Medical Eye Machine

Although I had only been here for 11 days, I had occasion to seek the services of Mercy Hospital's Eye Physicians and Surgeons on Friday, May 25th. This is the same hospital I mentioned in my earlier post. I mentioned that its proximity to my apartment was a major plus to this apartment.

On Thursday night, after washing my face, I noticed suddenly that my right eye looked very red. The left eye was fine. After 15 minutes, it still had not gone away. After another 15 minutes it still had not gone away. Because it didn't hurt, I decided to go to bed, and then check on it in the morning. If it were still red in the morning, then I would go to an optometrist's office just to make sure that it wasn't anything very serious. In the middle of the night, I woke up, most likely from being uncomfortably hot in the apartment. My stomach didn't great either. I went to the bathroom, and then started to notice that I felt like there was something in my eye--sort of like a contact that has a piece of dirt on it or is not sitting right on the lens. Because I was so tired, I was unable to panic, and wanted to fall asleep so that I would not start worrying about my stomach, so I went back to bed and luckily fell asleep almost immediately.

The next morning, I got up to check my eye, and it was still red, but less so, but the feeling of dirt or dust in the eye was getting worse, to the point where it was becoming something I could not stop thinking about. I thought I might have some sort of eye infection, so I decided to go to an optomitrist's office. I considered the fact that an optometrist may be able to diagnose and eye infection better than most people, but would not be able to write me a perscription for an antibiotic. I then considered going to student health, but knew that they would not have the proper equiptment to check for an abrasion, so at around 9:00 AM, I finally decided that I must see an opthamologist.

A quick search on yellowpages.com did not reveal any in the city, which were within 3 miles, and I was started to get more and more uncomfortable. I finally decided to call the hospital to see if they had an eye clinic.

I went to the web page for Mercy Hospital, which listed a link to Mercy On Call--a phone service staffed by nurses to help you figure out which kind of doctor you need to see, and give general advice. It even had an e-mail address which one could use! I called and was greeted on the other end by a real live nurse. This experience alone was very reassuring. She suggested I see an opthamologist, and then offered to connect me to the Eye Physicians and Surgeons office, and even told me that she would see if they would squeeze me in that day. She quickly patched the call through and they were able to see me within 45 minutes.

The opthamologist I saw was very calming. She started by taking a look at the eye with a medical eye machine, and said that she saw something long and stringy in my eye. I could not believe it when she told me, as I was unable to see it when I was checking my eye. Before I could object, she quickly put in numbing drops as she said, "I'm just going to put in some numbing drops" and then she took a long cotton swab and swabbed it out. Then, she showed it to me. She said she saw something else and so I had to go through it again. The second piece of debris was an eyelash.

WARNING: Next part is anatomically graphic.

She then took my top eyelid and flipped it inside out. I jumped back and it flipped back down. I was very upset. I asked her if she really needed to do that and she said yes, because she needed to see if there was anything else in the eye. So after I took a moment, and asked her how long it would take, she did it. I was weak in the knees. When she was done, she asked me if I wanted a glass of water. Of course I didn't. It was done. What would I need water for?

WARNING EXPIRES.

The, she took a look at the left eye, and said that an eyelash on the bottom had turned in. I saw her take a metal tweezer-like instrument which I thought she was going to use to move the eyelash back down, although I was wondering why she would use metal so close to my eye instead of, let's say, a cotton swab. Somehow, I did not question her, and suddenly I felt a sharp small pain. She had actually plucked that eyelash out!

Finally, she said I could leave, and that I did not have an abrasion or an infection. She gave me some drops to put in my right eye in case to ease irritation from the debris which was in there, and from her swabbing.

I was very proud of myself for the rest of that day.

Location Location Location

Despite the aging condition of this studio apartment, which I am slowly getting more and more used to, the location is superb. The used book store is a block away, there is a gas station on the corner, and I can actually see the hospital from my kitchen window. I sit on the side of the table which faces it.

Mercy

I am slowly getting used to this studio. Although I am still happy to leave it often, I think that it was meant for me to live here for these three weeks. I am one block away from the used book store, there is a gas station on the corner, and I can see the hospital from my kitchen window. I sit on the side of my kitchen table which faces it. It is aptly named, "Mercy".

Also, the kitchen which forces me to eat out has driven me to face my fear of restaurant-prepared foods.

Cooking in the Apartment

After going back and forth on whether or not to take the saucepan out of my suitcase to use for canned soup during the next 16 days that I have left here in this sublet, I've finally decided not to eat in the apartment. It is simply too stressful. Further, I won't attract mice.

The Apartment

Sleeping on this pull-out couch is like sleeping on pipes. I don't know how the woman who owns this apartment can do it. Maybe she's young and still carefree. Or maybe she's just drunk all the time and so she can't feel anything anyway. I'm going to go to the store tonight and buy one of those foam eggshell crate mattress pads, and then I can present it to her as a gift when she returns.

I'd like to mention the bathroom sink. It is the kind that has a hot water faucet on the left, and a cold water faucet on the right, so you either have to burn your hands or freeze them. In an effort to be optimistic, I will consider the use of this sinks as a mini Russian banya, and focus on the health and disinfection benefit.

The reason I am still here in this apartment is because it is extremely clean, despite the general state of deterioration. And it is meticulously organized. The woman subletting to me left a note telling me where her box of cleaning supplies is located, and added, "p.s. Green sponge for ammonia, blue for bleach..." Any woman who (a) has a box of cleaning supplies (b) expects me to want to use them during my three-week stay and (c) knows not to mix bleach with ammonia is someone I think I should become friends with. Most of my fears regarding general disinfection are allayed.

However, most of my fears are not all of my fears. Her note has calmed me enough to where I can stay in this apartment, but I am still uncomfortable here, simply because everything is decaying. The enamel on the sinks has in many places worn away. There are rust stains on the faucets. The tub is permanently gray (I tried Scrubbing Bubbles last night and it didn't do anything at all). I wonder if this class was designed as a lure to make me go through exposure therapy.

I still am amazed at how I lived under these conditions as an undergrad. At first I thought it might be because I was so excited to be living away from home, and all that first-time freedom emotion. But I am just as excited to be here this time, and maybe more, now that I've been out in the world, working in a cubicle farm, and dragging myself through the days. I am appreciating the fact that I have almost no time contraints here, and virtually no stress (minus the apartment-related anxieties). So now I think that it is just age. The young can endure anything, and also, they are less-experienced, and therefore more ignorant.