The Eye

Eye Story #1
It's ridiculous that I spent $120 to remove a facial scrub bead out of my left eye that was hurting for about 2 days. I felt really stupid when the specialist asked me if I had scrubbed my face & when I said I did, he was pretty sure that those little things were the cause of my eye irritation. He came to that question after examining my eye which showed no indications of bacterial, viral or contact-lens related infections - afterall, my eye wasn't even red. Besides, he had a Taiwanese paitient who had similar symptoms as me & it turned out that she used Taiwanese or Japanese skincare products. Mine's Clinique - Made in USA!

I had to endure the sting of some lotion on my eye which was actually supposed to be an anaesthetic to numb the eye. Fortunately, I didn't see how I looked but the Doc flipped my eyelid up & outwards (YYYEEEEEWWWWW!!!!) to extract that treasure of a pearl up there.

Moral of the story - believe & obey the instructions found on the labels of skincare products when they read "Do not use this product near the eyes."

Story #2
About 2 years ago, my right eye had some irritation & pain. Eye-Mo, Optrex & whatever eye stuff didn't work to ease the irritation & pain so I marched down to the specialist for help. With that machine in the clinic, good ol' Dr V found something that terrified me - a scracth on my cornea! How could it get there, or how did I ever scratch/rub my eye that it caused a scratch to the cornea?! So sigh, I was put on some treatment for the eye. I remember having to apply this ointment that would smart & blur my vision & I had to do that 3 times a day.

Fortunately, it wasn't exactly a very serious tear & healed in about 3 to 4 days. Still, it wasn't a nice experience to have to endure all kinds of lotions & chemicals in the eye during the eye examination & medication.

Moral of the story - keep your fingernails short (but mine aren't even long!). Also, listen when Mama says never to rub or scratch the eye (area).

Story #3
This happened shortly after I graduated from Leeds & was back in Singapore looking for a job. I woke up one morning to find my left eye red. I drowned the eye in eyewash of every brand but it was of no use. I paid 2 visits to the GP, who dispensed more eyedrops & eyewashes but still, to no avail - my left eye was still red. The strange thing was that the inner corner of the eye was super red, while the other half of the eyeball was normal-looking white. I got really worried & made an appointment with the specialist when this anomaly lasted 2 weeks.

The Doc spent 5 minutes examining & that was my first experience with specialist eye equipment & medication. That was when I first experienced anaesthetic in the eye & having real, proper thorough eye-check (for glaucoma, etc etc). The Doc found something in the eye that caused my red eye - an eyelash! I felt really stupid yet relieved at the same time. How could an eyelash make me look like a red-eye monster, reducing my confidence to nothing for 2 weeks. Then again, it's only an eyelash & nothing more complicated than that.

Moral of the story - be happy & contented with length of eyelashes: don't have to pray for longer eyelashes or get extensions. Mascara will do. Even with mascara, make sure it is safe for the eyes.

Total spent on the eye for matters as mentioned: $400 over 3 occasions. Imagine how many yummy meals I could have had, or new shoes, bags or clothes I could have bought. MmmMMmmMMmrrrrrrFFfffff!!!!