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First Hunt Since Surgery

Compass

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Joined
Dec 12, 2009
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Location
Southern California
On Tuesday I hunted a fresh-water lake- the first time I have detected since surgery to remove a benign tumor from my left hearing nerve. The tumor is gone but so is my hearing on that side so I really didn't know what to expect. As it turned out, my hearing loss was not really a big factor. The real challenges were the higher than normal lake water level, problems with my Excal 2 "squealing" from time to time, and a persistent dust storm that started blowing in the afternoon (I have to be careful with my left eye).
As any water hunter knows, detecting and retrieving targets in knee to chest deep water is pretty physically demanding, especially when rocks and clay are involved. Although I didn't find any silver or gold this hunt I was pretty happy that I was able to prove to myself that I can still enjoy this great hobby of ours.
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I still have a little facial paralysis (temporary) that requires frequent use of eye drops so prolonged beach hunting may be difficult in any kind of breeze. Still, I think I will be ready for the winter storms and their accompanying swells that uncover many of the targets on the beaches. I can't wait to see gold in the scoop again! GL&HH! :yes:
 
Hey George. Glad you are feeing better my friend. I am taking a vacation day tomorrow for a late afternoon hunt. Hope to see you at the beach soon. Take care.
 
Really awesome!!!

Glad to hear your biggest challenges were the same as any day for anyone...

You are straight back on it, great news..

Now looking forward to seeing the sub soon...

<°)))>{
 
Good to see your on the return, and that's a lot of digging!!
 
Glad you are still able to enjoy this great hobby. Wishing you a speedy recovery and many more finds in the future!
 
Sounds like you are well on the road to recovery, glad to hear it! My husband had a surgery on his ear years ago and his facial paralysis didn't last very long, maybe a couple of weeks. Hope yours goes away soon also!
 
The tumor is gone but so is my hearing on that side
Glad you are back in the game! You know the Aquapulse has a bone phone which vibrates instead of making an audible tone. I wonder if OBN has any info on modifying a set of phones where one speaker is replaced with a vibrating module? I'll tag him below and see what he says.


please see my question above
 
Looks like a good hunt. Get well soon and make sure to get rest.:grin:
Thanks Beyonder123, Actually, I'm way past the point of getting rest and have been pushing myself to get in shape again. I've been walking 3-5 miles/day and now that I can detect, pain free, I'd like to make those 3-5 miles hunting on the sand. :roll:

Hey George. Glad you are feeing better my friend. I am taking a vacation day tomorrow for a late afternoon hunt. Hope to see you at the beach soon. Take care.
Thanks Buddy, Good luck on Friday! I was looking at the tide and surf reports and may give it a try on Saturday. I hope Mr. Starfish gets to wear some yellow metal soon! :yes:

Glad you got out! You got a lot of targets too!
Thanks GS, Yes, once I got going it was almost like business as usual- like being on "automatic pilot". I am usually surprised at how many targets I scoop up even when I don't think I am doing that well. :yes:

Really awesome!!!

Glad to hear your biggest challenges were the same as any day for anyone...

You are straight back on it, great news..

Now looking forward to seeing the sub soon...

<°)))>{
"Glad to hear your biggest challenges were the same as any day for anyone..."
Well said Ice! Yes, the one-sided hearing is definitely manageable but I will be looking into upgrading my headphones as I now want to maximize my remaining hearing ability. :yes:

Good to see your on the return, and that's a lot of digging!!
Thanks OBN, I always find a lot of targets at this particular site and that is why I decided to test my ability to detect there. Next test will be with a PI on the wet sand. :yes:

Great to see you back at George :yes: Hope you make a full recovery brother :yes:
Thanks G, Yes, I am very encouraged with my progress. Just knowing that I will be finding more treasure in the future is a great feeling! :yes:

