The weirdest things happen to me
Tuesday afternoon I had my pre-op appointment with my foot surgeon, so I got home a little bit early and was looking forward to taking Achilles for his walk in plenty of time before American Idol started. I went upstairs to take out my contacts and change into my dog-walking clothes, but my plans were thwarted when I couldn’t get my contact lens out of my right eye. It just wouldn’t budge. I could see it in my eye. It was in the right spot and everything, but it was just stuck to my eyeball and would not come off. I tried repeatedly, until my eye was blood red, puffy, and sore. I was panicking, I admit.
I finally gave up for awhile and took Achilles for his walk half-blind, with only one contact in – I certainly wasn’t going to put the left one back in and have it get stuck, too. After our walk, I held an ice-pack on my eye for awhile to help with the swelling, and then tried again after about an hour to get the contact out – still no luck. I watched American Idol, still half-blind, and then tried one more time. No luck. I gave up and went to bed at 8:30, hoping that the contact would come loose overnight, but alas, it did not. I still couldn’t get it out in the morning, and my eye was still very red, irritated, and swollen.
I called my eye doctor to explain the situation and they asked me to come in. The tech there put some numbing drops in my eye and then managed to dig the contact out, but she really had to work at it. After she got it out, she said, “Wow, you took that like a champ! Most people are squirming around and trying to kick me while I’m doing that.” I was just happy to learn that I’m not the only person this has ever happened to. She said it happens fairly often.
My eye doctor insisted on examining me before I left and he told me that I had several “open ulcerations” on my cornea as a result of my frenzied efforts to remove the contact lens. He prescribed some drops for me and I have to go back for a re-check on Tuesday. He told me not to wear my contacts in the meantime, which is fine with me. I’m not sure I ever want to wear them again after that experience.
I finally gave up for awhile and took Achilles for his walk half-blind, with only one contact in – I certainly wasn’t going to put the left one back in and have it get stuck, too. After our walk, I held an ice-pack on my eye for awhile to help with the swelling, and then tried again after about an hour to get the contact out – still no luck. I watched American Idol, still half-blind, and then tried one more time. No luck. I gave up and went to bed at 8:30, hoping that the contact would come loose overnight, but alas, it did not. I still couldn’t get it out in the morning, and my eye was still very red, irritated, and swollen.
I called my eye doctor to explain the situation and they asked me to come in. The tech there put some numbing drops in my eye and then managed to dig the contact out, but she really had to work at it. After she got it out, she said, “Wow, you took that like a champ! Most people are squirming around and trying to kick me while I’m doing that.” I was just happy to learn that I’m not the only person this has ever happened to. She said it happens fairly often.
My eye doctor insisted on examining me before I left and he told me that I had several “open ulcerations” on my cornea as a result of my frenzied efforts to remove the contact lens. He prescribed some drops for me and I have to go back for a re-check on Tuesday. He told me not to wear my contacts in the meantime, which is fine with me. I’m not sure I ever want to wear them again after that experience.
posted by Catherine at 3:55 AM
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