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So, as many of you are no doubt aware, I've had some problems over the past couple of months with my Mk1 Mod 0 eyeballs, both Mount 21 (left eye) and Mount 22 (right eye). Had the left one operated on back in October, it is healing, slowly (to my frustration), but it's healing. Seems that the vitreous humor (the jelly-like substance that fills most of your eye) will shrink over time, pulling away from the retina at the back of the eye. This is called a PVD, which is indeed the three letter airport code for T.F. Green airport, our local air patch here in Little Rhody, but which in this case stands for Posterior Vitreous Detachment.
This happened in Mount 21 earlier this year, but apparently the guy responsible for ensuring that all lines were clear when the vitreous boat pulled away from the retinal pier (to go all nautical on you) wasn't paying attention and the vitreous humor pulled some retina with it, causing minor damage to my retina, which required surgery. Seaman Schmuckatelli was counselled and received extra training in the event we wanted to go through a PVD-type evolution on Mount 22 (remember, that's the right eye.) So a couple of weeks ago... What's that? What's with all the gunsight pictures? I'll get to that, be patient.
So anyhoo, a couple of weeks ago, BAM, PVD occurred on the right eye, er, I mean, Mount 22. Which caused a circular shaped floater to appear in my field of vision which immediately reminded me of the F-4D's gunsight. Shown above by itself, and again below where the pilot sees it projected onto the combining glass which is part of the front radar scope mount. Provided said pilot is not wearing polarized sunglasses (for a very humorous take on that event, see here. We'll wait...).
No, the pilot involved was not Juvat, I asked. (Besides Juvat was a junior officer at the time and the lofty personage wearing the sunglasses was, I believe, a major.) Anyhoo...  |
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But during the exam, I heard the doctor telling his assistant, fellow named Brian, that, "The Weiss Ring is very clear in the scope..." Blah, blah, blah, more retinal doctor talk. But I keyed in on the whole "Weiss Ring" thing. You can see it in the image below. That sort of New England Patriots collapsed football looking thing on the left side of the picture. That's called a Weiss Ring. Apparently not named for some fellow named Weiss, rather simply named "white" as in the color, which in German is, "Weiss." More properly Weiß, though I understand that the Germans are moving away from using the Eszett or scharfes S, which is what that ß character is, these days a simple double "s" is used instead. I don't like it, I'm a bit of a traditionalist but that's weder hier noch dort (neither here nor there).
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Once I stopped freaking out over having a "Weiss Ring" floating about in my field of view, I started calling it a gunsight. Like this -
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Eventually the folks at work got tired of telling me that there was no one named Sarah Connor at the facility where I am somewhat gainfully employed. Even though it was a lot of fun.
Also the guards in the front of the building got tired of me attempting to drive into the lobby.
Yup, creeped out they were.
Better than a Scheiß-ring?
ReplyDeleteWay better!
DeleteHeh.
...or Schwarz ring, ja?
DeleteAber natürlich.
Delete;)
Some people gotta look cool no matter the cost, re: Major Sunglasses. Time can pass slow when the eyes are involved so hang in there Sarge.
ReplyDeleteI am hanging in there, frustrating as Hell some days, but I'm getting by. Thanks Nylon12.
DeleteGlad to see Schmuckatelli paid attention during the re-training!!
ReplyDeleteYour own floating gun sight...hmmm...but does it line up the way you want when you are shooting??
And, no, NOTHING EVER heals fast enough for "the patient" meaning any schulb that something needed to be fixed on...bones, eyeballs, incisions, etc. It will always take at least as long as the doc says, and most times, longer. Just because. Especially if said schulb is not under the age of 30 any more. That is like a medical rule someplace. Short of asking Santa to bring a big box of patience, I have no tricks for making stuff heal up faster. The magic wand is all out of fairy dust, so tapping folks on the nose wont help. I tell folks that all the time. They are disappointed. It is what it is. :)
So does your Weiss Ring just re-absorb or are you destined to have it float around forever in your Mount 22? Inquiring minds...
Scmuckatelli is a hard case, but he learns. ;)
DeleteTrue on stuff not healing as fast as we'd like, but I'm seeing progress (literally) and that helps.
Unfortunately the Weiss Ring is not a lead computing optical gunsight, it just sort of drifts around. Eventually it should be reabsorhed, if not, the brain is pretty good at filtering floaters out, I have others that I really need to concentrate on to see, Mr Weiss is too big and too recent to be ignored. But most of the time I don't really notice it.
Thanks Suz.
