| Author | Message | ||
     Dwardo |
So, I've had a bit of a stroke. Actually it was a brain bleed near my pituitary gland but they tell me that is a form of stroke. The only things that are affected are I have severe double vision and bad vertigo and I've lost a considerable amount of hearing especially in my right ear. I have to wear an eye patch over one eye (my choice which eye) otherwise I see double, so effectively I have one eye and that is a learning process. It could be worse. Anyhow, they tell me my prognosis is excellent and that things should return to normal after the blood dissipates, which they say might take several weeks. If the vertigo passes I am sure I can drive with one eye, and obviously I'm willing to wait for things to clear up, but what if it doesn't get better? I don't want to give up riding. Anybody here have experience riding with one eye? Tips? | ||
| Rick_a |
My left eye sees only a blur. My depth perception is nil. My field of view on that side is much diminished. Your neck will have to contort like a crane, my friend. Sorry to hear of your troubles. I'm not one eyed...just half blind in one.   | ||
| Ratbuell |
I can't speak to it personally, and please don't take this the wrong way...but I have a border collie with one eye and you'd never know it. She's 100% alert, capable, and functional. I *have* had numerous bodily injuries of my own over the years and can say this - the body and mind are capable of some amazing things. Give it time (and follow doctors guidance), and I suspect you'll be able to decide on your own when it's "time" to throw a leg over again. | ||
| Court |
With Border Collie's you never know . . . they are amazing. http://www.boothbayregister.com/article/riding-blind/2009 In fact . . just when you think you've seen them at their best . . . they continue to surprise you.  | ||
| Buellmeister57 |
I lost the sight in one eye due to complications from type 1 diabetes. I actually felt more comfortable riding than driving. Take it easy, don't tailgate. Three surgeries later I have regained most of my vision. Best of luck. | ||
| H0gwash |
I built a warthog halloween mask one year out of a dirtbike helmet with its long snout. I ended up enlarging the snout which cut off part of the field of "stereo" vision which provides depth perception. Turning and not hitting the curb at the corner was challenging and a bit scary because I could not determine how close I really was to it. | ||
| Strokizator |
Your depth perception will be off - don't ride at night. If you do, don't pull out to pass anyone. Those oncoming headlights that look 1/2 mile away could be just 100 yards. Take it easy. A slow ride is better than no ride. | ||
| Ourdee |
Thread title got me laughing. I had a friend nicknamed One Eye. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Don't mess with the vertigo, that is pretty much a guaranteed crash. My guess is by the time you work through that, you will be learning how to compensate for lack of stereo vision with other ways to perceive depth. It won't be perfect, but I would think it would be good enough to ride. Just go slow and be careful and add to your margin wherever possible, a good thing to do even if you have 3 eyes. | ||
| Reindog |
I have a similar condition since birth (correctable 20/20 in my right, 20/200 in my left). I ride with the crazy SCAB (Southern California Area Buellers) and usually arrive in the back of the pack as I only go 100mph. Your brain learns to compensate but I take extra care when making any leftwards maneuver. | ||
| Figorvonbuellingham |
I had a friend who lost vision in one eye. He said after he got used to it it was no problem. The brain compensates. He rides the shit out of his bike but he did recover 70% vision in that effected eye. I wish you all the best. I watched him go through it and I can somewhat empathize. They can do some pretty good stuff now so dont give up hope. | ||
| Dwardo |
Thanks for all the encouragement and bon mots! In the last day the vertigo has decreased to the point where I want to try driving, but the vision is no better and my hearing is getting worse. I am going to try driving (cautiously because traffic around here is fierce). I am having some difficulty walking but I think that is because I am looking at the floor a bit to establish exactly where I am. In that respect I think driving will be easier. Keep 'em coming guys! | ||
| Oldfartnbuell |
Dwardo' I lost total vision in my left eye twenty five years ago in a accident. Still riding all the time with very little problems. I did install a second (spot) mirror on each side. Pretty much solved my problems. As mentioned you will have some depth perception problem. But I find that only when I am backing up and using my mirrors on my jeep. Hope you don't back up too much on your bike! Tonto | ||
| Willmrx |
