Well...crap
 

Pretty down in the dumps now...just back from the opthalmologist...got the news that because of the macular degeneration, my eyesight is as good as it's going to get. Yeah, I'm legally cleared to drive..but can't really read a street sign until I'm about 3 car lengths from it. That's with my new glasses prescription in place. So, evidently legal driving vision is a pretty low standard these days. I no longer feel safe driving. But hell, nowhere I want to go since crappy vision means my pool playing days are over too.

Find myself thinking of putting my case full of cues in the trunk of an old, slow, and obsolete Bullitt Mustang and...driving it off a cliff!

Worry not, I won't do that...but sure feel that down right now. I mean, why the hell did I put up with the eye surgeries, all the crap associated with it? All a waste of time since I ended up with piss poor vision anyway. I dunno which dwarf I am, but I'm definitely NOT Happy. 😢

Paul, I know that’s gotta be tough news to hear. Perhaps you might want to get a second opinion. It really is amazing the advances they are making in regards to your eyes.

Sorry man that sucks but now is the time to double down on resilience. I have an unreasonably defiant attitude towards life or I'd never have been able to live with spinal cord damage.

I can't say I know anything about approaching blindness but I do know about finding ways around obstacles.

"stop tryin' start dyin'.

Sorry to hear this Paul.... Agree with Rot, talk to someone else to get another opinion.

Sorry to hear it Paul, I feel you, had my eyes checked the other day after not going for 5 years. One eye cornea is warped so much it can't be fixed and it turns out I'm only seeing in my other eye.

We just don't appreciate things...until they're gone. Shaun, take good care of what's left!

I'm sitting here trying to be thankful for all the good trips around the sun I was given. It's been a pretty good run, overall. Like the Jimmy Buffett song line..."some of it magic, some of it tragic".

Yep...that's life.

I couldn't have said it better. My sister who's 70 just had Implantable Contact Lenses put in her eyes. She's 20/40 now and her ophthalmologist says it just gets better while the tissue heals. She's over the moon with her new vision.

Maybe for you?

(and can that cliff talk. I need you here as the occasional foil to my lib-tard antics!)

Thank you Paul, I appreciate it. Being thankful for all we have and doing what we can to make life better for others, in big ways and small, for family, friends and strangers all alike, is what life is all about.

Pro tip: it's all magic. Even the tragic stuff otherwise how would be know what isn't. Focus, no pun intended, on all the magic because that's life. And you've lived a lot of it.

That's basically what I went through...cataract surgery. New lenses in both eyes. The MD explained it well..."Your cameras are fine, but you have bad film." (AMD..Age related macular degeneration)

I have hope for you...the too weird that Portland has become might bring you around to the right side one of these days. ;)

I'm really sorry, Paul.

Paul that does suck but honestly the doctors are often wrong. They can only state what a cohort of like people will usually experience, but at the individual level no one can really know until afterwards. I know vitamins, cardiovascular improvements, leaner diets and weight loss can slow the progression down. So can prayer. I’m sure you’ve been told the same thing. You just got some tough news… it’s ok to be down about it for a few days, and then come up with a plan that maximizes your chances. Good luck buddy!

Agree with those who suggested getting a second opinion.

When I was in my late teens early 20's a local optometrist here told me my eyes would improve so one day I'd no longer need glasses.

He was wrong. To this day I have no idea why he'd say something like that.

Best to you going forward....one day at a time, my friend......

Sorry to hear. If you want, I have a buddy who is A very well regarded ophthalmologist at OHSU and knows everyone who is worth knowing in the field. PM me if you want a referral.

I can empathize. After having better than perfect vision my first 46 years I am typing this with my 3x readers. I am mostly blind up close - to my constant consternation.

Sad news but there are lots of alternate things er need to try to be happy about. I've gone through some of the same sorts of things. My eye sight is going down hill, age ralated development of cataracts, a detached retina, & now take drops nightly for elevated pressure in my eyes. These damned conditions came on pretty quickly in the past few years. I think trying to hold back these things is like the little dutch boy putting his finger in the dike to hold back the flood. Best of luck.

Paul, as long as you can drive you will be fine.

Playing pool will be fine too. Bad eyesight just means everything is in soft focus but you get used to it.

Good luck with it, but mainly relax into old age and enjoy. Things aren't quite as good as they were but they are good enough.

You can borrow my joke. I hold the menu upside down and point at it and say to the waitress "The steak and fries look pretty good to me thanks."

I'm still waiting for the acceptance stage to set in...not much else to do. Thinking I will probably be calling a guy who wants the Mustang, it's next home likely Texas. I will probably have my honorary nephew give my cues and case to another guy who almost lives at the cue ball...a guy who through problems not of his making never had much...but has always been helpful and nice to me, freely giving pointers. I sure will miss the hall.

Bill, playing pool won't be fine...when you can't see "the spot" (the area about the size of a period) on the object ball...well, the game is over. Might as well be Stevie Wonder playing...

But...for now...doing nothing. If I've learned nothing else over the decades, it's been to not make decisions when upset. So..."We'll see."

(edit) Thanks to all.

Paul, really don't have anything worth adding but know I'm thinking about ya buddy. Don't make any quick decisions about selling the car or not going to the pool hall. Let things settle in a little bit.

Get a 2nd and 3rd opinion. You don't have to do anything yet with your car or cues . Take a step back until you can think clearly . We all wish you the best and are here to support you .

Some real wisdom there. Take it a day at a time and think about what else you've been setting aside for later which might be your "now thing".

I knew the Mustang wouldn't be going to Belgium. ;)

Best
Les

So sorry to hear it Paul. I know just how you feel, and I have no wisdom to share.
Did you ever watch sand flowing through an hourglass and notice how it seems to go faster as the sand gets closer to running out? That's how life goes.