Eye Problems

Last night it felt as if there were something in the left eye, making it difficult to sleep. This morning the feeling continues. I've been going around without the black Walgreen's eyepatch during the day, only putting it on to sleep, so I suppose I might have gotten something in it.

I've washed it out a couple of times, put drops in and ointment. It seems as if the ointment gets a little thick, so I wonder if that might be part of the problem. I scraped a glob of the ointment off where the lids are stuck together (I use a piece of t.p. folded into an arrowhead, then get that wet so I don't scratch the cornea.) Apparently the ointment is used to keep moisture on the eye for a longer period of time than the drops. I've been waking up every two hours, though, and put drops in almost by habit.

I found an interesting site about one man's recovery from Bell's Palsy at http://www.jimpowers.com/other1.htm#Diary%20of%20Bell's%20Palsy. He does almost a day-by-day update of how it hit him. Another active person (he was 48) who got blindsided by this condition. However, I have Ramsay Hunt, which is a more virulent version.

Another diary of how it affects you is at http://www.asisna.com/users/brishsew/bells.html.

Friends last night said I sounded better. No longer am I the king of drool. I have been looking at my smile every morning to see whether there are any more teeth showing than there were yesterday. This flesh curtain only parts to allow the right side of my teeth to show. I'm hoping there will be more teeth unveiled as time goes by.

So, things continue apace.

The Eyelid Stitches are Out

Yesterday, first thing in the morning, I went to the VA to have the stitches taken out of my left eyelid. I thought the procedure would be to glue my eyelid shut. I was wrong.

Apparently when they were sewing on me, they also scraped part of the eyelids. Holding them together with the stitches allowed them to heal together. As a result, only two/thirds of my eye is visible. When (If?) the nerves on that side of my face come back to normal, they will separate the eyelids with a !scalpel! Yikes.

At least now I can scratch the itches. I certainly couldn't do that when there was foam rubber keeping the stitches from pulling through the eyelid. I looked as if I had tiny marshmallows on the outside of the lid. I still don't look particularly attractive, but at least I can see better.

I still must put drops in that eye every couple of hours, but the doctor did say I could drive. That's a plus. Normality, here I come. Eventually.

I've been looking for writing jobs on the internet. Whether an employer will hire someone my age with a somewhat disfigured eye is another question.