Loss of sight in one eye

Thought I would post an update. Doc did not give me a very good chance to regain normal vison in right eye. Said most people do not recover from such severe damage to the retina. There is a possibility the optic nerves will heal but it can take a year or longer before that happens. Time will tell.

Been working on the Sport, changing landing gear shock discs. Nose gear done, working on left main. Heater in hangar took a sh*t 2 days ago and there is no way to get to heater with the plane in the hangar. Guess I finish the gear in a cold hangar so I can pull it out to fix heater..:( My plan is to finish the gear work, do an annual. Fly with one or more CFI's and see if I feel good about flying with one eye. If I don't feel comfortable flying with one eye, sell the Sport. Sure hope that is not the case.

Headed back to work in a few weeks. 3 weeks on 3 weeks off, living in man camp when I work.. I asked will we go back to the normal schedule. Answer was hopefully by June..:(

Sure glad I have friends on the field willing to help if needed. The aviation community here is great, heck I have 737 pilots stopping by, asking if I need a hand with anything. Of course I bend over backwards to help them out as well...:rolleyes:

Stay safe, fly safe everyone. Cherish the freedom you have as a pilot.
 
AKBill said:
Thought I would post an update. Doc did not give me a very good chance to regain normal vison in right eye. Said most people do not recover from such severe damage to the retina. There is a possibility the optic nerves will heal but it can take a year or longer before that happens. Time will tell.

Been working on the Sport, changing landing gear shock discs. Nose gear done, working on left main. Heater in hangar took a sh*t 2 days ago and there is no way to get to heater with the plane in the hangar. Guess I finish the gear in a cold hangar so I can pull it out to fix heater..:( My plan is to finish the gear work, do an annual. Fly with one or more CFI's and see if I feel good about flying with one eye. If I don't feel comfortable flying with one eye, sell the Sport. Sure hope that is not the case.

Headed back to work in a few weeks. 3 weeks on 3 weeks off, living in man camp when I work.. I asked will we go back to the normal schedule. Answer was hopefully by June..:(

Sure glad I have friends on the field willing to help if needed. The aviation community here is great, heck I have 737 pilots stopping by, asking if I need a hand with anything. Of course I bend over backwards to help them out as well...:rolleyes:

Stay safe, fly safe everyone. Cherish the freedom you have as a pilot.
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Heater, you can get a small heater, Mr Heater is what I have, that will keep you warm enough while you work, they are pretty cheap and run off propane cylinders.

As far as flying with one eye, a lot of people do that, make sure you give it time I don't imagine you will feel comfortable immediately but I suspect you will get there rather quickly. Keep us updated.
 
Be patient Bill. As in a lot of medical situations the doctors are dealing with probabilities here. Make sure he tells you all the things needed to maximize your recovery, and follow those. Stay optimistic. You'll be flying the Sport again.
 
I have known a couple pilots that only had vision in one eye, one was flying 135 out in northwest Alaska.

As I said before, I knew a racer that was blind in his left eye. I was working his pit one time when he pulled in for an unexpected pit stop. As I stuck my head in the window to see what he needed, he took off.!! Lesson learned....

Keep the spirits up.!!
 
Concerning risk management -- what happens if a bug flies into the good eye?!
 
Bill, all of us are rooting for you. Stay patient, I think you will be fine regarding the possibility of adapting to vision with one eye. You probably have already adapted quite a bit, and it will only improve. If we can have 18 wheelers being driven by monocular drivers as well as airline pilots with hundreds of passengers, then you and your Sport will be fine. Try and get disability with one eye, it’s almost impossible unless one earns his living doing microsurgery. Binocular vision improves depth perception very little beyond 3 ft, and nil beyond 15 ft, thus the leniency and ease for the waivers. My advice, protect the good eye, wear good eyewear at all times when outside the home, not when just working on the job. I would spend more effort protecting my good eye than hoping for a miracle on the injured eye. Keep up the good work, Bill
 
Binocular depth perception is highly overrated!

"I was wondering why the baseball was getting bigger... then it hit me." :)

Hang in there,
When we both get un-grounded, we'll have to meet for a beer!
 
kath said:
Binocular depth perception is highly overrated!

"I was wondering why the baseball was getting bigger... then it hit me." :)
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"I stayed up all night once as I couldn't sleep for wondering where the sun went ... then it dawned on me."
 
