Why Masks are important.
- Thread starter Dusty
- Start date
Thanks.
I would just like to add : Inspect your lens regularly. If it has any scratches that can cause your finger nail to 'stop' in them - replace the lens.
I know lenses are not cheap - but is your eyesight - or loss of it - worth it?
Yikes
Paint ball isnt cheap as we all know but jees one place i will be looking at to spend top dollar is a new mask, thats really made me wince
Paint ball isnt cheap as we all know but jees one place i will be looking at to spend top dollar is a new mask, thats really made me wince
There's is a guy on another forum called "1-I". Guess why.
He posted a medical folder of his event. It started in 1997 when he playing in some woods wearing sunglasses instead of a mask, but they fogged up so he took them off.
"Standing on the ground level i make my way to the open door, the door is open into my room and provides a source of cover. I peak throught the crack in the door but dont have sight of Tony. Peaking around the door I hear the shot and duck quickly. I have no idea where he is but he is still in the room. I peak again this time when I hear the shot I see Tony and the paintball flying at me. This is the moment I learn of a paintballs true flight path as I watch it vear up toward my head. This is the last clear image I have ever seen.
Now Ive been shot with paintballs countless times. Ive been the victim of point blank, bounce balling, hot shots, lit up, and the ever so famous intentional groin shot. All these times the feelings have been the same, sharp sting followed by a light burn and bruise like pain.
But this one time I felt nothing, I knew that I was shot in the eye, I knew that I had paint all over my face, but I felt none of it. In fact I didnt panic until I looked at my hand and saw it full of red paint. Instantly I knew it would be near impossible to tell if I was bleeding or not. Its aslo at this time that I notice not feeling my left side of my face. Did my eye explode and was I holding the juicy remains of it? Am I going to die from exteme nerve shock? Is it possible that there are tiny shell fragments near my brain? then i blinked. Talk about relief, its after I blink and convince myself that my eye is indeed in my head and that Im not going to die, this is also when I remember that Tony just shot me. Boy did I rip into him, I even made some new phrases that to this day are the most insulting and vile words that I have ever heard.
Makeing my way into the house was an interesting event, I couldnt walk a straight line, in fact I couldnt stand on my own. I got assistance into the house and too the kitchen sink where i proceed to rinse the paint out of my eye, Drew wakes my mom who is still sleeping from her midnight shift. She, of course, panics like a mother would but thankfully shes been a nurse longer than a mother.
To the hospital we go, what fun, normally a 30 minute drive we got there in 10. Tony rides with us and provides the best support and appolgy that he can muster, he's close to tears. To this day and all that I have gone through, I still have no idea what he really was feeling nor can I get him to talk about that ride. Once we arrive at the hospital I pass out.
Wakeing in an unfamilar room is never a good thing, especially when you cant open your eyes. The swelling has hit me full force and I am unable to open either of my eyes. If I was any less grogy Im certain that I would have gone into a total state of panic. Mom tells me that we are at the hospital and that they are trying to reach an eye specalist, tony is there and I think I hear crying. Again I lose consisness.
Awake, how long have I been out, what day is this, why cant I open my eyes, whats that noise. Possibly the most intense second of my life before I vomit and pass out again.
"Bob, Bob can you wake up?" I groan. "Bob we've given you an anti inflamitory can you open your eyes?" "It hurts." I respond. "Do you still have your contacts in Bob?" I honestly didnt know. "Listen Bob we have to make sure your contact is out. We have this device to remove your contact, Im going to open your eye with my hand and remove it ok" again i groan. I feel pressure somewhere on my face before I see light, intense light like when you leave the movie theater and the sun is shineing directly on your face. Then I feel the most intense pain that I have ever felt before scratching across my sensitve eye. Imagine if you can taking steel wool to all the sensitive areas of your body after you have just had your skinned burned off, that would be close to what I felt. "I didnt get anything, Ill try again" This time the pain is comparable to scrapeing your face off with a cheese greator. "Still nothing" I feel this intern, as ihe turns out to be, get ready for another pass over my overly sensitive eye. My mom "Do you even know what your doing?" his respose "Well I studied this type of proceedure some time ago" Tony "Stop it will ya, hes in enough pain, Im sure that the contact fell out when he rinsed" me "Im sure its not in my eye dont scrape it anymore." "One last pass Bob, ok" he says. This time I scream and before he gets his hand more than an inch away from my face I have grabbed his arm and pulled him ontop of me and Im told that I punch him in the ribs at this point. I dont remember because the effort again puts me out. Still not bad considering that I couldnt see and that I have no idea what this guy looks like.