My son has been blind in his right eye from about 1.5 years old, from Coats’ disease. One thing we noticed was that he would very slightly turn his head left and right before he would grab things. He is now 19 years old and can catch anything that you through his way. I have also know two Hang Glider pilots that are blind in one eye and have no problem landing their gliders, which requires incredible amount of depth perception. Give yourself some time to get use to it, and maybe start out riding a bicycle first. Best of luck on your recovery! | ||
| Tootal |
A good friend lost his eye in an accident. He's a hard core Harley shovelhead low rider biker. He rides all over the states. He had a maintenance job and had to travel. He never flew, just put a tool box trailer behind the shovelhead and rode wherever the job was. You'll get used to it I'm sure. Hope it all comes back soon though! | ||
| Zac4mac |
My mother is blind in her left eye, amblyopia, and has been driving without tickets for 60+years. My first wife got double vision after a bad M/C wreck on Mt. Palomar. I made her do 30 minutes of eye exercises every night for 7 months. One day I saw her eye move a little more than usual and within 2 weeks she could see without prisms. Exercise your eye Z | ||
| Mrlogix |
I lost my right eye in the Marines 31 years ago. Learning how to drive again was a pain in the ass. When I quit trying to out-guess what I perceived and just focused on other aspects (use the force Luke) it came natural. Same with everything else. You will be fine. Hell I've been half blind and mostly deaf (firearms instructor) most of my life now. Hearing was a bigger issue than my sight. | ||
| Glitch |
I don't have any vision problems, my eyesight is as bad as it's always been. I've ridden with a guy with one eye, I don't know how he lost it, but he rides, and I didn't have any idea he only had one eye, until he took his glasses off. I guess it would take time, but doable. The vertigo, do whatever the docs tell you, don't push it. Its amazing the plasticity of your brain has! It'll start using other parts of your brain to compensate. The docs know what they're saying, and if was going to be a bad prognosis they'd tell you. They're pretty good with telling you what to expect, and how the outlook is. I'm thinking that you'll come out of this pretty well from what I read. I had a pretty bad infection in my brain a while ago. Put so much pressure one the left side, it dislodged it, and put pressure onto the right side. By the time I woke up, I couldn't move at all. but with the help of my lovely wife Ann, and the BadWeB community, I made close to full recovery. I now have aphasia (http://www.asha.org/public/speech/disorders/Aphasi a/) at least its on the milder side. And I have seizures, thankfully I haven't had one since February, but it still keeps from riding street bikes. Be thankful for what you have, and do what the docs say. Good luck brother, and work hard to get back in the saddle, and if you can't, you can't, move forever forward, and try try try. I'd like you to keep us up to date on your situation, its a long row to hoe, I'll not lie to you. If you ever need someone to talk to my names Glitch, and I'm here to help. Loosing riding has been one of the biggest blows to my life, but I'm making it, and if I can, you can too. | ||
| 86129squids |
+1 to Joe/Ratbuell: We've got a Jack Russell/Chihuahua mix who started having seizures last year... the first one was a grand-mal, and afterward we discovered he was blind in his right eye. He'd occasionally bump into things where he'd never done that before... after a while he fully compensated for the change. Now, he's our full-time guard dog/sentinel, watching from his perch on top of the couch out of all the living room windows... he sees things long before either I or my GF can see them! And although we wish he didn't have to take phenobarbital 2X daily (still has random seizures, weeks in-between them), at least we can say we have a "One-Eyed Jack HaHa".  Best of luck to ya, and what Glitch said- keep us posted. | ||
| Dwardo |
Thanks guys, I appreciate all the input. Years ago I found out I had to go on blood thinners and I asked the board about that. Almost everyone encouraged me to ride anyway and I did, and I have never regretted it. I saw my neurologist today and he too thinks I will get better although he said he can't be certain. He wants me to see a neuro-opthamologist. As an aside, I met a much younger guy the other night and he said he had a bleed in his brain as well and it paralyzed him completely on the right side, but he is fine now. So, that was encouraging. Then I saw Leno's Garage last night and there was a pro dirt biker who broke his back and is paralyzed but he still completes on a contraption of his own design. It was very inspiring. |
