Eye See You

Thursday, December 8, 2011: Went to bed last night with a sore left eyeball (I know, I know, I try to give every body part a piece of the action). My eyes were dry and itchy all day and it only got worse as the night progressed. Of course, part of the problem was my old contact lens. Hmm, how long have I had that one in? If I can't remember, it's way past its expiration date. When I took it out last night, there was a tiny tear in the contact. That could have been the problem. But this morning, I felt like I had a hair or some other debris (might as well use that word here, as I've been using it all week to describe the litter of fallen trees in our fair city) in my eye. Couldn't even imagine putting a contact back in, even a brand-new one (which I will do, I promise), so I put on my glasses for the day. About 10:00 AM, I called the eye doc and made an appointment to see if it was infected and if I needed drops. Of course, 20 minutes later, the eye felt better. But, I kept the appointment, just in case.

While Janessa waited in the car, listening to the radio, I had the quickest eye doctor appointment in the history of my 40-years of eye doctors. Good news - the cornea was not scratched (which I thought it would be). Also, no infection, as far as the doc could tell. Bad news - left eyeball was very dry and there were "dead skin cells" on the cornea. What?? Eeek! Doc thought it was from the old contact lens, plus irritation from the dry furnace-blasting air that is the norm everywhere I go, due to our cold temps lately. He also attributed it to "aging", though he wasn't worried enough to prescribe anything yet. He gave me a couple of antibiotic drops right there in the office and sent me home with a bottle of artificial tears, which will help keep it lubricated. More good news - he says I should be okay to wear my NEW contact tomorrow. Good. Wearing my glasses 24/7 makes me feel like I'm in disguise...