2012 sucks

[mudman]

as the title says 2012 is definately not my favourite year.
first i find out i have prostate cancer, treated with brachytherapy.
then i went for an eye test for new glasses. optomertrist wouldn't do the test says something wrong with my eyes
go to eye hospital, i have cataracts. left eye worse than right eye.
will have left eye fixed later this month at a cost of around 2k, where is the 25 dollar deal advertised on tv:)
then i will need to get right eye done before it gets worse, more money to be found. all donations welcome folks :D
the good part of all this is i will be able to see through the view finder properly again.
driving will become a bit boring, at the moment i spend a lot of time driving with left eye closed so i can judge space and direction better, especially on bends.
so if there is a message in this missive it is if you are in the age group for cataracts, don't muck around. get your eyes checked.
cheers

[Ionica]

Can't say much except hope all goes well, and 2012 gets better.:)

[mikew09]

Yea - hope things are better heading to the end of the yr mate.

[mudman]

thank you Ionika and Mike for your replies.
i know that there are others doing it way tougher than i am. it's just i am not used to being ill or incapacitated.
cheers

[old dog]

thanks for the heads up mud man. I am heading into treacherous waters as well. Oh well...as they say.....evry day above ground is good. Hang in there and I hope things get a bit easier and clearer for you.

[Papou]

Fully agree, "Every day above ground is a good day" and do hope all goes well for you mudman. every year for the last ???? years has been a " Bugger" this neck o the woods but look forward to the next year:).
Wish ya well mate and all this seems ta come with age ey??..

[ricktas]

Hope you get to see 2013 bring much more enjoyable times mudman (and everyone else who has commented in this thread of doing it tough right now).

[WhoDo]

Yep, hope things improve Muddy. We've been nursing our son through one of the worst years of his life at only 33. He's lost a child, been declared bankrupt, lost his wife, his house and his car not to mention lost 75% access to his beautiful daughter. Frankly I don't know how he still manages a smile every now and then, but he does. I didn't add this to hijack your thread, though. I only wanted you to know that your pain with this particular "annus horribilus", as Queen once infamously referred to a bad year, is shared. A problem shared is a problem halved, or so they say. Best wishes, mate. :th3:

[leanneqld]

Sorry to hear of your troubles mudman. I really hope things get better. I just had my eyes checked and all was good-well I did have to get new glasses. Been wearing then since I was 4 yrs old. WhoDo, sorry to hear of your son's troubles too. I hope things get better for him too.

[mikew09]

thank you Ionika and Mike for your replies.
i know that there are others doing it way tougher than i am. it's just i am not used to being ill or incapacitated.
cheers

Yep, I hear you old mate. I have been blessed to be pretty fit and healthy my whole life but now at that magic age of 55 I feel hints of things not working as well as they did, run out of puff which I never did when younger etc. I lose sleep sometimes worrying about health with all that you hear.
Really hope you get back on track soon and that this is just a little bump on the road to many more active yrs.

[Bennymiata]

Best of luck Mudman.
Won't be long, and your sight will be crystal clear again.

I guess if you want the ops for $25.00, you could go to Nth Korea and wait for 20 years or so!

For some, this year has been a disaster, but we should all be thankful that we are still above ground, and that our homes have not been washed away and haven't lost too many loved ones.

As my late mother used to say, A man thought he was badly off because he had no shoes.
Until he met the man with no legs.

We should all be very thankful for the small mercies we have.
It's no good to gripe about how badly off we are, or what bad luck we have, because, it could ALWAYS be far worse.

[mudman]

thanks again to you all for your support, it is really valued.
i know that this cataract issue is not such a big deal nowadays so i'm not too worried.
when i compare it to overcoming cerebral palsy, it's not an earth shattering event.
just thought i would start this thread to maybe alert others in my age group to get themselves checked.
the sooner the detection the sooner the fix
cheers

[Kym]

It's good to see an online community support one of its own.
I can only say I hope the worst is over and things just improve from here on.
Nel and my thoughts and prayers are with you.

[Banjo]

Hey Mudman, stay positive ... 2011 was a crap year for us, wife had breast cancer, then broke her wrist, we lost one of our good horses and l had a bad year work wise:angry0: BUT all turned out OK, good friends are worth their weight in gold, this year, for us, has been good.
Stay with it mate, look to the future and stay strong.

:)

[Mark L]

Jeez, I've got an eye check up later in the week. :eek:
I'm like Mike, generally been pretty lucky health wise, though I'm getting old enough to feel some strains on the body.
Good luck with things mm. They'll either get better or worse. :D
Of course I hope they get better. :th3:

[Ian]

my thoughts and prayers to you also mudman, stay positive. :food04::) ian(aka pappa smurf:costumed70:)

[OzzieTraveller]

G'day Steve

Nice to hear from you me ole mate :)

Like you, I'm in my mid-60s and have the same sort of issues
Couple of years back I lost 50% sight in my left eye and via a half-developed cataract in the right eye, that is starting to go as well, making things like focussing & driving the motorhome a bit of an issue.

