Monday, April 12, 2010

killer germs strike again!

so today . . . you are not going to believe this . . .

i have conjunctivitis--more commonly known as pink eye. yep. i told you my school kids are trying to kill me with germs. and they are proving to be quite successful at it.

this is the first time i have experienced pink eye for myself--and i hope it is the last time! i am miserable.

it started last night. my left eye was a little scratchy and pinkish, but i thought maybe it had just been irritated by something and would be fine by morning. and yet, the specter of pink eye was in the back of my mind, because we have been battling it at school--although not in my classroom. so i called ms. martha--she is the pink eye expert. (i'm not really sure why she is the expert, but maybe it is because most of the affected kids are in her class.)

ms. martha told me what to look for, and in return i told her that she might have to get through today at school without me because i might have pink eye. and then went to bed, hoping against hope that my eyes would be fine when i woke up.

they weren't. and yet, i still wasn't sure--maybe i was just in denial. so i took a picture of my eye--a really close-up picture--and sent it to martha. "does this look like pink eye to you?" i texted. she didn't immediately respond, so i called. because i had to decide what to do, and the clock was ticking . . . she said that yes, it did look like pink eye to her.

(i could post the picture here, because we took it with my phone so it would be easy to post. but it looked kind of scary. and i don't want you to have nightmares about the "monster eye" . . . )

i hung up and called in sick. then i called to make a doctor appointment. then i went back to bed.

i tried to sleep, but my eyes were so uncomfortable. and yes, i said eyes, because now my other eye was starting to itch too. i finally gave up and got up. and waited to go to the doctor. but i couldn't read, which meant no books, no texting, no computer. the time moved very slowly . . .

my doctor confirmed that i did have conjunctivitis, wrote me a prescription for eye drops and sent my on my way. the eye drops are supposed to clear the pink eye up, but they are not making my eyes feel any better yet--i am still miserable and will have to stay home from school for at least one more day.

i am just a little bit afraid to see what germs attack me next . . .

4 comments:

mom said...

Hopefully it won't last long. I know it is miserable to have vision problems. I got a grain of sand or something in my eye Satuday and didn't get it out until on Monday. Almost went to dr. to get it irrigated. Hope none of your little kids get it...

Light said...

How'd putting in the eye drops go for you? I hope well...I always have trouble with that part. I always miss my eyes.....

Jewelielyn said...

i'm pretty good at eye drops--i have a system. i sort of balance the tip of the bottle against my eyelashes, and then the drops go right in. the trick is keeping my eyes open . . .

Light said...

ha! glad you have a system! I was catching up on your blog, so I hope by now the pink eye has disappeared and you can now enjoy your beautiful kids!