The Pink Eye Blues

What color would that make, I wonder, blue and pink? Some sort of blue-purple I would imagine.

Anywho...

Please do not look at this post as me complaining. Instead, think of it as me warning you about how much pink eye sucks, in case you get it. You're welcome.

So, for almost a week now my eyes have been really bugging me. It's pretty much been the same feeling you get when you have bad allergies (or so I'm told, I've never actually had an issue with allergies... you would think I would have thought "hmmm well then maybe it's not allergies..." but.. I didn't). My eyes have been itchy and watery. Occasionally, I would wake up in the morning and there would be a lot of "sleepies" gathered in the corner of my eyes, and even my eyelashes, but I just thought maybe allergies are really bad this year. Saturday I noticed that my eyes were pretty red. I looked like a total stoner (which I am not, in case you wondered). I went to the doctor at 11am on Wednesday. She asked me about all my symptoms and then she tested me to see if there were any scratches on my corneas. She then determined that I must have micro scratches, because my symptoms did not point to pink eye (I have since talked to people that have had scratched corneas and there is NO WAY that is what is wrong with me... but hey, the Doc is human and she made a mistake. I still think she's awesome :P... yes I love my doctor.) Soooooo she told me to go see my eye doctor so he can see my corneas and treat them. We called my eye doctor and the lady said that if we head on over she will squeeze us in. Well, as most of you know (because pretty much everyone that reads this blog is related to me), nothing ever goes according to plan when a McRaney is involved (McRaney is my mother's maiden name). We drove through Wendy's and got lunch. Then mom proceeded to spill an entire medium sized Coke ALL over her and the drivers side door! Poor Mom. The funny part is, she wasn't so worried about the ice, or coke being on her car, more just that it was sticky (Mom hates sticky). Anyways we called the eye doctor, told them we needed to come a little later and they said come around 2:30. So, we went home, Mom got unstickied, and we went to the eye doctor. He informed us that I definitely have pink eye and gave me a prescription for steroid eye drops along with a few other instructions.

1) Clean/Lysol/wash EVERYTHING

2) Wash my hands A LOT

3) Don't wear contacts or put on make up for 7 days

4) Throw away contacts and make up

5) Stay home and avoid people (Typhoid Mary kind of situation)

So, things you need if you get pink eye:

1. Antibacterial soap, and lots of it! Every time I walk by a sink I wash my hands. You aren't supposed to touch your eye but sometimes you HAVE TO. It just itches SO BAD you can't help it. So, when that urge comes along, I go to the sink, turn on the water, itch my eye and immediately wash my hands. 

2. There should be a roll of paper towels in this picture, but there isn't. Use you imagination. Instead of using a hand towel to dry your hands, use paper towels and dispose of them immediately. Don't sit it on the counter and mess with stuff. THROW IT AWAY!

3. Hand sanitizer, because.... ummm well b/c it's hand sanitizer and everyone has it.

4. Disposable gloves. Mom used them to put my steroids in my eye. You could just wash your hands after, but gloves make you feel all nursey and cool.

5. LYSOL LYSOL LYSOL! Wipe down EVERYTHING! You would be shocked (or maybe you wouldn't be..) at how much you touch! Especially kids! We got the wipes and the sprays. Clean the bathroom, light switches, door knobs AND the actual door, counters, the front of fridges, cabinets, couches, chairs, the TV remote, EVERYTHING!!! Oh and don't forget your laptops/computers and cell phones (it leaves a really annoying film afterwards so you probably will want to wipe it off with a damp cloth after you wipe it with your Lysol.

6) Steroid eye drops, provided by your doctor. These things work fast. I've only used them once so far and my eyes are already less red. I have to do them, one drop a day in each eye (because I'm awesome and got it in both eyes! go big or go home!), 4 times a day for 7 days.

7) Rewetting drops. These things are great! Your eyes get really dried out so these are really nice to use. Also, if your eyes feel itch or just "weird" (you'll know the feeling if you have or have had pink eye) they might be dry so try some drops!

8) Your own little hand towel for a hot or cold compress. It actually does help a lot. I tried doing a hot compress, but the rag never stays warm for very long. I took a hot shower and just stuck my face in the water. It was heaven.
9) Lotion. Your hands get really dry since you're washing them all the time.

Other little things that I've read online... wash your pillow case every day after you wake up, along with your towel and bath cloth after a shower. I am using white towels so I can bleach them. Is that over kill?

I can tell you.. it's not so much that pink eye "hurts". It is rather uncomfortable but mostly it's just inconvenient. Throwing away your contacts, contact case and all your make up and make up brushes is, not only expensive (because you have to replace all those things) but just annoying. Then you have to go clean EVERYTHING (which, if you're like me, you've been avoiding for a while). Also, you're not supposed to be around people... haha ya....right.... and you also get people that ask you if you're stoned (yes, people have asked me.) AND do you know how hard it is to NOT touch your eye when someone says "don't touch your eye", and when it itches and is annoying. I'll tell you... it's HARD!!!!

Well, that's my Southern Soapbox. I really really hope none of you get pink eye, even more, I hope you don't get it from me. Even more than that, I hope your kids don't get it.