Eldorado said:
My advice, protect the good eye, wear good eyewear at all times when outside the home, not when just working on the job. I would spend more effort protecting my good eye than hoping for a miracle on the injured eye.
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Thanks, that's what the doctor said.

kath said:
Hang in there,
When we both get un-grounded, we'll have to meet for a beer!
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Thanks Kath, meet for a beer is always fun, I like the way you think. Take care of yourself, best wishes.
 
Well accident was in October, been thru hell traveling back and forth between Juneau and Seattle averaging 1 trip a month since January. Spent Nov 2020 and Dec 2020 in Seattle 3 surgeries on eye during that time. Bad news, just got back today and was told vision in eye is not going to improve.

I can see blurry images but not detail in the vision. Guess I'm going to be blind in the right eye for the rest of my life. Mentally I have prepared for this, the doctors have always told me there is a chance you will get your vision back, but I knew that was not going to happen.

Well the next step is to finish the annual on the Sport and get instruction flying mono vision. I really would like to continue to fly but if I don't feel good about it well I'll sell the Sport.

Sad thing is I like to shoot as a hobby and am right eye dominate so I guess I need to learn to shoot left handed..... :lol::lol:

Hopefully in time my brain will adjust to the loss of vision. I'm glad I have a good CFI/ATP to help me thru these trying times..
 
Sorry to hear the news, but your brain will adjust. Monovision, given time, should be no detriment to flying, driving or flying. Protect your good eye(eye protection and UV protection) and take care of your heart so it can take care of your good eye(blood pressure, exercise, weight loss, diet, fish, low cholesterol, stress), but your brain and other organs. This setback can be used as a blessing in disguise if it leads to better overall health. All our organs depend on the one another, wish I had taken better care of my “joints” when I was younger, now realize how important they are to my heart as we get older.
 
Wow, hard news... but at least not a surprise, it sound like you were prepared psychologically for it.

Call me optimistic, but I'm guessing monocular flying will be no problem, once you decide that it will be no problem.

As for shooting... I'm fond of skeet and trap. With a shotgun, you don't really need keen vision in either eye, just point it vaguely in the direction of the flying orange thingy and hope for the best... :)
 
You know Bill, life sucks. Sorry about your eye, but sounds like you've done everything that can be done to try and fix it, sometimes things can't be fixed.

It's move on and live your life time. I get the worry about going from now forward, but rather than worrying, get moving. I'm told the brain is marvelous thing very adaptive to stuff like this, it can also get in the way if you let it. So don't let it. Flying should be a no brainer if the good eye is healthy, you might not feel comfortable at first, but you said you have a great CFI, trust him and work through it. As far as the shooting thing? Rooster Cogburn didn't have any issues with one eye, neither will you. ;)

Keep us updated.
 
AKBill said:
Sad thing is I like to shoot as a hobby and am right eye dominate so I guess I need to learn to shoot left handed..... :lol::lol:
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I'm sorry to hear the news. I do think, based on others reported experiences, that you'll be able to adapt and continue flying light sport.

I'm a long time competitive shooter/coach, and with some work, you'll be able to continue to enjoy shooting as a hobby. I'm right handed/left eye dominant, and I did spend three long years learning to shoot trap left handed, as two eyes open is preferred for the shotgun sports, and you can't really train yourself to do that if your non-dominant eye is behind the barrel. I got to be decent at it, but never as good as I was when shooting right handed with my left eye squinted or closed, so I did eventually go back to shooting righty. I had a shotgun with no significant cast, so I could use it right or left handed; if you shoot a gun with significant left or right cast, you may need a different stock to make it work.

I did a lot of competitive rifle shooting back in the day, though never left handed. Whichever eye is behind the rifle sights will function perfectly well there, so it will just be a matter of getting used to the mechanics of shooting left handed. Some guns will make it easier than others, though there are a handful of true left-handed rifles out there.

Handgun shooting might be the easiest, if you are shooting freestyle (two handed). The handgun will just naturally line up with the eye that sees best--left eye for me, even though I'm right handed. You'll hardly notice a difference. If you are shooting an event that requires one-hand-only (bullseye, police revolver, any of the international events) it will be hard to get your left eye aligned with your right hand, so you may need to learn to shoot those left handed.
 
