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A Health Update from me [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2025-03-13

Hello everyone this is NickWI1983. Sone of you may have noticed that I had not been on awhile, and theres a very good reason for it. Put simply , the last six months have been, collectively, the most trying period of my like. To start off, during a regular health checkup in October, a nurse detected a previous;y undetected and undiagnosed heart murmur, further testing revealed it was severe and needed surgert to repair, they also found that one of my heart valves was leaking

On November 11th I unnderwent heart surgeru, which went extremely well, not ony did they comletely eliminate the murmur, they also eliminated the ;eakage, . i recovered quickly, and was able to return home after just three days in the hospital. if you had told me then, that that surgery would be the easy part, I would have you crazy to your face. On December 16thg I had a previously scheduled eye surgery to replace a gel put in back in April. The doctor out in a gas bubble hat would dissipate after two weeks. The surgery went wel, and as the new year approached, my vision was recovering to where it had been previously. On New Years eve I started showing symptoms of eye problems, my eye watered heavily and I was uncomfortable for several hours. but things got worse.

On January 3rd I woke up and foound my vision was gone, nearly completely. We went to everal doctors to try and find out what was wrong, we initially thought it was my lens which had become a very large cataract. I had surgery to remove and replace the lens on February 3rd, we hoped my cision would return. Sadly when the eye patch was removed the next day, my vision had barely improved at all, and while I did recover some vision over the following weeks, it was nothing like the vision I had jad s recently as January 2nd.

Fibally in late February, the eye doctor who had performed the lens surgery discovered what had causd my vision loss, and it was the worst thing that can happen to a prson’s eye- damage to the optic nrve that connects the eye to the brain. Why is that? because unlike just about very other nrve in the body, the optic nerve does not heal when damafed, the damage is permanent and irreversible, there are no drugs, treatments or surgeries current;y that can repair it. I had lost 90 to 95 percent of my vision, permanent;y. To say the news was devastatring would be like saying Donald Trump is an idiot, a gigantic understatement in both cases

My folks and I later learned what most likely caused a low dangle closure glucoma event, a fancy way of aying that high eye pressure, combined with other factors, such as the repeared surgeries on my eye, and possibly the cataract as well, and combined to in essence, blow up my optic nerve. While treatible if caught in time, the window for treartment is very small, just 1 or 2 days.

Earlier this month , I went to a UW- Milwaukee mens basketball playoff game to see what I ccould see and the results was clear and stark- I couldnt see anything from where my brother and I were seate, not the players, coaxhes or officials, nor the the scoreboard or shot clock. Everything past 5 feet was cloaked in haze akin to a smoke bank from a wildfire. It was clear to me afterwards that going out to football hockey, basketball or baseball games going forward was simply not an option. The severe reduction also has hampered my ability to be independent. ,, to do simple things like walk to the gas station by myself to get snacks or lotto tickets, or go grocert shopping by myself. Put blunt;y, its sucked,

Now my golks and I have not given up hope on someday restoring my vision through stem cell treatments to the optic nerve, the example of hockey legend Gordie Howe holds out hope. in his 80s, Jowe suffered a massive debilitating stroke inn his brain. He was able to get stem cell treatments — hey, it helps to be known globally as Mr Hocey, right?- and the results were staggering. the treatments pretty much reversed all the damage the stroke had caused, allowing Howe to walk again, granted with a cane. Now, every person is different, and stem cell treatments might not work as well for me s thet did for Howe, but if they only restore a quarter or half my previous vision, I’d gladly take it and call it a miracle

I have gradually returned to some of the online places I frequent, to inform that I have returned and the reasons for my absence. While I will probably never ve able to play sports like tennis or basketball again, I can still use the computer, and can see enough to continue to post diaries or comments here at Daily kos, which is a good thing as Kos is my political home and safe space, I ave been a memvbber hre for nearly 12 years — and lurked for many years prior. The community here is diverse accepting, deeply knowledgable, and in general is just wonderful to be a part of I’ve missed being a part of it these past weeks and months, and I’m glad to be able to return. Im going to finally complete my Expanding the National Parks series- I lef off at Virginia- as well as providing a new ebtry n my series on the history of the antiquities, which I havent updated in nearly a decade.

I’m glad to be back abd I’ll see you in the comments@

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/story/2025/3/13/2309900/-A-Health-Update-from-me

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