to give you guys an idea what this contact removal device looks like.
l
/\
similar to a chicken claw was about what was scrapeing my eye.
Awake
In a bed, fealing warm, face is numb but in a dentist feeling way, cant open eyes but thats because they are taped shut. Groan. I start moveing and wonder whats going on, I reach for my face when i hear an unfamilar voice, "Dont, touch the bandages." Is this a nurse, am I in a new room, I feel warm, maybe a blanket, oh god how long have I been out, what day is it, where is mom or tony.
Thats when they both say my name followed with the "How do you feel" line.
"What day is it?" I ask. They tell me its still the same Sunday that I got shot, weve only been at the hospital for an hour. The doctor is here and has already looked at the injurie the best she could, too much swelling still and the hospital is not properly equipt for this type of incodent. When asked why she explains that this type of trauma isnt usually in need of treatment since the patient is usually D.O.A. or dead soon after when the nerves begin to shut down from shock, comas are usually the best a person can hope for.
Well dont I suddenly feel better about just not being able to see. The doctor explains that I have had retina bleeding and that there are most likely some surface abrasions and possible muscle damage to just my left eye. Right now my face is swollen so bad that I cant open my right eye, both eyes are bandage shut to prevent any additional tearing that may occur with trying to open one eye. They will know more on the other damages in the morning when I got the eye care facility for a full exam.
For those of you who are actually reading this, here is an example of the risks of retina bleeding. Take a full water balloon (represents the eye), now grab a syringe full of milk (represents the bleeding). Poke the balloon with the needle and force the milk in. Now if the balloon pops at any point then your eye has exploded, if it doesnt then you have milky water that doesnt have much of a chance getting clear again. Nice thought to have with you, huh.
So Im released from hospital care to go home and try to sleep.
What Im not to do to prevent further injury...
- dont sneeze, the pressure can blow the eye out
- if I have to poop dont push, the pressure can blow the eye out
- dont bend over, changes pressure and can blow the eye out
- dont lift anything more than a pound, pressure and guess what
- dont have my head lower then my body, I wonder why, could it be pressure
- dont yell, notice the pattern of reasons
- dont sleep on my left side
- dont look toward any light source
- dont touch the eye and leave the bandages on
Mom drops off tony and we head home, I sleep. We get home and I realise that somehow I have to make my way up the stairs and too my room without being able to see, mom helps but with many bad jokes about leading me into the wrong room. I have no sense of humor at this point.
Now as horrible as Tony felt for shooting me and for how much pain I was in it never dawned on me to ask my mom how she was doing. Like any caring mother she was devistated and at this time tells me what one of my Christmas gifts was going to be, a paintball face mask. I chuckle because I already knew that since I was snooping in her closet looking for my gifts. The laugh cause a sudden pressure spike, ice pick to the brain feeling.
I dont sleep well that night.
btw: that warm feeling that I mentioned earlier, well it was from the vomit that covered my chest and the urine that escaped after passing out attacking the intern.
Now at the docs office my eye bandages are removed and a full exam is conducted. Total damages, torn iris, cataract, retna bleeding damages (bleeding has stopped), a strong chance of glaucoma and pressure problems. Most of you are wondering what all this means.
