peregrinerose

Huh. You just described me. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I always took it to mean 'real' as in not size 0 borderline eating disorder runway models. Not overweight/obese women. Women with a healthy BMI who are happy in their own skin and in good physical condition. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I don't know what killed the horse, but I'm thoroughly impressed that you managed to raise a mare from a colt. I didn't know they could do that with horses. Was it really a good idea to take a mare that was already losing weight from unknown causes to stud? Did you ever get her to a vet? Sounds like a less than responsible way to care for any pet, especially if you and your daughter loved her so much. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Probably the easiest way to explain it is with pixels. It sounds like your right eye may have a slight eye turn. So as an infant, your brain had a choice... see double or ignore the eye. Double vision is extremely disconcerting, so the brain typically chooses to ignore the eye. That's why as an infant it didn't learn to see as well. With the patching when you were 3-5, you were forcing the brain to start paying attention to the central vision in that eye. Not exercising it... there's nothing wrong with the eye at all, it's the brain that's the issue. During that time, your vision probably went from about 20/400 to 20/whatever it is now. It didn't get to the same clear 20/20 that you see in your left eye because it was treated so late.... 20/20 is learned in the first 2 years of life, the learning of vision slows down after that. Your brain basically doesn't have the same amount of pixels in your right eye as the left. Everything is perfectly in focus, just lower resolution. That's why it's harder to see, you need to work harder at it, move the eyes around more to translate the image than with the left eye. It's also why the image doesn't look fuzzy like not having contacts in. If you took your computer monitor and cut the resolution in half, the image would still be clear, but harder to see.... same with your amblyopic eye. It is true that treating amblyopia as a adult is much harder... our brains aren't as plastic as when we were kids. If you patched full time now, you might gain a very tiny amount of vision, but it would take a VERY long time of full time patching for minimal to no gain. Since neurology is still the newest and least understood of the sciences, there really is no other treatment for amblyopia other than the patching and vision therapy, both most effective when done as young as possible. Talk to your eye doc, find out what your best corrected vision is in the amblyopic right eye. If it's 20/40 or better, then think about surgery. If lower than 20/40 (the magic legal to drive cut-off), you might not want to consider it. Worst case scenario, if your left eye loses vision due to the surgery, would you be perfectly comfortable living your life with the best corrected vision in your right eye all the time? That's basically the decision you need to make. I can't answer that one for you, everyone is different

Yep, you only correct to 20/50 in that eye, that's amblyopia... make sure your kids (if/when you have any) get their eyes examined before 1 year of age. That's completely preventable vision loss. If that was caught in infancy and treated, your brain would have learned to see 20/20... it was caught too late and treated too late, so your brain only learned how to see 20/50 (which is better than the 20/400 it would be seeing if it wasn't treated at all). Vision is learned in the first 2 years of life... the brain has no idea how to see when you're born. Infants see about 20/5000ish. If anything is interrupting a clear image from hitting the retina and being interpreted by the brain, the brain can't learn how to see from one or both eyes. This can be from a high prescription, eye turn (brain ignores the eye that turns to keep from seeing double), congenital cataract, and a lot of other things. About 1 in 20 kids is born with something that causes amblyopia. Your kids are at much higher risk than that due to genetics. If whatever is blocking the brain from learning how to see is treated young (glasses, vision therapy, surgery, drops, and/or patching), the brain will learn how to see... the older it's treated, the less plastic the brain and the less visual acuity will be gained. You would not be legal to drive if something went wrong with the surgery in your better seeing eye. I'm sure you could probably find a surgeon willing to do the surgery, but I'd seriously question that surgeon's ethics. It's not a good idea to have an elective surgical procedure when you really only have one eye keeping you legal to drive. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Lazy eye IS a big deal... no surgeon will touch you. Lazy eye means amblyopia, meaning your brain never learned how to see 20/20 even WITH best possible glasses or contacts. This is completely preventable vision loss if caught in infancy/early childhood and why first eye exams should be before 1 year of age. If you only have one 'good' eye, refractive surgeons won't take any risks like that. Some people call an eye that turns in or out lazy eye... this isn't lazy eye (although it can cause it)... this is called strabismus. Some people call a droopy eyelid lazy eye... that's actually ptosis. Neither of these is a factor at all with regard to LASIK. With regard to contrast, you wouldn't really notice much difference on a daily basis. Maybe some slight decrease in night vision, but that's about it. The decrease in contrast sensitivity only really gets to be an issue when you're old and have early cataracts.... so decreased contrast sensitivity from that plus decreased from LASIK and you'll have more effect than someone who didn't have refractive surgery. Hi def movies would be fine. Some insurance companies offer a discount in refractive surgery (VSP is one), but most don't cover it and probably won't since it is elective. I doubt that's going to change any time soon. Vision companies really don't save any money by covering refractive procedures since people still need yearly eye exams and often still need at least part time glasses (definitely needed once past 40). Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

That's called accommodative spasm. It's normal, not a big deal, and won't change your prescription at all

Computer use does nothing to your prescription. Your rx is based on the size, shape, and refractive properties of your eye. Using your eyes in any way (computer, sitting too close to the TV, reading in the dark, wearing/not wearing glasses, etc) can not change the physical properties of your eye's structure. You're just getting old Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Which is why we write down the student's name, canopy, and radio frequency down on the student board prior to getting on the plane, to avoid getting it wrong. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

