My Retirement Photo Trip - Had To Cancel at Last Minute - Eye Problems

pnomanikon

Senior Member
My Retirement Photo Trip - 2nd Attempt - COMPLETED SEPT 2019 - Travelogue

EDIT: TRIP COMPLETED SEPT 2019 - CLICK HERE FOR TRAVELOGUE: http://www.michaelelyard.com/SW Retirement Trip 2019 Home.htm

Well, here I sit at the computer when I should be going to bed to be rested for the beginning leg of our Retirement Drive tomorrow morning (Monday 22 April). My wife and I have wanted to see the Southwest (USA) for many years, and now that we are retired, we spent this winter meticulously planning out a 4-week, 5,500-mile loop from West Virginia down to Grand Canyon, Death Valley, Zion, Arches, Glen Canyon, Monument Valley, Mesa Verde, Arches, Canyonland, and Colorado before returning home on Old Rt 30 (Lincoln Highway). We even bought a new car in October since our old car was showing its age. Bags were packed last week. Cameras all ready with recharged batteries and extra SD cards. READY TO GO!

Then, Friday afternoon, I was taking an elderly neighbor around town helping her running errands when I started noticing an occasional flash of light off to my left. It started happening more often, and getting brighter, kind of like a vertical lightning bolt in my left eye off to the left side. When I got home, my wife made me go to the Emergency Room. They called in two ophthalmologists who spent the next 2-3 hours shining bright lights in my eyes and taking a probe and pushing on my eyes. Good news is that it is not retinal separation at this point, but it is still serious. The vitreous fluid (thick gel inside the eye) attaches to the inside lining of the eye in several places. One of those attachments is in the process of tearing loose. That irritates the nerves, which causes the light flashes. This separation process can take days, weeks, or even months. Most of the time, it separates OK and things settle down. Other times, it can tear the inner lining of the eye. Not good!

Now I have to go back on Wednesday for another "shine and poke" exam. I'm still getting light flashes in my left eye, and noticing more "floaters" in my direct line of sight. They can take up to 6 months to "settle". I'm glad we have great medical people here at the WVU University Hospital.

I spent the afternoon today online and calling and cancelling one hotel after another and our tours of Mesa Verde and the Grand Canyon. Very depressing.

More bad news - the Doctors said that in most cases, both eyes do this around the same time, so I should expect it to happen to the right eye at some point soon.

On a good note, I guess we weren't 2,500 miles away in the middle of Death Valley when this happened.

Oh well. Maybe this fall or next year.

Sigh.
 
Last edited:

cwgrizz

Senior Member
Challenge Team
So sorry to hear that you are having a rough go with the eye, but it will get taken care of and you will be able to plan the trip again and maybe with cooler weather. You were heading out to the SW when it is starting to get a little toasty. Ha! Praying your eyes will heal quickly without complications.
 

Danno

Senior Member
Sorry to hear about your issues, but thankful that they caught it before you left. I will pray for a speedy resolution. God bless.
 

Woodyg3

Senior Member
Contributor
I had the same thing a few month ago. I still have a floater, but no other problems. Chances are high that you won't have additional problems. It is frightening when it happens, for sure. I hope you get to do the trip soon!
 

crashton

Senior Member
I'm sorry this happened to you, but very glad you were home when it did. The eye docs are very good these days. Heal up & plan your trip for a future date.
 

Dawg Pics

Senior Member
That is terrible, but at least you took care of it. I got lucky when an eye doctor found a hole in my retina before any separation started. Got it repaired and haven't had any problems.
 

pnomanikon

Senior Member
UPDATE: So far, so good. Getting several "floaters" that are annoying, especially when I'm at the organ/piano at church reading music and all this "dust" is floating by the printed page.

We are going to try to regroup and try again in September, after the Labor Day madness fades and the temps in Death Valley are maybe 10*-15*F lower than summer. Hope and pray that the other eye doesn't decide to join the act about then.