Cataract - eye lense is covered whith a milky film, similar to foggy day vision.
Retna bleeding - remember the balloon thing
Glaucoma - vision killing disease
pressure problems - well this takes some explaining and Im still not sure if I understand it. Eye pressure is meassured on a scale of 1 to 35. 1 is no pressure, this is evident in dead eyes removed from cadavers, 35 the eye totally explodes. Average human eye pressure is 10 to 12. Well mine was near 24 at the time. "Whats that mean?" you ask well sinus headaches are caused by sinuses causeing pressure to your eye and is measured around 14 to 15.
Torn Iris - this is the one that bugs me the most, your iris is the muscle that relaxes and flexes to open and close your pupil. The iris is the colored area of you eye. below are too badly made eye pictures the top is a normal eye the bottem is my eye. Black circle is the pupil and the lines represent the muscle formation.
Now what does this mean for me, well the muscle cant work right being all messed up like that so my pupil cant adjust to light. Sunglasses are a necesstiy to my life because of this.
Ok damage assesment is done now time to heal. The iris is beyond repair, the cataract can be removed as well as my natural lense and the ability to focus, the bleeding will eventually clear up unless it starts bleeding again, and glaucoma hasnt started yet but can at anytime. The bright side, I should be dead or at least have a hole where an eye used to sit.
Like a vietnam vet that has just lost his legs and is told hes lucky to be alive, I am not very comforted by the news. My trip to Florida to visit my dad, who I only see one week a year if Im very lucky, cancelled. Bed rest for the next month. I can make one trip up stairs a day, since the bathroom is upstairs I guess I know what that one trip will be used for, the rest of the time a bucket will have to suffice. That whole list of dont's still aplies. In a few months surgery to remove the cataract lense can be performed if they eye is healthy enough and no glaucoma is present. Reading is a bad idea since it involves rapid eye movement to scan pages. TV is ok as long as its not too flashy to hurt my eyes.
So two weeks of winter break is shot with bed rest and daily doc visits, first two weeks of school is gone as well. Finally able to get up and move I still have to take it easy. One of the biggest adjustments for me was the sudden lack of debth perception. This is tough to imagine for all of you so to sorta simulate the experience block off one of your eyes and spend the day walking around, writing, reading, and tring to use the bathroom.
I am able to get the cataract lense removed and an artifical one is put into place, the ability to focus with both eyes is gone. For those of you still playing my little games grab some 2x binoculars or a monocluar or scope and put it up to one eye, keep the other eye open and walk around your house. You get used to that after a while but the headache stays with you.
I have named that headache, Herbert. It just seems to help to talk to it.
Reading gets really tough.
I eventually learn to keep my left eye closed and my right open that that can be difficult to do all day long. After some time my mind learns to mostly ingnore the signals sent from my left eye and religh on my right.
The spring of 1998 I get back outside to play paintball, this time all my friends have face masks and some stern rules are set.
So its Christmas eve 2005 and I have just finished reading all that I just wrote. So what have I learned and what has changed from seven years of handicapt vision and a near death experience.
First off, the headache named Herbert isnt so strong, In fact I dont notice it that much any more. The iris is of course still torn and therefor many light sources still bother me, Ive adjusted to indoor light settings well enough and I can tolorate periods of time in sunlight, still sunglasses are always near me and I dont go without them unless I must. The orginal cataract is gone but a secondary has formed over the artifical lense, this can be cleared with a laser procedure that will zap it clean, someone remind me to make that appointment. No glaucoma yet but I still got a better chance than all of you combined.
As far as learning experience goes, well warning lables are a good thing to read. Also there are leasons to be learned in everything and you damm well better learn them. My mom has forgiven herself and Tony is still trying. Ive realised that I was once the idiot that I claim to hate. The entire event is now almost a joke to us but never will totally be funny.
As far as outlaw paintball, I still play it that way. Some base rules for ever outlaw game I participate in.
