Rapid Vision Decline

[David58]

Went to the range today with my Santa Fe Hawken, and my scratch build. The SF for work - have no load for it and haven't sighted it in today, and my full stock Hawken just for fun.

SF Hawken needs serious sight work, and I didn't take files and a drift & hammer with me to get everything set. 8" high at 25 yards, so first step is to lower that rear sight some.

But when I went to my old faithful .50 at 50 yards, those 3" orange dots basically disappeared. This is after getting new glasses to fix that two months ago - an astonishing decline in vision in two months. Have a call in to the doc, hope this can get fixed. Or my optimism over the NM regs for open sights in '23 will be the least of my problems.

David
NM

 

[COEngineer]

Went to the range today with my Santa Fe Hawken, and my scratch build. The SF for work - have no load for it and haven't sighted it in today, and my full stock Hawken just for fun.

SF Hawken needs serious sight work, and I didn't take files and a drift & hammer with me to get everything set. 8" high at 25 yards, so first step is to lower that rear sight some.

But when I went to my old faithful .50 at 50 yards, those 3" orange dots basically disappeared. This is after getting new glasses to fix that two months ago - an astonishing decline in vision in two months. Have a call in to the doc, hope this can get fixed. Or my optimism over the NM regs for open sights in '23 will be the least of my problems.

David
NM

That sounds concerning. Don't put it off. Could be something serious and eyeballs tend to have a lot of things with a short time window before they can't be fixed.

 

[p_ham]

Go get your A1C checked.

 

[duckhunt]

Go get your A1C checked.

This. Since I became diabetic my eyes definitely have taken a turn for the worse.

 

[Hem]

I think I got the gist of things, hang on while I look for my readers to confirm.

 

[Hem]

Sorry, don't mean to make light.

 

[David58]

Sorry, don't mean to make light.

Right now, after this day on the range and realizing what has happened, a chuckle is good medicine.

David
NM

 

[David58]

Got an appointment with an opthalmologist for Thursday, after I get back in town. I think this is over the head of my optometrist, and I can see the MD sooner. Pre-admitting phone call, the nurse/tech said that my description of symptoms sounds like a cataract, of which there are some varieties which can progress this fast.

I think I will sleep better tonite, since I did some interweb self doctoring after the conversation and the cataract seems plausible. Optimistic, since the surgery is quick, well established, and recovery short. Hopeful, because shooting my old timey rifles is a huge part of what "fills my tank" as my wife would put it. Maybe I am also finding that I might like it too much...

God is in charge. Never had thought of going blind, even in just one eye. Kinda has shaken me up, I had all these plans to do so much rendezvous and black powder shooting once retired. Gives one a pause, and might be re-thinking retirement dates a bit. Life is, in fact, too short.

David
NM

 

[hank4elk]

It's why I'm trading mine for a reloader setup...the eye.

PM me with eye doc info if you would. My right one is getting fuzzy in the last 2 months. Just what I needed. LOL

 

[duckhunt]

It's why I'm trading mine for a reloader setup...the eye.

PM me with eye doc info if you would. My right one is getting fuzzy in the last 2 months. Just what I needed. LOL

My right eye is also fuzzy. Eye doc said it's just a dry lense so eye drops should work for me. I don't like eye drops so I just deal with it.

 

[Knight.54]

It’s a bad feeling.

I’m keeping a little powder dry…. But I’m burning some every chance I get.

….getting old sucks.

 

[OntarioHunter]

Sorry I didn't see this earlier (pun intended). A couple of questions for David. First, how old are you? Second, try looking over your glasses to sight the gun. That's what I have to do to see the bead on my Springfield's iron sights. For me it's an old age thing (I'm seventy). Most can expect progressive sight deterioration by late forties on. This is due to thickening of the lens, a natural side effect of getting old. Have you noticed any change in reading ability? That would indicate an aging issue or possibly diabetes. And finally, did you try sighting your gun with the other eye? If you can see the sight fine with that eye, I would suspect cataract over aging or diabetes. No worries. Cataract removal is day surgery that is done while awake and essentially painless. The good news is the new lens can have correction so you may eventually be able to get rid of your glasses. You made the right choice seeing an ophthalmologist. Costs more but they are often better equipped to diagnose. Though not always the case. Some optometrists are quite sophisticated. My HS hunting buddy and college roommate is an optometrist (now retired) and shortly after he started his practice he correctly diagnosed a pituitary tumor in a young girl. Probably saved her life. The surgeons in Seattle were so impressed they invited him to be there when they operated.