SolemnDragon's Journal: A poke in the eye with a sharp stick

I wish i were kidding.

Have two doc appointments this week. Er, i HAD. First one down, that was this morning. Second is in a few days. Today was the cornea doc. She's awesome. She speaks german, spanish, and cantonese. And English, obviously, since my german is only slightly better than my (nonexistent) cantonese, and my spanish can make stout-hearted castilians weep.

And not with joy, or even with vague, inaccurately-declined comprehension.

Today's appointment was for the purpose of having my eyes checked out, and to have that punctal plug put back into my tear drainage duct. Cute little plastic thing, that sits flat with the surface of the lower lid and seals up the drainage duct. That's the one near the nose, the one that a lot of people seem to think tears are actually generated by. (they aren't. The highly visible opening there is actually where they GO, giving you a runny nose when you cry.)

My last one had fallen out, so she thought that a larger one might be in order. OW. Stopped when i started bleeding. Not a lot, just a little. She apologised profusely. It's oke, this is one of the docs who's just such a good person that i'd let her stab me in the hand with a pencil if it had to be done. You know, one of those very good doctors. Not that i'm encouraging this, or even suggesting that it's within the realm of acceptable medical technique on anyone but a zombie. I'm not, and it's not, and if you try it on me, you'd better have a gun and some powerful anaesthetic on hand, and even then, i wouldn't advise it.

Right. Where was i? OW, put down that pencil! I was trying to tell you about how this little bit of plastic hurt like hell. And how she switched back to the smaller size, which has more chance to fall out but doesn't make me bleed.

Unlike that jab with the pencil, the doc's eye-poking exercises went under the necessary nuisance heading, not the severe inconvenience ones. Gimme that pencil, i wanna show you somethin'.

Anyway, we discussed the state of my eyes, and apparently they've have continued to improve. This is a REALLY GOOD THING. The immune-dampening meds are in fact working, and working well. My eyes have continued to get better, the damage to my tear glands is not gone but has stopped advancing and started to heal a little, and there's even a chance that i'll be able to wear contact lenses again sometime in the future. Not for all day, she warns me- for social events that last a couple of hours, or for sports that last a similar short amount of time. Not full time, ever, and not yet. That would be wonderful, even for an hour or two, because i really, really prefer contact lenses to glasses.

Plus, this is a lot more healing happening than they were thinking would be the case when i first started all this treatment. This is (i repeat) really good news.

Of course, i'll probably lose THIS silly plastic thing, too, just like the last- every time i DO have an immune reaction, it gets irritated (left eye was more damaged than my right, so it gets inflamed more easily still) and i usually just end up pulling it right out with my fingernail when i'm half-asleep. Doesn't hurt me any, and just means discomfort while waiting for an appointment to put a new one in.

(For those joining this journal late: I have immune issues that are for the moment diagnosed as sjogren's, in spite of being sjogren's-antibody-negative, and the result of my immune system attacking my eyes is tear gland damage. To counter this, i have little plastic plugs in my tear drainage ducts, which are very very common, and work very, very well at keeping the tears in my eyes longer. I also have medicated eyedrops and gels and stuff.)

So anyway, that's the latest news from planet doc. The next appointment is on thursday, and that's the one i'm waiting for most eagerly, as i may actually find out more then about the incredible fainting dragon performance i've been an unwilling part of for the past many months. Hopefully it will be some answers and possibly the next tests, which will likely be blood pressure related.

It's funny. You spend years with your parents telling you, 'don't put anything in your eye, don't put anything in your eye. Don't stare at bright lights.' Then you go see the eye doc and they say, here, i'm gonna poke you in the eye with this, and then i want you to stare into this bright light for awhile.

So, how's your monday?

 

yowch

[sparky4]

nice that you are plugged and on the mend. hope that the next appt. goes well.

Mellow Monday - more stormy weather heading our way, repeat of yesterday, waiting for the power to cease and desist again.

Going Better...for now

[FirstNoel]

re-arranged some appointments. Went out to the Lake. Doing some work from home.

Keeping an eye on things you know...

Sean

Monday

[MsWillow]

Doing pretty good here. Weather's pleasantly cool, mood is upbeat, MS is stablized thho I lost more in the latest exacerbation. Cats are behaving, workshop is tomorrow and I have a ton of stuff to set. Still need to arrange my transport, and clean three litterboxes, that's my big plan for the day.

Nice to see that you're doing ok.

Uhh... Hi

[Allen Zadr]

First, I know you - mostly by your online reputation, and the good company you keep. I've seen your posts in other journals, and find you to be a compassionate (and intelligent) online personality. It's unfair when somebody who has a good enough heart that it can shine through the typed word, would have to go through crappy "mysterious health issues"...

That said, my real-life, and my /. life very, very rarely come together. So, - while I normally ignore such questions as, 'How is your Monday' - today, r

Re:Uhh... Hi

[SolemnDragon]

i understand the logic behind not putting one's work thoughts online.

If you ever want to email me to talk, i'm around.

Hm. I don't think health should be a matter of deserve... i, for one, wouldn't want to live in a world where illness was handed out as a punishment for what kind of person you were- once you got sick, people would abandon you, and you'd have no chance to be better.

Which is not to say that it hasn't been quite the adventure.

Nice to meet you, by the way. I'm sorry about your bad news, and i ho

Punishment

[Allen Zadr]

I had never considered the depth of such an angle, but I suppose you are right. Your ability to share your thoughts and difficulties is inspirational. Well, as much as inspirational is only a good thing.

OK, I guess

[ryanr]

Worked the weekend to make up for lost days last week when I stayed at the vomitorium. Er, home. So not much of a Monday, except everyone else is here to interfere with my work.

Well, actually...

[Pancho Pistolas]

...and my spanish can make stout-hearted castilians weep.

For the record, it wasn't you...it was Blinder backing up over my foot.

Or mebbe it was trying to test that idea you had for the zombie medicinal pencil.

Ow, quit it. Ow, quit it. Ow, quit it.

I think all you need to do to keep them plugs in place is to carve some barbs into 'em. I can do it easy for you...no charge! :^)

Hey, come back here!...

Been there, plugged that.....

[fanfaire]

I'm gonna count myself lucky that when they put a larger plug in my left eyelid, it didn't bleed. Ewwwwww. Hope you're not hurtin' right now.

Congrats on your improvement in the dry eye department! I know you had a real problem going there for awhile. I also can claim improvement....the only thing causing a real problem at the moment is a recurring ingrown eyelash that keeps scratching up my eyeball. I lost my last plug trying to pluck that eyelash with a pair of tweezers in my shaky hand.

As for my Monday, I

WTF?

[gmhowell]

Who did you screw over in a former life? Because you are paying back some serious karmic debt. I wouldn't be surprised if Angie said "stuff like this makes DB seem not so bad". Okay, I exaggerate (if she could see Joseph one more time, I think she'd endure a daily hot poker in the eye).

But, seriously, you are either paying back something major (Hitler?) or you are going to be able to get away with anything in your next life.

Oh, and WTF part two; what sporting events are you going to partake in? I see that U