Eye Rinse

On Sunday October 21st, Terry was doing her laundry, trying to remove a stain from a white garment. She was using some bleach and she dropped the jug on the washing machine. The bleach splashed up in her face and some went in her eye. She rinsed her eye under the sink faucet and then started reading  medical internet sites to be sure she was alright. The site said that you should always go to a doctor if you get bleach in your eyes to be sure there isn’t any permanent damage to the membranes. She asked me to look at her eye to see if it was blood shot and it was.

I drove her to a Centra Care Florida Hospital Urgent Care a mile or so from her home. A sign above the receptionist desk read something like, “We continue Christ’s tradition of healing ministry.” Terry said there was a similar sign blessing her from above the toilet. Apparently chemical spills like this take top priority in triage so we went right in after filling out some paper work. Thankfully the place was fairly quiet. Terry sat on the examining table and a male nurse took her blood pressure and asked her a few questions. She was asked to put a hand over each eye and read an eye chart. I’m not sure how she did on that test.

The doctor gave her eye drops which numbed the nerves in the eye. He then put a little red dye in her eye and inspected her eye with a magnifying glass and black light to look for abrasions or damage. He then advised that she have an eye rinse. A saline bag was hung above her head as she lay on the table. A white plastic contact lens was fitted with a clear plastic tube. Terry wears contact lenses sometimes so she was brave as the doctor put the device in her eye. I don’t think I could have done that.

She had to lie there for about 20 minutes or as long as she could stand the procedure. The saline solution ran from her eye an then down her face soaking the pillow. It was a forced one eyed cry. Most people get very uncomfortable and call out to stop the procedure. Terry went for ten to fifteen minutes before she stopped. A fifteen minute rinse is what the internet site advised so she felt it was enough.

Finally, she was given an ointment which she was to squeeze out onto her lower lid. She would have to use the ointment three times a day for seven days. After this we went to see the movie Argo. I loved how Alan Arkins character would say, “Argo f*ck yourself” when he spoke about the movie. It was a very suspenseful film and really well made. We both gave it a 9 out of 10. That night, I watched The Walking Dead on AMC. Zombies died when  crowbars, machetes and re-bar were shoved into their skulls through their eye sockets. This happened again and again as zombies were slaughtered. Terry refused to watch.