The cost of a piece of metal in your eye.

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Woods74

Woods74

Broke Senior
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So I need a place to vent, I've got nobody to blame accept myself. Last week I got a piece of metal flung in my eye using a dremel, the the kind that spins toward you... The one time I had my safety glasses on my forehead. Rinsed it out, didn't see anything. Flip foward to this weekend, nice little rust spot about the size of a pinhead...

Went to doctor today and got it taken out, 5 minuites with a dremel. No word on the cost of this procedure. but when I pushed, the financial secretary said it was in the ballpark of $300...

I guess I should be happy it didn't damage my eye, doc said full recovery. It's still a hard pill to swallow, especially being unemployed in the middle of my car restoration, I don't need this.


That $300 buys a lot of safety glasses folks. Wear that sh*t...


Feel free to add to this, your experiences and such. I'm sure some one else has a bigger story than mine.

I'll happily post how much it actually cost me when I get the bill.


Good times. :violent2:
 
Dang man, that sucks. At least your eye wont have permanent damage. I have had a few close calls over the years and always wear hearing protection, glasses, and gloves when using any kind of grinder.
 
Mopar367 said:
Dang man, that sucks. At least your eye wont have permanent damage. I have had a few close calls over the years and always wear hearing protection, glasses, and gloves when using any kind of grinder.
Click to expand...

I usually do too, all it takes is that one time, and your screwed. I'm going to get to work, otherwise my bad mood might magnify by the fact I had to take the day off because of it. My eye feels alright.
 
Last time I had to go to the eye doc for metal removal cost me $75. That was ten years ago though.
 
It is cheaper to have the eye doctor do it. Ask me how I know. Now I wear a face shield. Wait till you get a 1" strand of wire stuck in your face from the spinning wheel of death (wire wheel on an angle grinder).
 
Been there twice....you think I would have learned after the first time .....The second time was with a dremel and I thought about putting on my glasses before cutting but I was in a hurry and it was just a tiny like 1/4 long cut...well, what could happen in that short amount of cut? ....Wrong......Anymore I wear safety goggles all the time....they are better than glasses as pieces can't come in the edges on you either....
 
I had the exact same thing happen to me! Using a dremel to grind a rust spot on my truck. I got a steel sliver stuck in my eye. Went to the doc. He took it out. He said go to the hospital in 3 days and have it double checked to make sure he got it all. I went to the hospital and they said there was still a bit left in there and it was starting to rust. The Dr. there finished the job and gave me an eye patch to wear for a couple days. Thank god for the Canadian healthcare system paying for my stupid mistake as I'm sure it would have been pretty costly! I always wear my safety glasses now! Too bad I had to learn my lesson the hard way, but at least I didn't have any permanent damage either.
 
Also, don't forget to wear goggles when using fluids of any kind. I was using some acetone to clean a greasy part and splashed some in my eyes. I was blinded for about 5 minutes and my eyesight was blurry for a few hours.
Oh, and this is from a professional chemist who thought that a little bit of solvent wasn't going to go anywhere so I kept my goggles on my forehead.
 
The 'School of Hard Knocks' teaches tough lessons. Don't forget the eye protection next time. And when you really think about it, spending $300 is a heck of a lot better that losing some portion of your vision. Glad this turned out like it did and not any worse.

Glenn
 
Been there, done that, 3 trips 30 mile trip(one way), when all said and done. 1st time for the removal, then 2 follow ups. I don't remember the cost, but I think the duck (AFLAC)reimbursed me 100%. Worst part was my eye being so sensitive to light that I was wearing sunglasses at 5:00am on the way to work.
 
Been there before and I was wearing safety glasses. Ever have a nice hot spark of metal bounce off the corner of the glasses, roll down your face and into your eye somehow? It sucks, but it could have been way worse if those glasses weren't there.

My dad once had a defective grinding wheel explode, shoot up under a face shield, through his throat (just on the inside of the jaw) and up into his mouth :prayer: He was extremely lucky, it only left a scar and didn't hit anything serious on the way through.

