I made it to 94 before my mind blurred out). However, the one thing I DO remember was being wheeled back into recovery, and there was no bandage over my eye that had the cataract removed, and I suddenly realized that I could see so much better than before!
Of course, that was back over ten years ago, and unfortunately, the cataract grew back again, so I have to have another operation in the not too distant future.
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Cataract? What's a cataract? [smiley=beatnik.gif]
;)
Get well soon, Monte.
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Cataract? What's a cataract? [smiley=beatnik.gif]
Chinese Cadillac! :D
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That's a good one Monte!
I've not been all lately. No excuse...but for Monte I feel badly for missing your initial note! Please get well soon bud. But what did you say about hitting the left side of your head hard when you were a kid on a MC. Yikes....did I say I was 62 too. How long do I need to wait before the gossamer curtain comes down, Monte? Errrrrr! Sorry.....hArrrrrrr!
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'ere ya go, Bucko! (https://bmwr65.org/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi129.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fp210%2Fcabcgec%2Fpirate2_4.gif&hash=efbf9780ae2ce4f046bb4d00eafea223ce6886c1) Just go Splice the Mainbrace!
Your Deadlights will be better than normal in no time atall!
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Arrrr !
Here's to ye being called "One eyed Monte" for only a very short while !
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Had another follow-up appointment with the witch doctor today. Had a stitch removed from my eye! Wasn't expecting that. Doc splashed in some voodoo drops and said, "Don't blink." Easy for him to say.
One thing leads to another so in about four weeks it'll be time for new glasses.
Wonder if there's any chance for a Fed financial bailout for me?
Monte
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You mentioned your FAA license. Sporty's sells a T-Shirt that promotes the mission statement of the FAA. " Were not happy until we know that you're not happy ". Maybe some truth there? Get current and see you at OshKosh!
Jimmer
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Congrats Monte. I can't imagine what you went through. <Wonder if there's any chance for a Fed financial bailout for me?> Unfortunately I think AIG may have taken what's left of the money.
I'm currently 'in talks' with the Sports Med doc. He reckons I need total knee reconstruction on both knees. I've had three ops on both for cartilage issues.
Me thinks my ol' sports teacher may have forgotten to mention some issues with doing cross country, football and tennis... My GP gave me some pretty good drugs so I'm thinking I'll put the knee re-construction off for as long as I can. Apparently they only last ten years or so. I figure if that's the case, I'll need a further 4 during the time I have left...
<Get current and see you at OshKosh>. What's with the FAA and baby clothing???? ::)
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Arrrr !
Here's to ye being called "One eyed Monte" for only a very short while !
As long as we don't get to see the FULL MONTE :-/
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Full Monte !!!!
[smiley=ROTFLMAO.gif]
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Yeah, that's a visual I'm trying very hard not to imagine!
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Yeah, that's a visual I'm trying very hard not to imagine!
Me, too! [smiley=mad.gif]
What a difference. I'm cleared for what the doc calls normal activities. If he only knew... See y'all on the road.
Wait one. The '83 is apart for paint and the '81 awaits the Motobins Bing bits. I'm down to the exotic Chinese scooter that my wife thinks is hers. Zoom Zoom.
Monte
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Hmmm, ride on over to BMW MC of Ft. Worth about noon and we can all have a chuckle! ;D
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I should have left yesterday! Many folks hang at FTWBMW on Saturdays? I know where the shop is... Monte
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We just got back. Barbi was trying her damndest to get me to buy a new R1200RT but I don't think I'd like the payment that $19k would produce... :-/
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We just got back. Barbi was trying her damndest to get me to buy a new R1200RT but I don't think I'd like the payment that $19k would produce... :-/
Gotta love a wife like that! That's exactly how I got the 83 R65... [smiley=thumbsup.gif]
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Justin, my son & I must have just missed you at the BMW shop. Finally got the '83 in running condition. My son just got his m/c license a month or so back and wanted to do some riding. I saddled up my R90/6 and he followed me on the R65 so we could get it inspected.
Anyhow, glad to know that Monte will be back up to speed in no time. We'll have to have a convergence one of these days.
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Yeah, Monte, up to full speed, converge, that's reassuring... :o
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Yeah, Monte, up to full speed, converge, that's reassuring... :o
Hey, Justin. Who writes your stuff? Quick, sick mind... :P
Yeah, let's meet! Home boys on bikes. Radical.
Monte
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OK, here's some pirate lingo I tripped across. Well sink me... Sounds just like some of me Aussie mates here on the jolly ol' Sloop R65.
http://www.puzzlepirates.com/Vocabulary.xhtml
Have some fun with it. Monte
A Pirate dictionary? Whale oil beef hooked!
;)
rich
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From Monte: "Terry and the Pirates."
You're bragging about your age now, guy! From when I was a little kid, I loved Milton Caniff's comic strips, though I confess that I preferred Steve Canyon because I thought "Canyon" was slightly closer to reality. Trivia bit: I read somewhere in a reputably news magazine that Caniff received more than one visit from federal counterintelligence agents during wartime (WWII? Korea? Vietnam? I forget—but Caniff was drawing the strip during all three.) The agents asked him where he was obtaining his information about military operations. Caniff told them that he could read a map of the world and could imagine reasonable scenarios from the map situations. Seems that Caniff was imagining things that were actually being planned, and perhaps were already underway. If that's true, Caniff definitely missed his calling in life (though I'm sure his bank account was the better for it. ;D)
One-eyed Monte? Full monte? Before this, the only monte I knew was three-card monte. ;D
Regarding cataracts: What I learned during my talks with physicians and a bit of reading is that cataracts tend to form with (1) age; (2) trauma (blows, objects in eye, etc.); and (3) long periods of not wearing protective glasses in bright sunlight. Seems to me that we're a group that has experienced at least one of the above, and often two or three.
Though I know we're age-diverse, I still get the feeling that a number of us like our R65s in the same way a some people of a certain age like their pets: all grow old together. ;)
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Monte!
Just wanted to let you know my sweety finally had the cataract surgery done. [smiley=2vrolijk_08.gif]
This last summer his sight kept getting worse & worse as both eyes had a cataract. (He worked outside for 30+ years as a lineman.) He had them done one at a time starting the middle of October and had the 2nd one done just before Thanksgiving. Now his sight is better than it has been most of his life as he was near sighted. He's got 20/20 vision and can ride without glasses now.
He is ecstatic to be able to see again. He was getting so antsy (ahem........grumpy?) when he couldn't ride. But I understand that. ;)
Of course, now he has to wear glasses to do the close up work on the bikes and to read. It's all opposite of what he used to do, but he's definitely getting used to it.
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Good for Sweetie, Melena. I should be so lucky in scoring 20/20! For me, that's just maybe some sorta small caliber shootin' iron, whatever.
It is nice to have the oily veil lifted.
Happy Holidays:) Monte