Funnily enough my total sight still seems better than others I am with each week - where I easily can see things they struggle with. Doesn't make sense to me, but ...

The important things tho are 1) ya still gotta have focus, 2) ya still gotta be able to focus & 3) ya still gotta enjoy the warmth of the sun every day ya above ground
Special Regards, Phil

[Cargo]

Hey Mudman,
Your thread title caught my eye ....I too havn't had the best couple of years and understand where your coming from ...
& even though things seem insurmountable stay positive and surround yourself with good and loving friends
The glass is always half full :)
All the best with everything
Cargo

[Norman]

Hey Mudman

I too know how you feel , just take one day at a time ,having been there i appreciate where you are coming from, as a wise man once replied to a question ''what is life all about and what is the point ?''

He answered ''It's about loving and being loved,,, there isn't anything else''

I suppose that doesn't help but hang in there mate , better days ahead i hope

cheers

[mudman]

thank you Kym, Banjo, Ian, Mark L, Phil, Cargo, and Norman.
the support from all the AP members to this thread has been amazing and humbling. thank you all
i will be ok, it will be nice to see things a bit sharper than now. too bad it will take the thrill out of driving one eyed though:D

[Wayne63]

Sorry to hear about your year so far Mudman, unfortunatley as we get older more thinggs seem to go wrong. As you mentioned it could be worse so stay positive and look to the future (with both eyes on the road)

[mudman]

thanks Wayne63 for your interest and comments.
i am driving with both eyes on the road now, it's the blur that makes things interesting :lol:
cheers

[OzzieTraveller]

Hey Steve

Is that the same blur I get when I finish off last night's red wine on my morning cereal??? :cool: :cool:

Regards, Phil

[mudman]

could be Phil, but i think your choice of breakfast ingredients and flavours leave a lot to be desired or you have a very strong stomach

[mongo]

Mongo is sure it is not 2012 that sucks as much as it is temporary ill health that sucks. Hopefully, it is a temporary period of transition back to being reasonably well again and Mongo knows it will require some tough personal effort, strength and sacrifice to achieve that. It always seems so daunting when you start thinking it's all coming at once at you. Unfortunately Mongo has been there many times. Whilst what is happening is real, there is also a lot of perception in that reality. As you work through these things, and as part of what might help you work through them, do not forget to see and enjoy the other goods things happening in 2012 around you because they will be there as they have in the past and likely will be in the future. It would be a "double suck" (if there is such a thing) if you were to go through your current challenges and miss out on the good things going on too.

very best wishes from Mongo

[Ezookiel]

I've struggled with crap eyesight since I was in my early teens (Kerataconus), so can really relate to the not being able to see through the viewfinder thing.
I'm 46 but I need new glasses so often, that I end up with regular checkups just from that alone, so hopefully they'll get it early if it happens to me.
Hope things in 2013 ... pardon the pun ... are looking up for you. You won't know yourself once they're done. Probably give you an even greater renewed love for photography if you can see better.

[kiwi]

I hope things look up soon, sounds like everything is at least diagnosed and getting sorted

[Lance B]

Sorry to hear of all your troubles, Mudman. There is nothing good about growing old. :(

Just be aware of the latest findings with regards to prostate cancer from the US and now agreed by the Australian Medical Association and that is that it is generally worse to get your prostate removed as the survival rate is no better (and possibly worse) and your quality of life is way worse. The school of thought now is, unless it is absolutaly life threatening, they should not remove the prostate. I sincerely urge you to do some research and talk to your doctors with regards this.

The other things to remember, the rule of thumb is that, at 70 years of age you have a 70% chance of having prostate cancer and at 80 years of age an 80% chance of having prostate cancer and that just about all men die with it, not of it.

[mudman]

thanks for your support Mongo, Lance, Ezookiel and Kiwi. i appreciate it.
i am sure the new lens in my left eye will make a world of difference to my vision. althouh for the price i could get a 50mm 1.4, and a decent flash unit with change. it was a toss up:lol:
Lance, the treatment i had for the prostate was the insertion of small irradiated titanium balls, they call them seeds as they are about the size of a grain of rice. it's called brachytherapy ant the seeds have a half life of 2 months. they also use this treatment on early stage breast cancer.
cheers all, and onward and upward

[Allie]

Sorry I'm late to this thread Mudman, I didn't read it until now. There is another way to view 2012 in that this is the year your "weeing and seeing" got fixed. Wishing you the best for a quick and full recovery. Both these issues are treatable when found early enough and that seems the case here:gl: and a sense of humour always helps. Thanks for thinking of others as well. :)

[mudman]

thanks for your post Alie.
i like your description for 2012, gave me a giggle (not quite enough to wet myself though) .
the big issue for me is that i give up control of my well being to strangers, just the same as getting on an aeroplane. you hope they know what they are doing.
i know the odds are on my side, but there is that risk.
cheers