Don't Rub Your Eyes After Handling Zoanthids/Palythoa

last night i drove by myself for the first time! Was nice to be able to get out and just go somewhere without having to rely on someone else to take me. I only went a few blocks and I waited until the sun came down, but it was great. I was nervous but I mastered the ice cube trays and felt like i had the depth perception back. I dont trust myself to go very far, and like I said the sun still keeps me from driving to work (during the day I basically have to have my eye patch on, sunglasses on and still have to ride with my eyes closed) but was nice to get out by self.

I go back to the doctor again on Tuesday. Vision appears the same, having a little bit of nerve pain still so i think it is healing still. Today marks week 4 and I still have a long way to go, but in the same breath, have come a long way. Very frustrated, however I still continue to see progress so I try to focus on the little things every single day!

I have been fortunate that i have not experienced any serious illness in my life, but I do have to admit now, that this was the worst pain i have ever felt in my life. I am so glad that the pain is finally going away and I still thank my lucky stars that I only rubbed 1 eye because I can not imagine being totally blind!

 

Glad to hear that the progress continues, congrats on the milestone of getting out and driving.

 

Having been reading along for awhile on your experience. Makes you realize how dangerous this hobby can be sometimes. I have started using gloves when handling corals now and have been second guessing on my idea to maybe add zoas or palys.

Glad to see progress and good luck for your next appointment!

 

Please don't encourage her. She has no business driving!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's alright for her to drive to her parent's house. Roads at 20 MPH to there are fine because it's slow and there's no traffic. Lindbergh is dangerous for ANY driver that has two good eyes with proper depth-perception. There are accidents MANY times per day with people that can see. It's just designed poorly. It's 45 MPH with turns into parking lots every 15 feet and no shoulder in addition to non-timed stoplights. It's 4 lanes with a suicide lane in the center. Impatient people take stupid risks all the time to avoid having to wait a WHOLE 30 SECONDS OF THEIR LIFE!!! That's why all of the accidents happen. If she hits someone, which she will if she keeps driving on Lindbergh with her vision, a lawyer is going to not only take away everything she owns, they will take away everything she might own in the future.

 

lol...........dont worry guys, we are all good! We are going to work on me driving at little bits of time. I will not be able to just drive the way i want to I know!

My only concern is that in all reality, it is going to be a good year before they are able to get my vision back to normal........well, not normal, good. I know in all reality i will more then likely need the transplant. After transplant it can take up to a year to return to normal, and risk of rejection etc for several years. If no transplant is necessary then from what i have read it takes many months before they are able to correct the vision......and as fast as this is healing now........

 

just thought i would post this article from advancedaquarist on zoa fragging. Cant stress importance enough.

How NOT to frag zoanthids — Advanced Aquarist | Aquarist Magazine and Blog

I do think that we, as hobbiest and especially as humans, always think.........well this will not happen to me, or it will not be that bad. I knew of the risks, and I got lazy. Heck I even had conjunctivitis from what I thought was zoas a few months earlier (in the same eye even). It literally takes a few seconds longer to put on gloves, goggles etc. We have all the necessary supplies in our frag kit (which i had to get into to get the dip) however I was LAZY AND CARELESS. I thank God everyday that I didnt wipe both eyes, as I know i would have been blinded completely

 

saw doctor again today........continued improvement noted in both the defect and the inflammation. Vision is the same 20/150 (which I thought it was going to be better) however he put on some weird type of glasses (pinhole glasses) that helps to redirect the light and it was 20/100. Asked about the scarring and again, was told that we are still too early to know, what I am seeing is inflammation and until that goes down we will not know. He has told me that it will be a while before we know (i guess.......stop asking me everytime i see you!) and will be a while before we can correct the vision. Not sure how long a while is, but i am assuming months maybe? Already on day 33 s/p b-day!

eye itself is feeling better. I hate the eye drops now, and those are not going to be decreased anytime soon. They now burn and hurt the eye, but again it is the nerves that have regenerated so it is good. The pain itself of the eye in general is way down, just more of a discomfort, irritant thing. still light sensitive however i am tolerating longer periods with the patch off at home Decreasing the prednisone again to 20mg and he gave me the option to go 1 week or if i swear to report anything different, 2 weeks prior to coming back. I swore my life away that i would call him asap if anything changes, so dont have to go back for 2 weeks.

On another positive note.......I know what I am going to be for halloween......a PIRATE!!! Already have the eye patch and everything!

 

I just read the article on advancedaquarist.com. This is something that can happen to any of us, and as you mentioned, it's something we all think "can't happen to me." I'm sorry to hear this happened to you, but thank you for sharing your experience. I know that in the future, I'll be certain to stop and take a moment to wear PPE before fragging.

I hope your vision continues to improve, and hope for a complete and speedy recovery.

Chris R.

 

Good news that there is improvement no matter how slow. Keep hanging in there and improving.

 

good news on the improvement! You sound like your keeping your wits about you and sense of humor. Me, being a guy, at this point would probably be nothing more than a wall punching, cussing, beer drinking buffoon(well that part I already am) but the cussing and wall punching would be BAD, lol

stay tough, seems like its turning a corner.