Glad you are still able to enjoy this great hobby. Wishing you a speedy recovery and many more finds in the future!
Thanks Rigoler, My very first target after the surgery was a pull-tab. Never thought I'd be happy to find a pull-tab but I was! :lol:
 
Sounds like you are well on the road to recovery, glad to hear it! My husband had a surgery on his ear years ago and his facial paralysis didn't last very long, maybe a couple of weeks. Hope yours goes away soon also!
Thank you BBsGal! My doctors seem to think so and I believe that it is already improving a bit. It really isn't as bad as I thought it would be- if it wasn't for the impact it is having on my vision I wouldn't even give it much thought. :yes:

Glad you are back in the game! You know the Aquapulse has a bone phone which vibrates instead of making an audible tone. I wonder if OBN has any info on modifying a set of phones where one speaker is replaced with a vibrating module? I'll tag him below and see what he says.



please see my question above
Thanks DaviDs, I've already looked into the Aquapulse and I am very interested in the vibration technology. The impression I got was that the Aquapulse was designed for working in deeper salt-water and because of this it may not be sensitive to smaller gold at shallower depths or on the wet sand. Maybe someone can verify this?
As you mentioned, I think the best solution may be some combination of both an audio signal AND a vibration signal. Bone phones or other vibration signals may be of interest to other hunters as well- not just hearing impaired ones. Sometimes it gets so windy that hearing with headphones alone can be very challenging. Also, for you night hunters, hunting in the dark can be a bit unnerving when you can't see and can't hear things around you. Vibration devices would allow you to detect while being able to hear what's going on around you. :yes:

glad your doing better and back on the hunt. Keep at it
Thanks Tpmetal, It's good to be back at it! :D
 
That would be interesting, I'm always keeping my head on a swivel at night because I can't hear as well enough sound pumping in one ear.
 
Awesome !!! Glad to hear you're getting back into the swing of it and your health is getting better. The next time you wanna hit up that lake hit me up, we can get back in shape together.... I could drop a few pounds for the winter gold harvest.
 
George

Great news, even i have to deal with disabilities , the good thing is you still have one good ear, the 2nd is the nasty is gone and- your back hunting, life goes on bro., it's a good thing, happy to see you swinging once again, Earl :clapping::cheer::excited::thumbsup:
 
Bone phone is like I posted the other day..just a piezo buzzer inside of a water proof enclosure. It slips under the hood so you can either hear or feel the vibrations. A couple I have worked with, one was for a fisher IP
 

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Awesome !!! Glad to hear you're getting back into the swing of it and your health is getting better. The next time you wanna hit up that lake hit me up, we can get back in shape together.... I could drop a few pounds for the winter gold harvest.
Thanks LT, I used to hunt the freshwater 90% of the time and the beach 10%. In the last 5 years it's probably just the opposite and the quality of my finds has improved during that time. I know it's slow right now but things should improve over the next couple of months. :yes:

Glad to hear you are back at it man, congrats on getting out!
Thanks Z, Here's to a productive season for both of us! :yes:

Great news, even i have to deal with disabilities , the good thing is you still have one good ear, the 2nd is the nasty is gone and- your back hunting, life goes on bro., it's a good thing, happy to see you swinging once again, Earl :clapping::cheer::excited::thumbsup:
Thanks Earl, I couldn't agree more. Like I've said before, what I have gone through is nothing compared what others have to deal with. I am thankful for where I am at in my recovery. :yes:

Bone phone is like I posted the other day..just a piezo buzzer inside of a water proof enclosure. It slips under the hood so you can either hear or feel the vibrations. A couple I have worked with, one was for a fisher IP
Thanks again OBN, I did see your posts on this and I believe you also posted about the SurfFones. Mal has not responded to my e-mail yet but better quality headphones are also something I am interested in. :yes:
 
Joyce and I are happy for the you.bummer the loss of hearing on one side. When she can't tell where a sound is coming from, she spins in a circle. We've learned to laugh about that and some of her other unique problems. Again, welcome back.
 
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