Sunday was just an odd day.

It all began with a 5:00am phone call from my neighbor, but I’ll get to that in tomorrow’s post.

We had lots to do, and wanted to get to it so we stayed up and set to work.  Painting, hanging a new shelf, finishing Friday’s laundry, watering the covered beds, mucking out the goose chalet, with plans for later to go to the grocery store and stock up on provisions.

That was the plan.

Well, in the middle of mucking a breeze came up and something got into my eye.  Going into the house I couldn’t find anything, and besides it didn’t hurt anymore.  So I assumed it was out.  So, back to work!  However, later in the shower my eye started hurting again and I automatically rubbed it.

Big Mistake!!!  Isn’t there a first aid directive that states never to rub your eye when something gets in it?

Now, I am in pain and begin cupping shower water in my palm to try to wash it out.  I did this several times, but my eye is still killing me.  I quickly finished up and got dressed, then told Bob I needed to go to urgent care.   The brand new Urgent Care facility has closed its doors!  So it’s on to Huntsville Hospital.  (Suddenly, a $35.00 co-pay jumps to a $250.00 co-pay.)

The reception desk says they will get me right in to the eye clinic, and they did!  Sitting there in the darkened room I am thinking about how much we move our eyeballs.  Have you ever noticed how much your eyes move?  It is involuntary and I am trying desperately not to move my eye.  Finally a sweet nurse comes in and puts drops in my eye for the pain.  Wha-hoooooo!  the pain is instantly gone and I can see again!

She smiles, leaves the room and comes back with a little pouch of saline solution and says, “I’m going to stick this little contact thingy in your eye to irrigate it, OK honey?”

Looks like a suction cup from an octopus tentacle, doesn’t it?  Thankfully, the drops kept me from feeling this torture device.

So I’m resting my head on a towel, with my eye over the sink, and this cold solution is going in.  It doesn’t hurt, but the dribble of the solution is tickling the outside edges of my eyelid.  I want to rub my eye!  Now the solution is running into my ear and the towel when suddenly this song from the 40s pops into my head.  Laughing I told the nurse about it and she says, “Oh, you mean tears in your beer?“

“No, it’s ears not beer,”  I said,  and sang the first line…

I’ve Got Tears in My Ears  by Homer and Jethro

“I’m certain it’s beer,” she said.  Well, now we all know it’s ears.  😉

Well, now I’ve been medicated, irrigated, and my nurse goes off duty.  Two hours later the medication is wearing off, Bob is irritated, and I am getting agitated!  Finally, after sitting in the dark for two and a half hours, the Dr. comes in and flips on all the lights, pulls open my eye and puts a yellow dye stick in there.  Can you feel the burn?  She turns the lights back off and looks into my eye with a black-lighted magnifier and says,

“There’s a big scratch on your cornea, but I don’t see anything in there.”

I ask for more pain drops and she said, “You’ve had the prescribed dose for a 24 hour period and we can’t give you any more.”

I’m thinking, “WHAT?  My eye is killing me again and you can’t give me more?”    I’m angry now.   I try not to move my eye.

~.~

Last night I was looking into the magnifying mirror and trying to put the antibiotic drops in.  I see a small speck the size of this —> .    Sticking my finger into my eye to get it out, I touch it,  and it sticks to my fingertip.

Wondering what it was?

It was a soggy $250.00 piece of straw.

Image courtesy of Ten Plus Hay.  Please click the image to be taken to their site.