The flap never heals back to 100% strength... not even close. Studies have shown that even 12 years after surgery the flap can be relatively easily moved. The edges of the flap do seal down, but the interface is much weaker toward the center of the flap. This is why enhancement surgeries are sometimes done... they don't need to re-flap the cornea, they just peel back the existing flap and re mold the cornea if the Rx changes. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I don't like referring to students by their canopy color.... it's freaking impersonal. These are students, people who hopefully will eventually become productive members of the DZ. It's a lot more reassuring and calming to someone who's already nervous to hear their name than be referred to so generically. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Surgified, of course, is extremely technical terminology I make up words all the time, like that as needed. If you see 20/30 now, I wouldn't even think about refractive surgery... that's legal to drive in all 50 states. A 'successful' refractive surgery is considered 20/40 or better... you're already there. Honestly, you'd have a very hard time finding a surgeon who would be willing to touch you with an rx that low. If it's just a little bit of nearsightedness, you'll actually love it when you hit 40. For almost everything, including reading, you'll do fine without glasses. You'd just need them for part time, maybe night driving. Why have surgery over occasional glasses wear? PRK long term side effects are actually very low... some glare issues, decrease in contrast sensitivity, not as much with dry eye... the worst dry eye with that is immediately post op and improves significantly with time. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Who do I 100% trust? Nobody. There are a few people that I mostly trust, my husband tops that list. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Why would you be starting to track at 2500??? If you were on a 13 way, breakoff would have been MUCH higher than that. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I agree with Doug. I'd much rather learn from someone else's mistakes than my own. However, if I do something worthy of posting in the incidents forum, should I be lucky enough to survive, you can bet I'll be the first to post the incident. If I do something stupid, then I probably deserve for people to slam me for what I did wrong. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I'm published in this month's Parachutist The pelt head article is the one I wrote and took most of the pictures for. I'm the one with the fuzzy pink helmet. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I bought my first canopy at about 20 jumps. Sabre 170 loaded at 1:1 About 150 jumps: Spectre 150 at 1.06:1 Just ordered at 560 jumps Sabre2 135 at 1.15:1 I have lost weight since starting to skydive... started out weighing about 155, now 135-140. I'm still keeping my Spectre as a back up, I love that canopy and it'll be nice to have a second rig. I like flying relatively light wing loadings and keeping myself in one piece

Out of curiosity, if you want to jump with students (and if they are not yet licensed, they are still considered students, whether you consider them to be students or not), why don't you get your coach rating in order to meet that goal? Chances are you'll learn a lot in the process, and you'll meet your goal... the ability to meet DZ/USPA requirements to jump with students. The system isn't perfect, but it's what we have to work with... make the system better from within by becoming a coach (and a damn good one). Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Congrats!!! Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I always make my patients who do monovision refractive surgery like that to do a trial with it with contact lenses first, for several months. About 50% just can't adapt to switching eyes like that, losing some night/depth perception, and it's better to find out with contacts than it is to find out after you've permanently surgified your eyes

This is different from person to person. I won't refer for refractive surgery unless the person has had a stable prescription for at least 2 years. But the eye changes over the entire lifetime, refractive surgery can't change the normal aging of the eye... the changes in the refractive properties of the lens, cornea, etc. Diabetes, pregnancy, and certain meds can affect Rx, so that may also be a factor. Some people become presbyopic (need reading glasses) earlier than 40. With LASIK, the flap can be picked up and 'enhancement' surgery done, even years after the initial surgery, so that is an option for some people. If the Rx is very slight, and glasses wear just part time, it's not worth it to incur the risk of additional surgery for it. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

These side effects are much more common with LASIK than PRK. Dryness does improve with time (6 months to years) as the corneal nerves regenerate and can give the feedback to the eye to make more tears. The halos are better for people with smaller pupils, and pupil size tends to decrease with the accumulation of birthdays, so also may improve with time. These factors is why I won't refer people that don't pass a schirmers' test (tear film production) or with large pupils for refractive surgery. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

First, quit your whining... if you were truly doing the Helen Keller thing, you'd be on this web site with Jaws or Dragon Dictate or some other screen reader (if you don't know what those are, you aren't truly blind ) You have two fresh corneal abrasions, they will take time to heal up, longer than 3 days. What your doc said about your vision is dead on. I have done many pre/post op workups of all of the refractive surgeries out there, and if it was me considering it, I'd do PRK. You couldn't pay me enough to have LASIK, the risk profile is too high. I'll put up with a week of irritated eyes to avoid the longer term issues. You made a good decision. In another week you'll look back and wonder why you were wimpering about it, and in a month, you'll wonder why you didn't do it sooner, in 6 months you'll be singing the praises of PRK. Hang in there, it really does get better. Remember, preservative free artificial tears are your friends. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Head, I'm a sucker for long hair. Body, whatever that guy happened to be naturally endowed with. I'm not a big fan of trimming/waxing. I like my man to look post pubescent I also don't like guys that feel the need to preen themselves constantly, as long as he doesn't stink, I'm happy. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Do you tip your doctor? Your lawyer? Auto mechanic? Every cashier you have ever run across? These are all service professions as well. In 7 years as an eye doctor, I've never been tipped, nor do I expect it. But my fridge is covered in pictures that kids have drawn, and I've gotten baked goods many times. Plenty of thank you notes. Those all mean more than money. Also keep in mind that a lot of us that are saying no tipping ARE AFFIs or coaches or have other ratings Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda