The eyes have it!

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Courtesy of clipartpanda

Courtesy of clipartpanda

I am getting more like my cats every day.

I have an eye booger. The technical term is viral stye. There probably is a Latin term. It hurts like hell.

My eye started getting tender on Sunday. I was good. No makeup or anything on the eye thinking it would clear up quickly. It didn’t.

Yesterday the discomfort got to epic proportion. It’s not that I’m a weenie (well yes I am) but if your eyeball is uncomfortable there is not much you can do at least with your eyes open.

I am sensitive to light. It’s summer! There’s light everywhere.

My eyes water like the Niagara Falls. I need a life jacket or at least a nice dingy.

My nose kicked in to keep it company and all this water activity makes my throat bark.

There is no way I could get into my own doctor on such short notice. It’s always best to schedule your illnesses.

Our local hospital emergency room typically has a six-hour wait. I could have arrived by ambulance clutching my heart but I hear that doesn’t always work either.

I tried our local walk-in center. There are a lot of these springing up. Some are staffed by nurse practitioners but this was a big one. There were six doctors and a crew of all sorts of nurses and staff. I thought my chance of fast treatment was better.

My problem with doctors is that I have no patience for waiting especially when I don’t feel well. I have changed doctors when the wait routinely became unbearable.

I called in advance. The receptionist said it wasn’t busy. When I got there two people were ahead of me in the waiting room plus whatever was hidden away in those exam rooms.

Within a half hour I was in an exam room. Alrighty! Maybe I’ll be out in an hour!

NOT!

I was in the exam room an hour and a half. I considered leaving. That wouldn’t resolve my problem or the discomfort.

I could try another walk-in center and start all over with a complete medical history.

Just as I was about to exit, the nurse brought in two trays of strange instruments. She said that they have a room set up for eye injuries but they were using it for ultrasound that day. I may be re-roomed depending on what the doc said.

He came in, introduced himself and shook my hand. My eye was watering profusely right on cue.

He shined a pen light (from his pocket) in my eye and said “viral stye. I’m giving you steroid drops. If it doesn’t settle down my tomorrow noon go to your eye doctor.” If I could get into an eye doctor that quickly I would have gone there!

He also told me not to read. I had read the entire two-hour wait.

Our interaction was about 3 minutes. No apology or explanation of why I was stuck there for so long. I wondered if they missed my turn in rotation.

Oh yes, I received a prescription so I had to find a pharmacy that was open. I got there with 20 minutes to spare.

I needed anger management so I drove to Starbucks for a mocha latte. It works every time.

When I got home the beloved husband was getting ready to go find me assuming I was in the morgue.

The worst part of this experience (besides the incredible wait) was when the nurse estimated my weight 30 pounds too high. (Note to self: Trash that outfit!) That alone is worth a letter of complaint!

I’ve turned into my cats. They only get sick on weekends, holidays or when the vet is closed.

36 thoughts on “The eyes have it!”

    • Much better. What they do is encourage me NOT to come in when I’m sick. I’ve been to this walk in center before and it’s never been that bad. Something must have been going on like someone called in sick or something.

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  2. Kate … I hope your eye problems are resolved soon. At my age, I often try not to think about hearing loss or diminishing eye sight. Our family physician takes a notoriously long time to get to his patients. On the plus side, he does take a long time with you once he’s there. Three minutes? That’s terrible.

    There are two things no one in their right mind should ever try to guess: age or weight. The nurse was insensitive and unprofessional. Let the scales do the math. Feel better.

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  5. You’re too funny.

    There is no way I could get into my own doctor on such short notice. It’s always best to schedule your illnesses.

    I think the reading part might have put me over the edge…it’s bad enough your eye is draining, and the medical profession is just such a mess in general…the wait, the treatment, the ineptness…the expense…I hope those drops kicked in and you’re seeing eye to eye, as it were.

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    • I have had doctors run late before but usually the person who puts me in the room comes back to assure me that I wasn’t forgotten and if there is a plausible reason will give it. An hour and a half was over the top though.

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  6. The last stye I had I took to an eye doctor and she popped it! Yukkk. It hurt too. But it then healed with antibiotic salve almost immediately. Miserable things styes. Hope yours is gone gone gone so we don’t miss your blog posts.

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    • I went to a general practitioner and he didn’t touch it. I am not complaining though (except for the wait). The drops settled it down in 12 hours. Except for some moderate itching, it’s mostly healed. I’ve been getting more eye bumps that come and go lately. Google said I should scrub my eyelids with baby shampoo. What did we do before Google?

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  8. No reading…that’s barbaric! I hope you start to feel better over the weekend, Kate. Styes are the worst. Typically I’ll just alternate with hot and cold compresses and eventually they go away. For something so small, they are painful.

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    • Yes, I am doing hot compresses. Strangely, the doc said to use cool but all the med sites said warm. (Gotta love the internet) This all happened last night and the drops have helped a lot. I can open my eyes now and while it’s a little sore, I don’t have all the pain. It was an internal one on the underside of the bottom lid, next to the eye. Super bummer.

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      • ouch and ouch. I have had one before and remembered how generally irritating it (and I) was … glad it’s a little better today! I found the warm compresses worked better for me 🙂 MJ

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  10. Oh no! So do styes go away on their own? I was actually wondering that yesterday. Not that I have one, but my son does. Then I had to take 3 of the cats to the vet today and the vet and techs are so great, but one of the techs to kid me said, “You’re such a pain in the butt, Luanne.” Now, yes, I might be, but it was cats who are being big pains for the vet. Each one of them is such a PERSONality. And they are ALL seniors. sigh

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    • Yes, they go away on their own. Mostly they are annoying but there was something about mine, maybe the location that was really painful and sensitive to light. I have found that as Jake aged he was easier to take to the vet and for them to handle. I really hate vet runs! My cats make me feel bad.

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  12. I don’t know if an eye stye is similar to a cold sore, but I have a tried and true remedy for cold sores. It sounds ridiculous, but dangit, it works! Here’s what I do…rub something gold and smooth, like a gold ring, directly on the sore. Do it as often as you think of it. The cold sore will be gone within a day.

    Nothing makes me crankier than something wrong with my eyes, especially when I spend my whole day either reading or in front of the computer, so I feel for you.

    Oh wait, one thing DOES make me crankier than that. I just had so-called day surgery on Monday. They KEPT ME OVERNIGHT because my oxygen levels were lower than they should be. Bah! Humbug!

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  14. Oooooh, nooooo! Nothing is worse than yucky eye – I’m such a baby about that…dust, eyelash, make-up, styes…they are so please-shoot-me-terrible! Even if you don’t read, sitting around like that is awful
    Not convinced clinic are gonna help – they certainly cost twice as much as a doctor visit here…and for results like you got…..I tell the household NOBODY get sick on weekends…but nobody listens….sigh…should we just make preemptive appointments for Fri morning each week?
    Do hope you feel better quickly.

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    • So far, today is much better than yesterday. Steroids are good. Still sensitive to light though. He told me to take Claritin so I wasn’t drippy. A standing Friday appointment with the vet sounds like a good idea at least as long as I have Jake. He is well known for his Friday illnesses.

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  15. Any kind of stye is horrid…ouch! So sorry. Whatever happened to some kind assistant periodically or maybe twice, popping in to give you an update on why you’re hung out to stye…or when you might possibly have medical assistance. Aah…one is left to fume…trapped like a cat.
    I’m grateful that my husband and I have escaped long waits…so far! Hoping you get rid of your problem…more than soon! Hugs!

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    • It would have been much better with occasional updates for at least an understanding of what was happening. Left to my own devices I am convinced I miss my turn in rotation.

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  17. Poor baby!! 😞
    this happens right before your big “get-away!” Hope all is well.

    You should try our doctor. I can get an apt. the same day, if needed. Of course, she’ll probably tell you to go to “Miss Money Bags!”

    Keep my posted

    Date: Thu, 4 Sep 2014 14:24:08 +0000
    To: ehrets4@hotmail.com

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