the things that happen to me sometimes! as mentioned yesterday, i had an appointment with my ophthalmologist for my annual check-up. i went. he did the usual yellow drops and then the drops to dilate my eyes. other than a slight change in my prescription, everything was fine.

around 8:00 pm last night, my right eye started to bother me. it felt like there was something in there but no matter what i did i couldn't get "it" out or actually see anything that could be causing the irritation. about a 1/2 hour later my left eye began to feel irritated too. i mean really irritated. next thing you know i could barely open my eyes because the lights were bothering me. between the "dirt in the eyes" feeling and the light sensitivity i was miserable. i assumed somehow i was having an allergic reaction to one of the drops he used on me. i called ralph and i called the doctor's service. ralph decided to come home because he could hear how distraught i was. the doctor suggested hot compresses and then cold compresses and maybe an antihistamine. he couldn't imagine that all of a sudden i was allergic to either of the drops, but it can happen. by 11:00 pm i was ready for the emergency room.

ralph came home and we called the doctor again. i really wasn't too anxious to spend hours in an emergency room just to have them flush my eyes out. i took a 1/2 of a claritan d and laid in bed with a cold compress. the hot compresses didn't do the trick. ralph said it looked like i had 2 black eyes. anyway, i finally drifted off to sleep around 1:00 pm. i could open my right eye, but not my left. by this morning, my eyes are still irritated but certainly not to the degree they were last night.

as a result of all this i had to miss my training course today and i am headed to the eye doctor at 1:00 pm. at this point we are even thinking some sort of infection which i might have caught in his office! stay tuned...

update:

so it turns out it is conjunctivitis aka pinkeye! the doctor told me there was some "crust" (an ugly description but that is what it is) on my eyelashes yesterday but it wasn't anything like today. i didn't even notice it. he feels all the maneuvering from the eye examination yesterday caused the fierce onset i experienced last night. i had all the classic symptoms which i never ever experienced before. i had a mild case of pinkeye 10 years ago, but absolutely nothing like this. i am a nut about washing my hands too, but since it's cold and flu season it spreads more easily. he prescribed an antibiotic steroid eye drop 4 times a day for a week. meanwhile, no contacts oe make-up until i see him again next weds.

thankfully none of this nonsense has distracted me from sticking with my ck regimen. i did well yesterday and so far so good for today. i am supposed to meet some friends in the city for dinner tonight (because i was already supposed to be in the city at the training class). as long as no one touches my eyes or my hands after i touch my eyes (which i don't plan on doing) everyone is fairly safe from infection. of course i will look like a beauty queen without eye make-up and my swollen eyes, but they love me anyway so it won't matter...

that's all she wrote for today.... take care!

grace