1- clear marked boundries for play and between games, these areas are to be well seperated and know to all who play.
2- chronie all markers
3- break the rules and get an earfull about it from me, please note screaming isnt a problem for me and I do it well. also banishment from games with me and I will inform local fields about you and discourage your presence if necissary.
4- facemask on no matter what."
He posted a medical folder of his event. It started in 1997 when he playing in some woods wearing sunglasses instead of a mask, but they fogged up so he took them off.
"Standing on the ground level i make my way to the open door, the door is open into my room and provides a source of cover. I peak throught the crack in the door but dont have sight of Tony. Peaking around the door I hear the shot and duck quickly. I have no idea where he is but he is still in the room. I peak again this time when I hear the shot I see Tony and the paintball flying at me. This is the moment I learn of a paintballs true flight path as I watch it vear up toward my head. This is the last clear image I have ever seen.
Now Ive been shot with paintballs countless times. Ive been the victim of point blank, bounce balling, hot shots, lit up, and the ever so famous intentional groin shot. All these times the feelings have been the same, sharp sting followed by a light burn and bruise like pain.
But this one time I felt nothing, I knew that I was shot in the eye, I knew that I had paint all over my face, but I felt none of it. In fact I didnt panic until I looked at my hand and saw it full of red paint. Instantly I knew it would be near impossible to tell if I was bleeding or not. Its aslo at this time that I notice not feeling my left side of my face. Did my eye explode and was I holding the juicy remains of it? Am I going to die from exteme nerve shock? Is it possible that there are tiny shell fragments near my brain? then i blinked. Talk about relief, its after I blink and convince myself that my eye is indeed in my head and that Im not going to die, this is also when I remember that Tony just shot me. Boy did I rip into him, I even made some new phrases that to this day are the most insulting and vile words that I have ever heard.
Makeing my way into the house was an interesting event, I couldnt walk a straight line, in fact I couldnt stand on my own. I got assistance into the house and too the kitchen sink where i proceed to rinse the paint out of my eye, Drew wakes my mom who is still sleeping from her midnight shift. She, of course, panics like a mother would but thankfully shes been a nurse longer than a mother.
To the hospital we go, what fun, normally a 30 minute drive we got there in 10. Tony rides with us and provides the best support and appolgy that he can muster, he's close to tears. To this day and all that I have gone through, I still have no idea what he really was feeling nor can I get him to talk about that ride. Once we arrive at the hospital I pass out.
Wakeing in an unfamilar room is never a good thing, especially when you cant open your eyes. The swelling has hit me full force and I am unable to open either of my eyes. If I was any less grogy Im certain that I would have gone into a total state of panic. Mom tells me that we are at the hospital and that they are trying to reach an eye specalist, tony is there and I think I hear crying. Again I lose consisness.
Awake, how long have I been out, what day is this, why cant I open my eyes, whats that noise. Possibly the most intense second of my life before I vomit and pass out again.
"Bob, Bob can you wake up?" I groan. "Bob we've given you an anti inflamitory can you open your eyes?" "It hurts." I respond. "Do you still have your contacts in Bob?" I honestly didnt know. "Listen Bob we have to make sure your contact is out. We have this device to remove your contact, Im going to open your eye with my hand and remove it ok" again i groan. I feel pressure somewhere on my face before I see light, intense light like when you leave the movie theater and the sun is shineing directly on your face. Then I feel the most intense pain that I have ever felt before scratching across my sensitve eye. Imagine if you can taking steel wool to all the sensitive areas of your body after you have just had your skinned burned off, that would be close to what I felt. "I didnt get anything, Ill try again" This time the pain is comparable to scrapeing your face off with a cheese greator. "Still nothing" I feel this intern, as ihe turns out to be, get ready for another pass over my overly sensitive eye. My mom "Do you even know what your doing?" his respose "Well I studied this type of proceedure some time ago" Tony "Stop it will ya, hes in enough pain, Im sure that the contact fell out when he rinsed" me "Im sure its not in my eye dont scrape it anymore." "One last pass Bob, ok" he says. This time I scream and before he gets his hand more than an inch away from my face I have grabbed his arm and pulled him ontop of me and Im told that I punch him in the ribs at this point. I dont remember because the effort again puts me out. Still not bad considering that I couldnt see and that I have no idea what this guy looks like.
to give you guys an idea what this contact removal device looks like.
l
/\
similar to a chicken claw was about what was scrapeing my eye.
