I am proud to say the eye is doing much better. Will continue the antibiotics like the Doc told me and glare from the sun is still bothering me if I don't have my shades on when I go outside but, I can see light at the end of the tunnel! Pun intended!!
I worked constrution since I was about 14yrs of age and have had steel in my eyes several times. Back when I started no one was worring about eye protection or hearing protection. Believe they are both precious and when gone they are gone. I wish I coud say I heard that but unfortunatelly I don't hear a lot of things anymore!!! When I hunt I have to depend on my eyes more so than my ears!
Anyway back to where I was going with this. About six years ago I had a bad incident welding. You see I do some welding fabrication in my shop. I needed to finish the project that day, so was pushing it!! I finished a weld and instead of waiting for it too cool as I should have I grabbed a chipping hammer to expose one end of the weld from the flux and allow me to start the next weld that tied into that one. I did not remove the hood and don safety glasses, I went on like a wild man.
I hit the weld with the chipping hammer and a piece of flux about a 1/4" to 3/8" came flying at my eye. The hood which I had lifted when I ended the first weld, would do nothing to protect me. This was kind of like I was seeing it in slow motion, as the piece came at my eye, I see it, and I managed to get the eye shut. It burned like fire and I brushed at the closed eye with my welding glove. Now my eye is on fire and the other is watering and I can barely see and can't seem to open the eye the hot flux hit.
I made my way to the back door and hollered at my daughter who was home, "I need help"! When she got to the door she guided me to the bathroom and I went to wash out my face. In the mirror I could see why I could not open the other eye.
I had managed to get the eye shut, the hot flux hit the upper lid and and melted the skin to the bottom eyelid. It had literally welded my eye shut.
By this time my daughter had gotten enough info out of me to understand what was happening and she is begging me to go to the ER. For about two seconds I thought about it and the thought of sitting for 2 hrs. in the ER the way this eye was hurting for them to do what I myself could do, errr No. I reached and yanked the upper lid up. No damage to the eye itself, thank you Lord!! I cleaned it all up and put some antibiotic suave on the eyelid and went back to work. It all healed well, except my eye lid had no lashes where the hot flux hit it!!!
Since then I have vowed no more in shop without hearing protection and thru trial and error have found a pair of ear muff type hearing protection that I wear when in the shop as well as putting safety glasses at each workstation in the shop. Now I have got to come up with something that fits over my glasses or as Ed said a safety glass with the reader already in them.
Thanks to all who have participated in this thread, and I will leave you with this thought on shop safety! Even though I had glasses on the grit and steel got by them. So make sure the safety glasses fit, can't slid down and you are comfortable in them!
Safety protection has to be readily available, and it must work for you, or you won't use it!!! Don't go in the shop without using it!! You may not be lucky and the first time, may be the last time you procrastinate and, blunder on without safety equipment!!