I prefer to use an Air Saw anymore for cutting stuff, especially after seeing that happen to my dad. The air saw, with a hacksaw blade for metal from Lowes (I forget the brand/type) doesn't throw sparks, doesn't throw shrapnel if it breaks (they just bend over and then break softly if you happen to damage one severely) and I don't have that tingling feeling on the back of my neck if I'm stuck in a tight space cutting something. :D
 
I Have done it also. I was cutting 2 1/2" pipe, and also had a brand new face shield that was preiviously given to me for the same reason i am talking about ( metal shot into my eye before). I was cutting and couldnt see so well if i was on the line i marked. I took the shield off( kind that looks like a hard hat with plastic shield upfront), and a small piece that looked exactly like an arrow shot straight into my left eye. I was quickly blinded, but somehow found my way into the house over pipes and steps. I cried like hell lol i was scared as well. I no longer had insurance, which scared me also. I know i should have went to the hospital, but i had no job, no money. I got a very strong magnet( the kind they put in a cows mouth) and hoped it would stick. Sure enough it caught the metal and i washed my eye later.. To this day my eyesight isnt so great. I am only 19 years old. And have went through 3 eye surgeries(before that) one for one piece of metal, and 2 for my eyelid falling from loss of muscle/nerve.
 
$300 for 5 minutes, but you can get a lube and an oil change on your car for $30 and that includes 5 quarts of oil, a filter, and any other required fluids.

The obvious difference is price competition. People shop price for car repairs but not for medical procedures. Most people only pay the co-pay, no matter what the doctor charges so there is no incentive to shop for a good price.

While healthcare costs are going up 10% per year, prices on elective procedures like LASIK, dental implants and cosmetic surgery are going down.

I heard a story on NPR about a guy with catostrophic coverage who tried to price shop for all his non-emergency healthcare. He would call up doctors offices and ask how much for XYZ procedure and it was next to impossible to get the prices in advance so he could choose the cheapest doctor. In contrast, you can see prices advertised in the newspaper for elective medical procedures or car repairs.
 
$300- not terrible with today's medical costs.

The doctor actually used a dremel to remove the foriegn matter?

I had a sliver of wood in my eye a few years ago.
Felt like a telephone pole in there.
It was all I could do to keep still during the removal.

I feel your pain.
 
I cann honestly say, i do not know how much my parents have payed for my surgery(s) but i know they werent cheap. My dad has had to put in lots of money, because my insurance at the time would not cover it fully. I am supposed to get a follow up surgery done, as my doctor had told me. I do not have the money, or insurance, so i know the surgery will not be happening. My eye sight is well in the day, it gets blurry after awhile. I highly recommend wearing faceshields, goggles, masks, helmets whatever lol.. Believe me if you've never had hot steel shot into your eye's you dont know pain. Dont try and find out how much it hurts exactly either lol.. Glad your not blind, nor had any other problems man. It only takes that one mistake and it leaves a permanent scar for life. Ps i have no scar, but you can notice a tiny little dot if your very very close to my eyeball. To this day i wear everything i can, call me a gear queer if ya want, i like being safe. Glad it wasnt worse
 
Metal in the eye sucks. Been there, done that. Hope there's no permanent damage to your eye.
 
74Dusted said:
Been there before and I was wearing safety glasses. Ever have a nice hot spark of metal bounce off the corner of the glasses, roll down your face and into your eye somehow? It sucks, but it could have been way worse if those glasses weren't there.

My dad once had a defective grinding wheel explode, shoot up under a face shield, through his throat (just on the inside of the jaw) and up into his mouth :prayer: He was extremely lucky, it only left a scar and didn't hit anything serious on the way through.

I prefer to use an Air Saw anymore for cutting stuff, especially after seeing that happen to my dad. The air saw, with a hacksaw blade for metal from Lowes (I forget the brand/type) doesn't throw sparks, doesn't throw shrapnel if it breaks (they just bend over and then break softly if you happen to damage one severely) and I don't have that tingling feeling on the back of my neck if I'm stuck in a tight space cutting something. :D
Click to expand...
Yep same thing happened to me cut off wheel exploded,Went through leather gloves shattered my knuckle and broke bones,had shrapnel stuck in my arms,face and chest. was off work for 3 months, Ya can NEVER be to careful !!
Thank god i always wear my safety glasses they also took a beating.
 

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I was porting some heads once and got a piece of metal stuck in my eye. Dad took me to a first aid center and the doctor couldn't find it. Then when he was out of the room, I found it and was very difficult to hold my eye open and wait for him to return. He then said, "I don't know how I could have missed it."

He then dug it out. I had such a headache, I went home and slept all day. Was back up and around the next day. Now I always wear safety glasses when doing that kind of work.
 
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