I hate to hear that, Mike. Diabetes is a manageable disease, but can still be frustrating and tough to reign in at times, especially with crazy lives like most of us in this business have and because one of the biggest things that can effect blood sugar levels(besides food) is STRESS. I have a CGM(continuous glucose monitor) and I've watched my blood sugar levels skyrocket on shoots(and other times do nothing). My endocrinologist told me that you don't have to be consciously stressed, but just your body interpreting a situation as stressful. Even just getting ready in the mornings, something we've all done countless thousands of times or driving to go get lunch can raise levels. I know that I've seen my jump 20, 30, 50, 100+ points doing just that.
I'm a Type 1 diabetic, also known as Juvenile or Insulin Dependent, because most type 1's are usually diagnosed as children and we have to take insulin shots or be on an insulin pump 24/7, because our bodies do not make any insulin. But I'm going to presume that you are probably Type 2, often referred to as Adult On-Set Diabetes(please correct me if I'm wrong). Type 2 can be harder to control than type 1 because part of the problem is that the body has built-up a resistance to insulin and you're not making as much insulin and/or it's production is inconsistent, so maintaining a strict diet is even more important than it is for T1's(at least early on in life).
One of the things that makes Diabetes so bad is that it starts to effect blood vessels, veins and capillaries. That's why things like our eyes and kidneys are so susceptible to damage over time, especially without really tight control over blood sugar levels-keeping them reigned in and avoiding spikes.
In my opinion, our vision is our most precious sense. Having vision problems is tough for anyone, but especially so when you rely on your vision for your livelihood.
At the end of 2011 I had a small hemorrhage in my right eye. My shooting eye. At first I just thought I had looked at a bright light because I had a purple spot/blob towards the corner of my vision. But it didn't lessen or go away the way something like that normally would after a few minutes, so I called my eye doctor(I actually had started seeing a retina specialist a few years prior on the advice of my regular eye dr.). I spoke with an assistant of my specialist and made an appointment to be seen. As you already know, it turns out a blood vessel had popped and what I was seeing was a pool of blood in my eye. My specialist started a course of laser treatments to seal the tear and stimulate new vessel growth. They told me the blood would eventually(more or less) go away and as the months went on my vision was clearing up until one day in the early summer of 2012 I started seeing what can best be described as a "cobweb" ball in part of my vision. It was a remnant of the hemorrhage and actually moving around in my eye some(think floater on steroids). I was told that it probably wouldn't go completely away without surgery to clean my eye out. You can probably imagine my thoughts on that. It was actually getting so annoying and started getting in my way while shooting and I started seriously contemplating surgery to get it removed. But within a few weeks everything seemed fine again. The next few months were pretty good until September rolled around. I had about a month straight "off the road" from racing, but a good amount of NFL during that time. I got up one morning and the "cobweb" ball was back. It had come back once or twice during the summer, but was usually gone in a day or two. But this time it wasn't going away. When I first got up in the mornings it was fine, but within just a little bit, "it" was there. I tried giving it about a week or so, but it just wouldn't go away, so I started thinking it was time to call my Dr. again. I had a busy football weekend, a Sunday afternoon game, then MNF the next night, so it would have to wait a few days. While standing around at the MNF game I bent over to stretch my back and that's when I saw one of the weirdest, coolest and probably scariest things in my life(although for some reason I never lost my calm or got freaked out). As I bent over, I was experiencing and seeing first hand the James Bond "Iris/Gun Barrel/Blood" opening shot. When I stood up, the blood receded(appeared to run back up and completely clear from my vision). I immediately knew it wasn't just the "trash" floating around in my eye from earlier. This was a lot more serious. After returning home I called my specialist and set-up an appointment. It didn't take my specialist long to tell me what was going on. The vitreous gel in my eye was detached/detaching because of the damage from the hemorrhage and pulling on blood vessels. That's why I saw the blood running when I bent over. My specialist said, "I operate tomorrow, you need a Vitrectomy(removing the vitreous gel from your eye) and I will get you in". I won't lie, I was scared, but I knew it had to be done. My GF took the next day off work and I was the first operation of the day. They took very good care of me and I was at my favorite deli eating lunch within probably an hour or so after the operation. The next day was very scary because I didn't know what to expect when the bandage and patch was removed. My vision was totally insane. I had a gas bubble in my eye(part of the procedure, and it would be there for the next few weeks as it dissipated). Luckily I didn't have any air travel for the next few week, because you can't fly with a gas bubble in your eye. I had to defer a few shoots and have a few people shoot with my gear for me for a week or so(I also wasn't supposed to drive for a few weeks). After the first week I started taking easy shoots, like LS's where I could have my audio guy drive and do all the heavy lifting. Eventually(and right when I was told it would happen) my vision was back in working order and I was back on the road and fully functional again. I never had any pain, but the way I looked was a great icebreaker for people that hadn't seen me in a few weeks. As you can imagine it was a whole lot of "What the F*** happened?!". I told people I wish I had a good story like it was a bar fight and "you should see the other guy", but nope, "just eye surgery". I don't remember if Richard saw my eye, but a few guys on here(Cameradude and Crew U) did. I'll put it to you this way, my GF has been a paramedic for about 18 years and she couldn't take looking at it. It would have been perfect if it had happened a few weeks later around Halloween.
