Yes, vision is precious- I've had holes lasered and now have to have cataracts done, and I'm only 51. I must admit to being very squeamish about them cutting my eyeball.

Hope that your eyes hold out Japonica

Thanks for the kind thoughts, everyone.

Caroline: yikes...that's awful too. It's funny us "youngsters" in the typical eye surgeon waiting room, hey. I'm always the youngest person in there. They mistook me for a driver once. "Er, no, I have a 10 am appointment..."

Cheetah: I think it's fortunate you're not squeamish. I wish I could say the same. I've never even worn contacts because I didn't like things touching my eye. Kind of ironic now, isn't it? And yes, I'm hyper-vigilant these days. The barest change or flicker in my peripheral vision and I'm thinking, "Okay, is this it now?" Oh well...I guess everyone needs a hobby, hey?

The Mayans going "I told you so"

Yeah it's so funny, he put the numbing drops in my eyes and he warned me about what he would be doing. I remember seeing him hold some pointy instrument - think it was tweezer like things, cant remember, but I saw it coming right to my eye and all I felt was a slight scraping - he touched the centre of my eye prior to it and I didnt feel anything, it was just a bit of scraping when he put the punctal plugs in.

He was surprised I didnt even flinch - yet some people can barely put drops in their eyes without feeling sick. I have to give my eyes a drink at least every hour and have to roll them twice a day to see if the plugs are still in place, I can feel them but they dont hurt and he said if they fall out, he will cauterise the plugs shut permanently .

I reckon you should form your own 'Eye Club' and make it a hobby for checking eyes, I can be in it and we can make it an olympic sport.

(you just gotta laugh!)

Cutting the eyeball? Oh dear god, now I have just almost crapped myself at that thought.

When I had my eyes lasered the worst thing was that nobody warned me about the smell of my eyeball burning. (This was PRK, pre Lasik.)

Now I am going to vomit.

Yeah, when they laser the retina, it's all without any anesthesia. I recall saying to a doctor, midway through one time after he reminded me to stop squirming, "Um, have YOU ever had this procedure done? Feels like elastic bands my arse...more like my eyeball frying..."

Hey, something good's come out of 2012 already. The Dodgy Eyes Club. We should have a logo and newsletter...

With the buckle, you at least don't "see" anything because you're draped, clamped open, all that lovely stuff, but you still get to feel more than you'd ever like to, hear the instruments hitting the tray, and hear the chatter of the surgeons around you as they comment on the inner workings of your eye. I still recall the lead surgeon using the words "freakishly small eye socket"--ha, there's my epitaph for the other thread

Then they put the air bubble in and you get to watch TV for two weeks lying in one position and if you close your eyes you can be your very own lava lamp.

I do tell everyone though, as my own PSA, that they should run, not walk to the hospital, if they notice anything unusual at all with their vision. I just saw the stereotypical "flashing lights" (looked like fireworks or sunlight rippling on a lake) in my peripheral vision one Thursday afternoon and by Saturday, I was in emergency surgery while they tried to save the vision in my right eye. That's how fast things can happen.

I was completely numbed but, when they tell you not to swallow because your eyeball will move and they might get their landscaping wrong, you do tend to gulp at the thought.

(Mine was pure vanity, BTW. Not taking what you are going through at all lightly.)

Yes I have been warned that plaquenil anti malarials can cause retinal detachment which although is rare (very rare), you have to be aware of retinal toxicity and have to look out for the flashing lights etc.

I had a baseline dilation and test done prior to Plaquenil, the new guidelines are dilated once a year but I will see if I can get done twice a year.

You know when they dilated my pupils and looked inside, they saw such naughtiness that the eye specialist blushed.

I think that's wise. I was getting my retinas checked every eight months when things were stable. Now we're going for three months with the proviso to go to hospital (yada yada, I know the drill unfortunately) if things go south.

If you're taking a med that is known to cause detachment, even if it's rare, better safe than sorry.

We've had two pages of eyeballs, scalpels, lasers, and descriptions of the scent of burnt optic tissue. I think we've lost all the happy 2012 people...

Just resurrecting this thread because I start my new role in plain clothes (at CPIU) on Monday, for a few months. It's something I've been looking forward to in 2012

(I also massively enjoyed my skiing holiday in Japan back in Feb, which I was looking forward to but now already seems like a distant memory!).

Anyone else done any of the things they were looking forward to in 2012 yet?