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Father Time eventually wins

Discussion in 'Fred's House of Pancakes' started by bwilson4web, Apr 23, 2022.

  1. bwilson4web

    bwilson4web BMW i3 and Model 3

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    I'm 72 and not growing younger. Recently, I had a vision problem trying to read the laptop screen. There were four areas in my field of view, not floaters, that had text lines emerging and hiding behind the other obscure areas. Nearly midnight, I went to bed and the problem cleared in the morning.

    Being mildly Type 2 diabetic, A1C 6.2, my optometrists did not find diabetic circulation damage and diagnosed a transient 'optical migraine', eye strain. She found cataracts and my 2020 vision in 2000 is now 20/40 with 20/50 the limit for driving. I may have to give up driving as age and entropy eventually wins.

    Originally, I'd hope Tesla full self driving (FSD) would advance enough to be my electronic chauffeur ... but it is a hard problem and schedules slip. Meanwhile, I'm searching battery assisted, folding bicycles that do not require a driver's license. Our local bus service has bike racks so I should be able to run around town with the bicycle for range extension. With a yellow rain suit and backpack, I should stay mobile to keep appointments and shop.

    Hopefully beyond 2049, 100 years old, I'll remain sly enough to use technology to maximize my independence and usefulness.

    Bob Wilson
     
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  2. dbstoo

    dbstoo Senior Member

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    I'm so sorry to hear that Bob. Mobility is a key requirement for being self sufficient, and vision is a key component in making it from point A to Z.

    Like you, I'm hoping for a proper self driving vehicle to get me through my golden years. But I'm not betting on it.
     
  3. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    I've dealt with transient optical migraines' since my late 20's... They never last longer than 1/2 hour and are no big deal. Once they treat the cataracts you'll be amazed at how well you can see. When my mom was done with that surgery she was so happy she joined a bird watching club.
     
  4. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    What frustrates me is the unpredictability. Especially while working. Very frustrating to be right in the zone, productively working away at something, and then have to just go lie down until the letters stop swimming around again.

    So far, it's never actually happened at a time when I would have to explain it to a cow orker, but that's just been luck.
     
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  5. 2010moneypit?

    2010moneypit? Active Member

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    So sorry Bob.
     
  6. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    What you and PriusCamper describe seems to match with the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scintillating_scotoma symptoms I get, a form of migraine without pain. Fortunately I only ever had a couple at work. The very few that happened while driving required a rest break to allow it to pass, or a driver swap. Heat and agricultural dust have been triggers for me, but explain only a minority of my events.

    But Bob's description sounds like something different.
     
  7. bwilson4web

    bwilson4web BMW i3 and Model 3

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    From Wiki, there can be perception differences between individuals and incidents. It was my first and resolved during sleep. At least now I know.

    Bob Wilson
     
  8. dbstoo

    dbstoo Senior Member

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    There are differences. My migraines morphed from skull splitting pain in high school to manifesting as just an optical problem after 55.

    WHAT HELPS ME: I find that dehydration is a trigger, so when a migraine starts I drink a lot of water with a normal dose of Sudafed. I've carried Sudfed with me since highschool.

    Fortunately, when a migraine starts I am lucky that I get a warning distortion a few minutes before it goes to full strength. That gives me time to pull off the road, shut down the machine, etc.

    Unfortunately, When it hits I find my judgment is impaired and I often think that I can tough it out, even though that's never worked.
     
    #8 dbstoo, Apr 23, 2022
    Last edited: Apr 23, 2022
  9. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    Yeah... First time is frightening... Kept thinking "so, this is the LSD flashback they warned me about..." When in truth it wasn't that at all.
     
  10. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    I was fearing a stroke on my first one.
     
  11. cyberpriusII

    cyberpriusII Prodigyplace says I'm Super Kris

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    LOL! Um, not that I would know anything about that :whistle::whistle::whistle:. But as Bob Zimmerman sang in "My Back Pages:"

    Crimson flames tied through my ears
    Rollin' high and mighty traps
    Pounced with fire on flaming roads
    Using ideas as my maps
    "We'll meet on edges, soon," said I
    Proud 'neath heated brow
    Ah, but I was so much older then
    I'm younger than that now.

    This is why I love this site. You people let me know of all the wonderful stuff I have to look forward to....:):):)
    kris

    :
     
  12. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    That sounds like more than just a transient optical migraine, which isn't associated with physical pain, just distorted macula due to pressure on the optic nerve.
     
  13. ETC(SS)

    ETC(SS) The OTHER One Percenter.....

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    I'm thinking that if the plumbing in the eyeballs is up to scratch then you're just a couple of cataracts away from substantial vision improvement.....but as you have already mentioned, this will only be temporary.
    I've repeated more than once in this forum, a quote from the great thinker and philosopher Robert "Rocky" Balboa.
    Rocky said: “Time, you know, takes everybody out; time's undefeated.”

    Back in my beloved home state of Indiana my mom and her sisters attempted to "have the talk" with my then 92 year-old grandmother, who wanted one of them to go with her to renew her license. In the end...she wound up driving herself down to the license branch, taking a vision and written test, and driving home with her new license.
    Indiana requires bi-annual, in person renewal for those over 75 and road tests in some circumstances for persons over 85 but (unlike some 79-year-olds I know of) my grandmother did not present as being enfeebled enough to require such a test - or?
    The DMV workers, being DMV workers simply didn't give a rats.

    My advice to the sisters was to verify that her insurance was adequate and let HER decide when to hang up the cleats.
    In the end she probably drove a total of a dozen more times for a whopping total of less than 50 miles before her death at 97.
    Still.....
    Another family friend died in a multiple fatality accident that he caused at 101.....so this will continue to be a 'thing' for those who do not take the OP's approach and start to.....plan early and adequately.

    My own approach will involve something like a battery bike/trike if I'm blessed in like manner with the "problem" of living long enough to outlive my driver's license.
     
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  14. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    'i want to die in my sleep like my grandpa, and not screaming and crying like the passengers in his car'
     
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