In the meantime, we will be traveling out to where we can be home in a day - Gettysburg, Washington DC, Williamsburg, etc. Saturday was a beautiful day, so we jumped in the car and drove out to Swallow Falls State Park in neighboring Maryland. I think a lot of us forget there are interesting places to visit within a couple of hours of our home. My travelogue for the day: http://www.michaelelyard.com/Swallow Falls State Park.htm

If you're really bored on a rainy day, I invite you to check out my travel pages on some of our drives: http://www.michaelelyard.com/Family.htm

If you prefer European scenery, we were stationed in Germany for 3 years (2000-2003) and traveled around Europe: http://www.michaelelyard.com/Travel.htm

I'm going stir crazy, though, with not being able to run. I usually do a 6-8 mile run 2x-3x a week. Doc said impacts not good while this is separating. Bummer. For now, it's an easy pace on the elliptical and long walks on the beach with my wife. (LOL)

Stay tuned.
 
Last edited:

nikonpup

Senior Member

HOPING THE BEST FOR YOU. HERE IS SOMETHING TO KEEP YOU AND YOUR MIND OCCUPIED WILL YOU RECOVER. SUBJECTS TO SHOT AND POST ON NITES. :)
150-600 Tamron shots
150-600 Sigma C shots
Alligator/crocodile photos
Almost Photos
Artful Potato (or other vegetable) Challenge
Automotive
Aviation shots
Barns and rural structures
Beach Creatures
Bees in Flight photos
Before and after pictures
Best sports photo
Birds (2)
Bird Feeders
Birds in Flight
Black and Whites Photos
Bokeh rich shots
Bottoms Up shots
Bridges
Celebrity photos
Cell phone photos
Cemetery Shots
Chimney
Church shots
Cloudscape Photos
Comet photos
cow
D500 Shots
D7200 Photos
Deer/Moose/Elk Shots
Doors, Windows, and Entryways
Fall pictures
Farm Equipment Shots
Farmers's Market Captures
Favorite March 2017 photo
Firework Photos
Fisheye Images
Fishing photos
Flower pics
Focus stacking photos here
Frogs, Toads and Amphibians!
Fruit
Fog
Fuji X Images
Halloween Theme Photos Here
HDR
Heavy Equipment Shots!
highways and byways
Hills, Mountains, Rock
Horse shots
Insect shots (Macro/without Macro)
Landscape Photos
Latest purchases
Leaf shots
Light poles
Low light long exposures
Mammals
Meet and Greet here
Men/ladies at work
Moths & Butterflies
New Year Resolutions
Nighttime cityscape photos
Oil Paint filter shots
Panoramic
Parrot Pictures
Photobombed
Photographing the photographer
Portrait shots
Raptors
Reflection photos
Rides
River and Lakes photos!
Seed Head
Selective color photos
Selfies
Sign post pictures
Sky and cloud photos
Snow event
Spiders
Squirrel pictures
Star Trails
Statues
Steps, Stairways, Staircases, and Ladders
Summertime Picures
Sunrises
Sunset shots
Train shots!
Tree Photos !
Ultra-wide angle shots
Urban Decay pics
Waterways
Urban Landscapes
Water drops
Water towers
Waterfalls
Waterways
Wide Angle
Windmills
 
Last edited:

nikonpup

Senior Member
​how are you doing these days? i see you are getting out and about on your family page. pictures are looking good.
 

pnomanikon

Senior Member
​how are you doing these days? i see you are getting out and about on your family page. pictures are looking good.

Thanks - We made it out to the SW in September, and as you noticed, I finally got the travelogue posted. I guess I really dropped off the radar the past few months when it comes to the forum. Sorry.

I'm back.

If any of y'all are really bored or snowed in, here's the link to the travelogue: http://www.michaelelyard.com/SW Retirement Trip 2019 Home.htm The fun stuff starts around Day 6. Out of about 6,500 photos, I have about a dozen that I can say are "pretty good". Not outstanding, but pretty good (for me, at least).

Again, sorry for being a stranger the past several months. I'll try to post up some photos on the D7200 Photos thread soon.
 
Top