Wow, I'm glad you got that figured out. I can't imagine my eyes giving me fits. When the Opto-Doc fires up the arc light, I can see the network of blood vessels in my eye... That is so cool. I'm like a kid every time I go to there. It is just so fascinating...
ReplyDeleteWe are in a similar boat. I've used my hands for my whole life, and after an injury, the left is acting up, and the right is worn down (arthritis of the worn joint clan). My wife doesn't find it funny when I go floppy hands when she asks me to do something... So, I guess we have a similar sense of humour too.
Strangely enough, washing dishes in really warm water feels like heaven.... I guess I was destined to be an enlisted man..... Officers don't have dishpan hands.... 9disclaimer: The writer makes no claim to have been in the military at any time in his pitiable existence.)
I know what you mean about the hands, I'm starting to get the odd joint pain in my keft hand, around the thumb area. Bugs me to no end, as I'm trying to learn the drums and resume my guitar playing, having the hands act up is a bother. Not as much as the eyes though, I can play through the pain, blurry ain't no fun, ever.
DeleteOh yes, STxAR, you have the soul of an enlisted guy. ;)
"Officers don't have dishpan hands"
DeleteI beg to differ. Mrs J and my arrangement is she does the lawn and I do the cooking. Dishpan hands goes along with that. Heck, even Schmedly has gotten in on the act. Seems she found out that during the fall and winter, the water from the well is quite cold and therefore tasty. She comes into the bathroom as I'm getting ready, hops up on the sink and meows until I hold my hands in a cup shape in the cold water while she takes a drink. Usually a long one. The hands get quite numb. But, heck, it keeps the ladies in my house happy.
So Juvat, since you and Mrs. Juvat were both officers, one of you was bound to have dishpan hands.
DeleteSchmedly sounds typical of some cats, they like to drink water from the sink. One of mine likes the water to be running so she can drink it as it comes out.
Cold well water sounds like nectar from Heaven on a hot day.
Ah, a sink full of HOT soapy water, just what my aching hands love. Seriously. There are days I'll fill up a sink with as hot as I can stand water and just soak my mitts. Damned arthritis.
DeleteAnd "Officers don't have dishpan hands." Well, Mr/Mrs Officer may be the OIC on base, but at home the spouse is the OIC, right?
Always.
DeleteThanks for the compliment Sarge! Meaning no disrespect to the O ranks in the company
DeleteWow, spoken like an old salt!
Delete"No disrespect intended sir, but would you get the Hell out of my shop!" Said no Master Sergeants ever, at least with witnesses present...
On zee udder hund, (John changes back to an American acccent) isn't the "w" in "weiss" pronounced like a "v"?
ReplyDeleteSo a "Weiss Ring" could be a circle of bench mounted holding devices, or a group of people who are sex criminals, or the part of the "weiss" (back to German accent) that allows the bench top mounted device to rotate.
My German is limited to immigration questions and their answers, and I will state there isn't a better language on the planet for asking invasive questions and for demanding answers.
Oddly, my nearsighted vision is improving in my senior years, but I'm having to deal with dry eye problems.
And like STxAR said, I spent most of my careers working with my hands and I now sleep with a wrist brace and I've found that as soon as my hands get cold, most of the feeling is lost. Warm dishwater would indeed be heavenly.
Fingers crossed for your eye situation.
I'll be back to read the comments.
Good post.
Yes indeed, the "w" in Weiss is pronounced (auf Deutsch) like a "v" in English. Fun fact, as LUSH likes to say, the German "v" is pronounced like an English "f."
DeleteGerman is indeed good for interrogations, er, I mean, asking probing questions. Sorry, didn't mean to say "probing." (Or maybe I did, "Chust sign zee papers, old man.")
I just now got it, the whole "Weiss Ring" circle of bench mounted devices. "Weiss," pronounced as a German would, does indeed sound like "vice." I'm slow, but I get there, eventually. Good one John, very good, made me chuckle you did.
Thanks for the good wishes, eyes crossed for your hand situation. Hhmm, that doesn't really work, does it?
Thanks John.
Your vitreous is not very humorous, meaning eye problems are no joke, not that your post isn't funny, which it is, but it's not a joke per se, since it's so serious of an issue, but now eye've written quite the run on sentence so I'll quit while eye'm behind. Enjoy your Christmas. I'm taking a 5 day weekend myself as Ebenezer Scrooge here has seen fit to grant me some leave. My best to you and Song.
ReplyDeleteNice word play Tuna.
DeleteMy best to you and yours, enjoy the time off.
