An Eyeful of Pain
This past Tuesday was my first visit to the hospital for personal ailments. I am very grateful to be in good health and hope any future returns to medical institutions will be either planned or preventative in nature (i.e. checkups). When I awoke Tuesday morning, I rubbed my left eye (a bad morning habit of mine) and while doing so rubbed debris from the corner of my eye into my eyeball. Unfortunately, a small yet solid and sharp foreign object got suck underneath my eyelid. I knew as soon as I felt it it was going to give me trouble. All day long I tried getting it out. I tried to blink it out, no luck. I tried to flip my eyelid inside out, no luck. I tried to slide my fingernail underneath my eyelid and dislodge it (which I know is the most anti-hygienic thing I could do, shame shame), NO LUCK. The only relief I got was by keeping my eye opened as long as possible because every time I blinked (I loathed this word by the end of the day, thinking about it makes my eye water) the particle would create microabrasions on my cornea. OUCH. Just when I felt it was getting better, I decided to go ahead and try to go the gym. Then my dad called and said he was broke down in New Symrna and needed me to retrieve him. I hadn’t told either of my parents by early afternoon and as my mom arrived home from work I left to go get my dad. She was surprised by how swollen and watery my eye was. The watering made things worse because copious amounts of mucus flowed constantly out of my left nostril. By the time I reached New Symrna the condition had worsened; my eye was beyond irritated and the red veins around my eye were enlarged and inflamed. Returning, I drove about thirty more minutes until we reached a gas station in DeLand and had to get dad to drive the rest of the way, it had become nearly torturous.
Realizing that I had to do something, soon, I called my Aunt Terry who is a nurse. We then drove to her house to see if she could help. She did not have the equipment to remove the object, but referred me to the In Quick ER service at Florida Hospital Waterman (see: http://www.inquickerwaterman.com/). By signing up on this web page patients are guaranteed to be attended within fifteen minutes of their assigned time. At that time (prior to 7pm) when Aunt Terry called, the ER was backed up until 1am. By the time I returned home, it was past 8pm. I took a shower immediately trying one last time to miraculously dislodge the culprit in my eye, to no surprise it stayed right in place. So I went to the In Quick ER web page and signed up soon as I could. Only a few minutes later we got a call saying they could attend me as soon as I arrived. So Mom and I got ready and headed to the hospital.
Upon arrival I managed to sign in with my blurry eye. I was surprised my signature was even legible. Less than five minutes later the nurse in triage questioned me about my height, weight and health, if I had any previous surgeries, had been in jail within the last two years and took my blood pressure and heart rate. My blood pressure is almost always low but on this occasion it was slightly elevated, the nurse implied it may be due to increased stress levels throughout the day. My heart rate was low as usual. Then I was whipped away into room 21 where the RNs began checking out my nearly swollen shut eye and I proceeded to explain to them what occurred. Then an attractive young woman from registration came in to note my physical address, emergency contacts and religious beliefs. The nurses also questioned me several times if I was sick, have had previous surgeries, had HIV or any other communicable diseases. A short while later, one of the RNs notified me that she would be anesthetizing my eye with what I believe was 4% lidocaine eye drops. I was informed that a strong stinging sensation would follow, however, I did not feel much. The nurse was surprised when I told her it felt like a 3 on a scale of 10. It did immediately numb the pain and provide a great sense of relief. Then the nurse practitioner came in to remove the foreign object. She was Latina and I was glad to see some diversity within the staff. She was confident in her work and had a friendly approach to me as a patient. After applying a few more lidocaine drops (which burned much more than the previous time, 7 on a scale of 10), she flipped my upper eyelid inside out and low and behold, she immediately found a hard black speck! THANK GOD! I was relieved that it was finally OUT of my eye! She proceeded to check for any damage done to the cornea. This was done by applying a fluorescent solution to the eye and viewing it under a black light. I could “see” my eye glow neon yellow-green under the light. I truly wished I had my camera with me in that moment; I wanted them to take a photo of my eye! I could tell young RN shadowing the ACNP was in amazement of the visualization of my corneal abrasions. With that, the nurse practitioner went to write a prescription for polymyxin B sulfate and print up some educational information on corneal abrasions.
I am so very thankful that my eye is back to its normal shape (it took a few days for the swelling to reduce and my eye lids to open fully) and have normal eye sight again (the blurriness also took a few days to reduce). I am also appreciative to the capable and friendly staff at Florida Hospital Waterman. While I hope to never have a need to return to the hospital under similar circumstances, I know I would be attended well at FHW should the necesity arise.
Realizing that I had to do something, soon, I called my Aunt Terry who is a nurse. We then drove to her house to see if she could help. She did not have the equipment to remove the object, but referred me to the In Quick ER service at Florida Hospital Waterman (see: http://www.inquickerwaterman.com/). By signing up on this web page patients are guaranteed to be attended within fifteen minutes of their assigned time. At that time (prior to 7pm) when Aunt Terry called, the ER was backed up until 1am. By the time I returned home, it was past 8pm. I took a shower immediately trying one last time to miraculously dislodge the culprit in my eye, to no surprise it stayed right in place. So I went to the In Quick ER web page and signed up soon as I could. Only a few minutes later we got a call saying they could attend me as soon as I arrived. So Mom and I got ready and headed to the hospital.
Upon arrival I managed to sign in with my blurry eye. I was surprised my signature was even legible. Less than five minutes later the nurse in triage questioned me about my height, weight and health, if I had any previous surgeries, had been in jail within the last two years and took my blood pressure and heart rate. My blood pressure is almost always low but on this occasion it was slightly elevated, the nurse implied it may be due to increased stress levels throughout the day. My heart rate was low as usual. Then I was whipped away into room 21 where the RNs began checking out my nearly swollen shut eye and I proceeded to explain to them what occurred. Then an attractive young woman from registration came in to note my physical address, emergency contacts and religious beliefs. The nurses also questioned me several times if I was sick, have had previous surgeries, had HIV or any other communicable diseases. A short while later, one of the RNs notified me that she would be anesthetizing my eye with what I believe was 4% lidocaine eye drops. I was informed that a strong stinging sensation would follow, however, I did not feel much. The nurse was surprised when I told her it felt like a 3 on a scale of 10. It did immediately numb the pain and provide a great sense of relief. Then the nurse practitioner came in to remove the foreign object. She was Latina and I was glad to see some diversity within the staff. She was confident in her work and had a friendly approach to me as a patient. After applying a few more lidocaine drops (which burned much more than the previous time, 7 on a scale of 10), she flipped my upper eyelid inside out and low and behold, she immediately found a hard black speck! THANK GOD! I was relieved that it was finally OUT of my eye! She proceeded to check for any damage done to the cornea. This was done by applying a fluorescent solution to the eye and viewing it under a black light. I could “see” my eye glow neon yellow-green under the light. I truly wished I had my camera with me in that moment; I wanted them to take a photo of my eye! I could tell young RN shadowing the ACNP was in amazement of the visualization of my corneal abrasions. With that, the nurse practitioner went to write a prescription for polymyxin B sulfate and print up some educational information on corneal abrasions.
I am so very thankful that my eye is back to its normal shape (it took a few days for the swelling to reduce and my eye lids to open fully) and have normal eye sight again (the blurriness also took a few days to reduce). I am also appreciative to the capable and friendly staff at Florida Hospital Waterman. While I hope to never have a need to return to the hospital under similar circumstances, I know I would be attended well at FHW should the necesity arise.