Hello fellow sherdogers,
I've been struggling living life without bjj and just wanted to get your opinion on the matter. I had to stop bjj about a year and a half ago at the advice of my doctor at Doheny Eye Institute. I have retinoschisis, which is a retina disease where the layers of the retina just start separating and the doctors don't really know why that it. This caused a detached retina at the age of 16. I had the procedure to save the eye that had the detached retina, but had crappy insurance, so my local opthamologist helped me monitor my eye. He lasered my other eye when the retina started to detached. I have regular vision in one eye and only have peripheral in another.
Fast forward ten years. I start bjj and fell in love with it. If I wasn't training, I was reading, watching or thinking about bjj. It was a beautiful outlet for me. On top of the daily stress of life like work, relationships, I also have two schizoaffective siblings that I help manage their treatment and lives. I'm their support and a lot of stress come from it. I suffer from depression and went to therapy, but found that bjj was really good at relaxing me and made me feel alive. I'm in a better place in life and have a decent job, but haven't gone back to Doheny to check out my eyes, which I really should because my insurance covers it.
So I've been training for 3 years without too any major injuries. Mostly just sprains, bruises and cuts. No eye injuries what so ever. So I go to Doheny and when I told my doctor I did bjj, she told me I have to quit. She said she has had clients that were boxers, mma guys and even bjj guys. She told them to stop and they didn't and a good number of them lost their eye...some even both. She knows bjj isn't striking and there isn't any study that says that getting choked or smashed with forearms in your face and eyes would cause the retina to detached, but she believes that it isn't good for the retina because of all that pressure from chokes or getting your face smashed in various positions or chokes. She stated that there is still a lot to be learned about my disease that she doesn't think I should risk it because I only have one eye I can see out of and should protect it.
I tried to reason with her and talked about a helmet or head gear with a face guard. She said that would only protect against some of it. Helmets move around and and my eyes could still be smashed. She also said that it didn't address the issue of chokes. I told my family and friends and they all thought I should quit, but they don't understand how much I love bjj, but I did. I just started training at Shawn Williams and it was awesome. It was my dream academy. It was so technical and the people were friendly and if they went as hard as you went, which is perfect for me.
So, I wanted to be responsible and not make people worry and also watch out for my eye. I don't want to be disable you know, but its been very difficult. I still feel like there is a giant void in my life. I haven't been able to detach myself from bjj. I lurk the forums every day and such. I feel like an addict that is going through withdrawal, but its been a year and a half and its still just as difficult. I was trying to find something else to replace it, but nothing seems to be able to.
Its funny how when you think of it, its just guys rolling around the floor, but people are so passionate about it, feeling often get hurt and there is a lot of bjj drama all around. But I can totally understand why people love it. I loved it because unlike anything else in life, I totally felt like I had control. Even if I was rolling against somebody better, I felt like I had control because I could get better. It was also a very meditative experience for me.
So, I guess, my question to you is, do you think I should train? I think I already know the answer, but I just wanted to hear from other people that don't know me. And yes, I know I could get a second opinion, and I have and its essentially the same thing. There is no evidence that bjj would be of any more danger to me than the average person. They don't recommend anybody get choked out or have they eyes smashed, but there is still a lot to be learned about my disease and its better to be safe than sorry, but its my eyes and its up to me to make that decision. Thanks for reading and thanks to those that answer. Peace.
I've been struggling living life without bjj and just wanted to get your opinion on the matter. I had to stop bjj about a year and a half ago at the advice of my doctor at Doheny Eye Institute. I have retinoschisis, which is a retina disease where the layers of the retina just start separating and the doctors don't really know why that it. This caused a detached retina at the age of 16. I had the procedure to save the eye that had the detached retina, but had crappy insurance, so my local opthamologist helped me monitor my eye. He lasered my other eye when the retina started to detached. I have regular vision in one eye and only have peripheral in another.
Fast forward ten years. I start bjj and fell in love with it. If I wasn't training, I was reading, watching or thinking about bjj. It was a beautiful outlet for me. On top of the daily stress of life like work, relationships, I also have two schizoaffective siblings that I help manage their treatment and lives. I'm their support and a lot of stress come from it. I suffer from depression and went to therapy, but found that bjj was really good at relaxing me and made me feel alive. I'm in a better place in life and have a decent job, but haven't gone back to Doheny to check out my eyes, which I really should because my insurance covers it.
So I've been training for 3 years without too any major injuries. Mostly just sprains, bruises and cuts. No eye injuries what so ever. So I go to Doheny and when I told my doctor I did bjj, she told me I have to quit. She said she has had clients that were boxers, mma guys and even bjj guys. She told them to stop and they didn't and a good number of them lost their eye...some even both. She knows bjj isn't striking and there isn't any study that says that getting choked or smashed with forearms in your face and eyes would cause the retina to detached, but she believes that it isn't good for the retina because of all that pressure from chokes or getting your face smashed in various positions or chokes. She stated that there is still a lot to be learned about my disease that she doesn't think I should risk it because I only have one eye I can see out of and should protect it.
I tried to reason with her and talked about a helmet or head gear with a face guard. She said that would only protect against some of it. Helmets move around and and my eyes could still be smashed. She also said that it didn't address the issue of chokes. I told my family and friends and they all thought I should quit, but they don't understand how much I love bjj, but I did. I just started training at Shawn Williams and it was awesome. It was my dream academy. It was so technical and the people were friendly and if they went as hard as you went, which is perfect for me.
So, I wanted to be responsible and not make people worry and also watch out for my eye. I don't want to be disable you know, but its been very difficult. I still feel like there is a giant void in my life. I haven't been able to detach myself from bjj. I lurk the forums every day and such. I feel like an addict that is going through withdrawal, but its been a year and a half and its still just as difficult. I was trying to find something else to replace it, but nothing seems to be able to.
Its funny how when you think of it, its just guys rolling around the floor, but people are so passionate about it, feeling often get hurt and there is a lot of bjj drama all around. But I can totally understand why people love it. I loved it because unlike anything else in life, I totally felt like I had control. Even if I was rolling against somebody better, I felt like I had control because I could get better. It was also a very meditative experience for me.
So, I guess, my question to you is, do you think I should train? I think I already know the answer, but I just wanted to hear from other people that don't know me. And yes, I know I could get a second opinion, and I have and its essentially the same thing. There is no evidence that bjj would be of any more danger to me than the average person. They don't recommend anybody get choked out or have they eyes smashed, but there is still a lot to be learned about my disease and its better to be safe than sorry, but its my eyes and its up to me to make that decision. Thanks for reading and thanks to those that answer. Peace.
