Thursday, April 28, 2011

Eye stress-o-meters

Two days ago, half of my right eye turned bloodshot. It didn't seem like pinkeye. I didn't remember scratching it. I hadn't worn my contacts in a couple of days. No baby fingers have gotten too close to my eyes. But it looked gross and was hurting a little, so I visited the eye doctor.

They looked into my eye. Made me look up. Then down. To the right. Then the left. The doctor pulled away and asked, totally seriously:

Are you under a lot of stress?

I had to laugh. Um. Yes. I have three kids.

He wasn't really joking though. He asked: recently, have you been under an enormous amount of stress?

Me: Well... since you asked. We just moved. One of my sons doesn't sleep more than 3 hours a night. My other two sons are sick. Our CNA lost her house in a tornado so we're trying to break in someone new, all during the same week that two of my sons start back to school. Should I go on?

He looked at me like I was crazy. And then he asked:

Is is possible for you to get an hour or two more of sleep a night?

I started laughing out loud. Wow, I'd love that.

As it turns out, your eyes are very sensitive to stress. Some people eat when they're under a lot of stress. Some people have headaches or back spasms. Apparently the blood vessels in my eyes get irritated. I have never heard of anything like this. Ever.

I'm on a steriod eye drop and a regime of ibuprofen for the next week. My eyes already look better (just in time for my birthday today!). Who would have thunk it?

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