Monday, July 14, 2014

Eye Have Problems

On July 1, I woke up with Viral Conjunctivitis.

Pink Eye.

The right eye was the first to contract the fun and then the left eye joined the party a day later. It was just about textbook. Itchy eyes, very watery, no discharge (viral, not bacterial). No meds could be taken and it needed to run its course. I tried over-the-counter eyedrops and they were pretty much worthless. I used mL after mL of my own breastmilk via an eyedropper and it was just temporary relief. I wore no makeup and threw away the makeup I used when I contracted it. Some of the most beautiful weather during that July 4th holiday weekend was spent inside and the rest I rallied through to make memories.

In order to avoid passing this very frustrating virus to the rest of my family, I was a cleanfreak. I changed our pillowcases daily, as well as our sheets. I slept with an additional layer on my pillowcase, in fact. I washed everything on hot water and anything I wore was washed immediately. I probably did 15 loads of laundry in 10 days. I did not touch my eyes or face, and if I absolutely needed to, I washed my hands in hot water and then sanitized after. It reminded me a lot of when my kids were in the NICU and we had to scrub down to see them. Seeing that Claire is breastfeeding, I wanted to definitely ensure she did not contract this.

No one else in the family contracted it. It's now 14 days later and I'm thankfully free of the virus as well.

Unfortunately, I'm not seeing my best still. The eyes look and feel normal, but my 20/15 vision seems a little off. I can still read well at a distance, but I see a considerable difference than I remember on June 30. It's odd.

It was just about 5 years to the day (June 30) since I had Lasik surgery, so I'm hoping this nearsightedness issue is just my eyes trying to adjust back.

Anyone else had pink eye and have side effects adjusting back to what life used to be like?

4 comments:

ekiwi said... [Reply to comment]

I had the start of something similar a couple weeks ago... This is so crunchy of me, but I hand expressed some breast milk and used that in my eyes a couple of times. I wasn't sure at first about doing it, but afterwards I stood in the bathroom and watched the redness go away. The itch took a bit longer, but I'd say my eye sight was also off, hazy maybe? For a good few days afterwards.

Kari said... [Reply to comment]

I had this EXACT thing two years ago and it was awful.
Viral infections of any kind are a pain in the a@# because you can't take ANYTHING.
I am glad you are on the way to feeling better.

Alison G. said... [Reply to comment]

"Dr. Nic" says it is normal for your vision to still be off as a result of your cornea being inflamed due to the infection. That is no fun at all!

Lj82 said... [Reply to comment]

The good news? Red eye has to be the sexiest of all eye infections.

The bad news? Breastmilk doesn't cure all. damn. I was really banking on it!