Do I need to see a doctor?

[mikep]

Whoa! Just saw this one.....howz the eye now?

I've done a fair amount of PVC pipe work in the past when I worked for my uncle doing plumbing and heating and this is the first time I've heard of fumes igniting. My uncle used to smoke like a chimney all the while we were working with the stuff in dingy old basements and he (we) never gave it a second thought

.

I wonder if it was the fumes from the glue or the primer? Was there an open flame or spark nearby? How long were you working with the PVC primer and glue? Were the containers open for a long time? One thing my uncle always made me do was screw the lids back on the primer and glue immediately after we glued whatever piece we were working on. Maybe that kept accumulation of fumes to a minimum? Sorry for all the questions but I am very curious about this.

Anyway, how is the eye? Did you see a doc? If you plan on seeing one it might be a good idea to bring the primer and glue containers with you? Even better yet, the MSDS for both would be a very useful bit of info for the doc. Whatever store you purchased the glue/primer must have the MSDS for them.

 

[JohnnyO]

You're supposed to wait 24 hours for the glue to cure before you hit the BBQ igniter in the pipe.

www.spudtech.com

Seriously, I hope you're okay.

 

[SteveD2]

quote:

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Originally posted by Pablo:
Seriously.....how did the fumes ignite????

---

I was holding the pipe up to a bare light bulb hanging above my workbench, so that I could see inside the pipe to see if the fitting I just put on was seated all the way. I tripped while I was moving the pipe towards the bulb, hit the bulb, and broke it. FOOOOMP! Aimed right at my eye since I was trying to look down the pipe.

mikep - it was only the fumes left inside the pipe, apparently in the *PERFECT* ratio.

This morning it's a little better. Not red at all, not leaking anything.

Still a little blurry. I think I'll stay away from the doctor for now, unless it starts getting worse or stops getting better. Maybe I'll go look for some eye drops....

[ September 27, 2004, 03:56 PM: Message edited by: ZmOz ]

 

[Pablo]

Darwin award material warning.

(sorry)

Still blurry?

 

[SteveD2]

Yeah, still a little blurry, but not as bad as it was last night. It's kind of hard for me to tell how blurry, because my vision is normally worse in this eye anyway. (20/30 in my left eye, 20/40 in my right) Seems to be very sensitive to sunlight though...

 

[Dewlanna]

I think you really should check with a doctor.
You only have one pair of eyes.

 

[tweeker43]

quote:

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Originally posted by Dewlanna:
I think you really should check with a doctor.
You only have one pair of eyes.

---

let's not encourage him; i want to know how this turns out.

bringing in a doctor would just cut this short.

hope everything turns out ok. good thing you weren't wearing soft lenses...

 

[SteveD2]

Well...I think my sight is just about back to normal. Still feels a little weird, but it's getting better.

 

[JohnnyO]

I've had to have surgery on both eyes. No kind of fun. I'd say get checked out just to be safe.

 

[pepper32]

We only have two eyes. Get them checked, and start wearing safety glasses.

 

[SteveD2]

Well, it's been about 36 hours now and I think it's about 99% back to normal...minus a few hairs.

 

[Doug]

You sound like my father-in-law, he does things like this....funny thing, he lives in Oregon too.


For some reason, I want to hear the car cleaner story...

 

[motorguy222]

You should see a doctor.My brother had his eyes splashed with some stuff,he had to use a medication to get his eyes well.
I know this isnt the same thing but you may have caused damage that could possibly show up later and be more serious.

Better safe than sorry.

 

[Jakebrake]

Glad to hear you are O.K. Reminds me of when I was real young and dumb. I was climbing on the fence in the back yard. The fence posts were about 3 inch iron pipe and they were full of spiders...black widows to be exact. Well, I would fill the pipe full of lighter fluid from the old mans bar-b-que and then toss a match down the pipe....pooofff...no more spiders. Once the match didn't ignite the fuel, so I took a look down the pipe to see why not...pooofff. I have not forgotten that valuable lesson!

 

[SteveD2]

Well, I'd say everything is fine now except for my missing hair.

Now I keep getting stuff in that eye...never really thought about how usefull eyelashes can be!

 

[SteveD2]

I'm fine! There's no reason for me to go to the doctor. I'm not going to spend all that time and money just to have him tell me I'm ok.

 

[Pablo]

quote:

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I'm not going to spend all that time and money just to have him tell me I'm ok.

---

With me that would take a LOT of time and money!!!

 

[ekpolk]

ZmOz, I'm perplexed. You asked us to give you our "medical" opinions. The consensus has been almost unanimous that you should go see the doctor about this. And I'd weigh in with my agreement on that point, BTW. But it seems that you still have not done so??? Ummmmmm, I'm not trying to be harsh or pick on you, but why did you ask us if you're not intending to go anyway??? Please go and have a doc check to ensure that you don't have any slow moving disease process in motion as a result of this unfortunate incident. And for heaven's sake, please use eye protection next time you use anything with the potential to do chemical, thermal, or physical damage to you eyes.