PEARLS: DON'T DO IT THIS WAY

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By Charlavan Baker Hart

 

December 7, 2010 (El Cajon)--I thought if you didn’t see very well you go to the eye doctor and have yourself checked. I was braced for learning I had a cataract forming and would need an operation.

 

So I set that up, missed work, arrived on time.

 

The doctor did some preliminary tests, and then asked me to remove my contacts. I walked over to the sink area and did just that. Of course as soon as you remove them you really can’t see well at all and the eyes are a little uncomfortable. I have worn disposables for over 20 years. SO, since I know exactly what I am doing in that environment, I reached for the wetting drops, there on the counter.

 

If you can’t see, that is not the really smart thing to do. You could pick up the wrong bottle there and actually put drops of a strong hard contact cleaner in your eye instead of moisture drops.

 

NATURALLY that is what I did. From that point on we started over with “Let’s see what you can see NOW.” When I stopped writhing, the answer is VERY LITTLE.

 

The good news is that there was nothing wrong with my eyes. We assume it was a bad contact I had inserted a few days earlier and since I had just run out of my supply, I couldn’t replace it. They were on order. (I still thought I must have a cataract.)

 

To add a bit more drama, that terribly painful episode got worse by the time I left the office. By the middle of the night, my nerves were so inflamed, my upper body, neck, arms, et al, made moving a single thing just not worth it. I had to use which ever hand hurt the least to reach up and turn my head!!! Talk about a good time.

 

Now since I have warned all of you to NOT DO THAT, I feel I have done a lot of good today already. I am going to mull this entire thing over in the Jacuzzi. I should be safer there.

 


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