Bill, I am really sorry to hear this. On the positive side, I have met 3 pilots flying for a living with only one eye and 2 of them were in Alaska at the time. I was also friends with a guy that raced short tracks with only one eye. He improved his driving skill by setting up cones in a parking lot and driving through them, getting faster as he felt more confident. The only problem was one time he pulled into the pits, and as I stuck my head in the window to see what the problem was, he sped off.!! He is totally blind in his left eye and didn't see me... :lol:
 
Sorry to hear it’s not improving any more for all the trouble you went through. I learned about the face down gas treatment when I had my retinal detachment which fortunately was not complete, but a small enough portion and not over the macula that they could treat it with just laser and cryo, and I avoided the face down thing, which would have been nightmarish for me with my muscle and joint pain. But I had to go back for a total of four treatments before the thing stayed nailed down and the process was terrifying, it seems like vision loss is the thing we fear the most.

But be patient, you might adjust more than you think. I had my right arm go bad for about two years from a complication of surgery and had to learn to do everything with my left hand. It was very unnatural and uncomfortable for a long time but I finally adjusted and now to this day my left hand mouse-manship is as good as my right. But it took quite a while.
 
Rushie said:
Sorry to hear it’s not improving any more for all the trouble you went through.
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Thanks...:) Wish you the best in overcoming your challenge's as well. It's been 8 months since the accident and I am working hard to keep a positive attitude. It is hard for me but I am winning the war one small step at a time. Stay safe, Bill Burgett..:)
 
kath said:
Wow, hard news... but at least not a surprise, it sound like you were prepared psychologically for it.

Call me optimistic, but I'm guessing monocular flying will be no problem, once you decide that it will be no problem.

As for shooting... I'm fond of skeet and trap. With a shotgun, you don't really need keen vision in either eye, just point it vaguely in the direction of the flying orange thingy and hope for the best... :)
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Thanks @kath Moving forward I've been back to work for a few months. It's good to back in the work force earn cash and be productive. Hope things are going well for you and Paul

Dave Theisen said:
Hang in there Bill, you got this.
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Thanks @Dave Theisen Would enjoy meeting you for a beer sometime

PaulS said:
You know Bill, life sucks. Sorry about your eye, but sounds like you've done everything that can be done to try and fix it, sometimes things can't be fixed.
It's move on and live your life time. I get the worry about going from now forward, but rather than worrying, get moving. I'm told the brain is marvelous thing very adaptive to stuff like this, it can also get in the way if you let it. So don't let it. Flying should be a no brainer if the good eye is healthy, you might not feel comfortable at first, but you said you have a great CFI, trust him and work through it. As far as the shooting thing? Rooster Cogburn didn't have any issues with one eye, neither will you. ;)
Move on is the name of the game
Keep us updated.
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Paul thanks, I agree working hard to "Move on". Should have the annual done on the Sport in 2 weeks or so. Get a "Basic Med" physical in 3 weeks or so and start flying again in 4 weeks

GaryM said:
I'm a long time competitive shooter/coach, and with some work, you'll be able to continue to enjoy shooting as a hobby.
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Thanks for your input @GaryM, I think I will start with handgun targets then move to skeet/trap...:)

Zeldman said:
Bill, I am really sorry to hear this. On the positive side, I have met 3 pilots flying for a living with only one eye and 2 of them were in Alaska at the time. I was also friends with a guy that raced short tracks with only one eye. He improved his driving skill by setting up cones in a parking lot and driving through them, getting faster as he felt more confident. The only problem was one time he pulled into the pits, and as I stuck my head in the window to see what the problem was, he sped off.!! He is totally blind in his left eye and didn't see me... :lol:
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Glad you still have your head attached, could have ended up poorly. Take care Billy, stay safe. Drop me a line if you have nothing else to do....:)
 
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Couple pf picture of my latest rebuild. 50 ton underground haul truck, max speed 21mph. 21mph underground with 4 feet clearance on each side feels like 150mph in your car. When I drive them I'm in the 4 to 8mph kind of guy..
IMG_0489.JPG IMG_0529.JPG
 
@AKBill

Sorry to hear about the eye.
I have met a pilot who had a single eye and liked to wear an eye patch to freak out the passengers. ;)
So there is hope as others have stated.

Good luck and stay positive!

Tim

Sent from my HD1907 using Tapatalk
 
I was there to meet him at Harvey Field. . . one eyed around the world. Amazing flight and story!

 
BTW, Jack Roush is a one-eyed jet pilot (famous Oshkosh crash caused it.)
 
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