Awake
In a bed, fealing warm, face is numb but in a dentist feeling way, cant open eyes but thats because they are taped shut. Groan. I start moveing and wonder whats going on, I reach for my face when i hear an unfamilar voice, "Dont, touch the bandages." Is this a nurse, am I in a new room, I feel warm, maybe a blanket, oh god how long have I been out, what day is it, where is mom or tony.
Thats when they both say my name followed with the "How do you feel" line.
"What day is it?" I ask. They tell me its still the same Sunday that I got shot, weve only been at the hospital for an hour. The doctor is here and has already looked at the injurie the best she could, too much swelling still and the hospital is not properly equipt for this type of incodent. When asked why she explains that this type of trauma isnt usually in need of treatment since the patient is usually D.O.A. or dead soon after when the nerves begin to shut down from shock, comas are usually the best a person can hope for.
Well dont I suddenly feel better about just not being able to see. The doctor explains that I have had retina bleeding and that there are most likely some surface abrasions and possible muscle damage to just my left eye. Right now my face is swollen so bad that I cant open my right eye, both eyes are bandage shut to prevent any additional tearing that may occur with trying to open one eye. They will know more on the other damages in the morning when I got the eye care facility for a full exam.
For those of you who are actually reading this, here is an example of the risks of retina bleeding. Take a full water balloon (represents the eye), now grab a syringe full of milk (represents the bleeding). Poke the balloon with the needle and force the milk in. Now if the balloon pops at any point then your eye has exploded, if it doesnt then you have milky water that doesnt have much of a chance getting clear again. Nice thought to have with you, huh.
So Im released from hospital care to go home and try to sleep.
What Im not to do to prevent further injury...
- dont sneeze, the pressure can blow the eye out
- if I have to poop dont push, the pressure can blow the eye out
- dont bend over, changes pressure and can blow the eye out
- dont lift anything more than a pound, pressure and guess what
- dont have my head lower then my body, I wonder why, could it be pressure
- dont yell, notice the pattern of reasons
- dont sleep on my left side
- dont look toward any light source
- dont touch the eye and leave the bandages on
Mom drops off tony and we head home, I sleep. We get home and I realise that somehow I have to make my way up the stairs and too my room without being able to see, mom helps but with many bad jokes about leading me into the wrong room. I have no sense of humor at this point.
Now as horrible as Tony felt for shooting me and for how much pain I was in it never dawned on me to ask my mom how she was doing. Like any caring mother she was devistated and at this time tells me what one of my Christmas gifts was going to be, a paintball face mask. I chuckle because I already knew that since I was snooping in her closet looking for my gifts. The laugh cause a sudden pressure spike, ice pick to the brain feeling.
I dont sleep well that night.
btw: that warm feeling that I mentioned earlier, well it was from the vomit that covered my chest and the urine that escaped after passing out attacking the intern.
Now at the docs office my eye bandages are removed and a full exam is conducted. Total damages, torn iris, cataract, retna bleeding damages (bleeding has stopped), a strong chance of glaucoma and pressure problems. Most of you are wondering what all this means.
Cataract - eye lense is covered whith a milky film, similar to foggy day vision.