Eye'll be seeing you. ;)
As soon as I saw the first picture I was thinking, "Cool, Sarge had a gunsight installed in his eye, he's going to go full Terminator." And then, later in your post, you did. Are we actually twins, separated by time and distance and mothers and...?
ReplyDeleteHopefully Big Girl sustained no injuries in your attempt to park her in the Security Lobby.
Nah, I went to a biker bar and requistioned a guy's bike. Used it to steal a car and...
DeleteOh wait, all that stuff is illegal in some states, innit? So yeah, none of that happened.
(I knew there was a reason why you fit in here so well.)
Having just read the tale of Maj. Sunglasses, some day, when your eye is healed, I'll tell you the tale of the C-141 adjustable rudder pedals.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the post.
Paul L. Quandt
That sounds like a tale worth waiting for!
DeleteGlad to hear you're still on the mend, Sarge. Frustrating, I know. Sorta like having a really cool gun sight, but only using it to watch paint dry. Heh. What does it say about all of us here who compare aches, pains, and maladies?
ReplyDeleteI was born with what they called a "lazy eye" (left side). 20/16 on the right, 20/22 on the left. Did tracing exercises with a red pencil and a red lens over my right eye. Have worn glasses since the second grade, every waking hour since about age 20.
Now I wear trifocals. Just got my prescription updated, bit the bullet and had lenses put in my old frames, so I now have a spare set. Doc told me I have two small cataracts starting on the left side, so my day is coming. If I close my right eye and look at a vertical line like a door jamb, it will have a shallow "hump" in it that follows my vision.
Ouch.
DeleteFriends have indicated that cataract surgery is a fairly straightforward thing, sight returns rather quickly. Still and all, I'd rather not have to do it.
Having a spare set of spectacles is a really good idea.
DAMHIK
"What does it say about all of us here who compare aches, pains, and maladies?
DeleteI would postulate that the answer is "We're still alive." and leave it at that.
Just had my annual eye doc visit. For the first time in a few years he hasn't said anything about cataracts. Not sure if that's good or bad.
Still alive, a good state to be in from where I sit.
DeleteI used to listen to old guys on ham radidio complain about this kind of stuff. We called them "organ concerts". "My liver quit, so they put in a filter..." My lung, my eye, my kidney, my wrist, my hand...... I never thought I'd be one of them!!!!
DeleteAh yes, at work we old codgers like to discuss our infirmities, just to make the youngsters cringe and roll their eyes.
DeleteWell, they do that at our jokes as well...
https://hushkit.net/2018/12/03/the-top-34-pilots-moustaches/
ReplyDeleteSaw this article and thought of you guys.
Some very awesome 'staches there, of course Robin Olds made the list. But only #2?
DeleteHere is another vote for nice hot soapy dishwater for arthritis, or for cuts/nicks/bangs/contusions of the hands. It just feels so very good! Except when I cut my thumb off almost...stuck it back on with steri-strips and used long yellow rubber gloves to do dishes with for those 2 weeks. Still felt good in the hot moist heat.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes also to the wrist supports...one on each wrist...not the sexiest sleepwear, but on the other hand I can sleep, and without it, I am a definite grump. Numb pins and needles not being conducive to sleep, or being able to do anything with the hands or fingers the next day. Been wearing them for 30 years now (well, ok, I buy new ones every 10 years cause they get groudy after a while and just don't come clean anymore.)I even took them when I went backpacking. Worth it!! Need to get the carpel tunnel surgery but, well, I'm just chicken...brain surgery no problem...wrists not so much...something is wrong there...hmmm.
Suz, so far, this brace is only on my twice broken right wrist and wearing the brace has pushed the carpal tunnel surgery far into the future. I've found that the Velcro stops adhering but that's easily fixed with a bit of sewing.
DeleteI guess if and when I really need the surgery I will have it done, but for now, no surgery.
Suz - I had a brush with carpal tunnel in Germany when I was doing a LOT of data entry for a project. Wore a brace on my right wrist for a while. Things cleared up and I haven't had a problem since (knock on wood). BTW, I refer to that condition as Lincoln Carpool Tunnel Syndrome.
DeleteJohn - Twice broken wrist? Ouch, ouch, ouch. Wrist and ankle injuries scare the bejeezus out of me.
DeletePerhaps my biggest frustration with aging is the gradual diminishing of my vision. Little losses, like glare at night getting to me and not seeing John Laws nose sticking out of the weeds until I'm right up on him/her.
ReplyDeleteYup, glare at night, starting to be a factor. Most annoying.
DeleteThomasina, my calico, figured out how to bump her head against the faucet, to turn it on so she could get a drink.
ReplyDeleteSmart cat!
Delete