Accident at work & surgery

[natej]

Removing tile adhesive in prep for grout, a box cutter blade snapped and flung up into my eye.. it lacerated my cornea and iris, unknown if the natural lense has been affected at this stage

Got rushed in an ambulance to surgery attempting to save the vision in the right eye.. managed to suck the pupil back into the eye somehow and stiched up the cornea.. its blurry in my right eye but the surgeon said that is partially due to the stitches distorting the natural dome shape of the eye.. it is unknown at this stage what level of vision i will have but we are hoping for a good recovery..

Feeling a little miserable at the moment, ive been told that i cant even lift myself out of bed or bend over.. any pressure on the face/head cause the stiches to pop and the whole ordeal would start over again..

Here is a pic of when it just happened and the day after the surgery from the slit lamp the surgeon used to check up

Screenshot_20170908_232240.jpg

• natej
• Sep 8, 2017

Screenshot_20170908_232253.jpg

• natej
• Sep 8, 2017

 

[tropics]

Nate hope the eye heals 100%

Richie

 

[bbqwillie]

Eyes are amazingly resilient creations. I had something similar happen when I was a kid. I recovered all of my eyesight and later went on to become a military pilot and you know how picky they are about vision. Time is your friend. I hope my success at recovering is also your success.

Oh! wear safety glasses next time.

 

[shoebe]

Wow, I hope for the best and a fast recovery 

 

[daveomak]

Lucky, lucky, lucky......   buy lotto tickets....   take it easy while it heals....

 

[natej]

Cheers guys.. the safe work methods hace been updated to include wearing saftey glasses for this task

Its weekly check ups now and an estimated 8 - 12 weeks before looking at taking and stiches out, feels strange to blink, i have to keep telling myself i dont have dirt in my eye lol

 

[b-one]

Sorry to hear that. I'm legally blind in my left eye and need a cornea transplant,the eye doctor says do it if needed as my right eye is fine and the surgery is about 50/50. I have no idea what happened to my eye most likely something as a child. Best of luck with yours!

 

[timstalltaletav]

Damn man! You're lucky! As a staunch believer in the church of never wearing the right PPE*, all I can say is make sure you have safety glasses on next time!

And like Dave said... buy a few lotto tickets!

*I knicked my shin with a chainsaw cutting firewood in shorts and flip flops a few years ago*

 

[pc farmer]

WOW.    I hope you heal quick with no issues.

I have had metal, wood and hay taking out of my eyes.   Just doing normal work for me.   I need to wear safety glasses all the time apparently

 

[pit 4 brains]

I'm glad you didn't lose your sight, let alone your entire eye. I do want to thank you for posting this up. I showed it to all the troops in the hangar today, most of which I have to harp on about wearing PPE when using power tools or even looking up into the aircraft while inspecting. I find guys wearing them above their forehead and I just want to smack them with the handle of a #3 screwdriver! 

We always say "our technical data is written with blood" and for the most part it's true. 

I bid you a speedy recovery!

-Pete

 

[timstalltaletav]

I'm glad you didn't lose your sight, let alone your entire eye. I do want to thank you for posting this up. I showed it to all the troops in the hangar today, most of which I have to harp on about wearing PPE when using power tools or even looking up into the aircraft while inspecting. I find guys wearing them above their forehead and I just want to smack them with the handle of a #3 screwdriver! 
We always say "our technical data is written with blood" and for the most part it's true. 

I bid you a speedy recovery!

-Pete

When I was in college I worked in a textile plant on their maintenance crew. I saw a guy drop a screwdriver through a piece of catwalk and into a vat of bleach. This wasn't regular Clorox, this was bleach that could handle 30k pounds of fabric run through it in an 8 hour shift. The bleach splashed in his eyes. We got him to the eye wash station and flushed his eyes. Amazingly his sight was fine.

Like you said though, his safety glasses were on his forehead.

As I grow older (and I guess wiser), I find myself enjoying 10 toes and fingers, 32 teeth, and 2 eyes more and more...

BTW - thanks for your service!

 

[GaryHibbert]

That was real unlucky Nate but sounds like you were real lucky.

Make sure you pay attention to all the rules your doctor gives you. Stitches in an eye oull out very easily.

Here to a full and fast recovery.

Gary

 

[chef jimmyj]

Glad to hear it was not worse. Safety equipment is no joke! Would not be eye protection if it was never needed. Somewhat feel your pain Mate. I had a Cataract removed last week. Operation was not bad but the swelling, weird feeling like sand in my eye, itching but can't rub it and the stinging drops, 3 types 4 times a day, totally sucks....JJ

 

[natej]

Glad to hear it was not worse. Safety equipment is no joke! Would not be eye protection if it was never needed. Somewhat feel your pain Mate. I had a Cataract removed last week. Operation was not bad but the swelling, weird feeling like sand in my eye, itching but can't rub it and the stinging drops, 3 types 4 times a day, totally sucks....JJ

Oh man! Dont get me started about drops, i have 3 types, 3 times a day.. some sting, and one of them makes me super super sensitive to light so im wearing dark dark sunglasses at the moment cause the light burns

I hope you get well soon and you have a speedy recovery! It sure is no fun

The unknown quantity at the moment is if the natural lense has been cut or knicked, cataract will develop in that eye and ill be having more surgery.. im praying to God that doesnt happen

Thanks for the msgs everyone, i was extremely lucky in that when they scaned my eye there was nothing metallic showing up which is a very good thing. Its been a very sobering experience on just how important PPE is, its easy to think, oh well this time wont matter ill be fine... not the case