Retna bleeding - remember the balloon thing
Glaucoma - vision killing disease
pressure problems - well this takes some explaining and Im still not sure if I understand it. Eye pressure is meassured on a scale of 1 to 35. 1 is no pressure, this is evident in dead eyes removed from cadavers, 35 the eye totally explodes. Average human eye pressure is 10 to 12. Well mine was near 24 at the time. "Whats that mean?" you ask well sinus headaches are caused by sinuses causeing pressure to your eye and is measured around 14 to 15.
Torn Iris - this is the one that bugs me the most, your iris is the muscle that relaxes and flexes to open and close your pupil. The iris is the colored area of you eye. below are too badly made eye pictures the top is a normal eye the bottem is my eye. Black circle is the pupil and the lines represent the muscle formation.
Now what does this mean for me, well the muscle cant work right being all messed up like that so my pupil cant adjust to light. Sunglasses are a necesstiy to my life because of this.
Ok damage assesment is done now time to heal. The iris is beyond repair, the cataract can be removed as well as my natural lense and the ability to focus, the bleeding will eventually clear up unless it starts bleeding again, and glaucoma hasnt started yet but can at anytime. The bright side, I should be dead or at least have a hole where an eye used to sit.
Like a vietnam vet that has just lost his legs and is told hes lucky to be alive, I am not very comforted by the news. My trip to Florida to visit my dad, who I only see one week a year if Im very lucky, cancelled. Bed rest for the next month. I can make one trip up stairs a day, since the bathroom is upstairs I guess I know what that one trip will be used for, the rest of the time a bucket will have to suffice. That whole list of dont's still aplies. In a few months surgery to remove the cataract lense can be performed if they eye is healthy enough and no glaucoma is present. Reading is a bad idea since it involves rapid eye movement to scan pages. TV is ok as long as its not too flashy to hurt my eyes.
So two weeks of winter break is shot with bed rest and daily doc visits, first two weeks of school is gone as well. Finally able to get up and move I still have to take it easy. One of the biggest adjustments for me was the sudden lack of debth perception. This is tough to imagine for all of you so to sorta simulate the experience block off one of your eyes and spend the day walking around, writing, reading, and tring to use the bathroom.
I am able to get the cataract lense removed and an artifical one is put into place, the ability to focus with both eyes is gone. For those of you still playing my little games grab some 2x binoculars or a monocluar or scope and put it up to one eye, keep the other eye open and walk around your house. You get used to that after a while but the headache stays with you.
I have named that headache, Herbert. It just seems to help to talk to it.
Reading gets really tough.
I eventually learn to keep my left eye closed and my right open that that can be difficult to do all day long. After some time my mind learns to mostly ingnore the signals sent from my left eye and religh on my right.
The spring of 1998 I get back outside to play paintball, this time all my friends have face masks and some stern rules are set.
So its Christmas eve 2005 and I have just finished reading all that I just wrote. So what have I learned and what has changed from seven years of handicapt vision and a near death experience.
First off, the headache named Herbert isnt so strong, In fact I dont notice it that much any more. The iris is of course still torn and therefor many light sources still bother me, Ive adjusted to indoor light settings well enough and I can tolorate periods of time in sunlight, still sunglasses are always near me and I dont go without them unless I must. The orginal cataract is gone but a secondary has formed over the artifical lense, this can be cleared with a laser procedure that will zap it clean, someone remind me to make that appointment. No glaucoma yet but I still got a better chance than all of you combined.
As far as learning experience goes, well warning lables are a good thing to read. Also there are leasons to be learned in everything and you damm well better learn them. My mom has forgiven herself and Tony is still trying. Ive realised that I was once the idiot that I claim to hate. The entire event is now almost a joke to us but never will totally be funny.
As far as outlaw paintball, I still play it that way. Some base rules for ever outlaw game I participate in.
1- clear marked boundries for play and between games, these areas are to be well seperated and know to all who play.
2- chronie all markers
3- break the rules and get an earfull about it from me, please note screaming isnt a problem for me and I do it well. also banishment from games with me and I will inform local fields about you and discourage your presence if necissary.
4- facemask on no matter what."
