My Single-Eyed Experience

On September 14, 2024 while pruning a bush, a branch snaked around my glasses and poked me in the eye. I blinked for a few minutes, held my lid away from the eye, and gradually the pain subsided. Since my vision seemed ok, and cold compresses caused the rest of the pain to go away, I went on with my day until several hours later when the pain came back aggressively.

At first, I ignored it, assuming it would once again subside until I realized I had a problem. The cold compresses were no longer working, and I was having difficulty keeping my lid open. My husband asked me if I needed to go to the hospital, but I stubbornly refused, assuming I could take care of it on my own.

I was wrong.

The pain kept increasing until I finally called the health hotline for advice. After asking me questions for numerous minutes, including the 1–10 scale for pain (anyone else struggling with this one?), the nurse said that yes, I should head to the emergency room and get my eye looked at.

Three hours later, they called my name and, after doing a basic eye test (which gave them no information since my eye was painful to open and watering heavily), they stuck me in a room with eye testing equipment and three boxes of crutches (I seriously thought it was a storage room for a minute).

Another hour later I finally “saw” a doctor. He froze my eyes and did an exam. In the end, I got off lucky with only minor scrapes and a need to apply a steroid-antibiotic cream for two days.

Today I am grateful that I can once again see without pain. I also learned some valuable lessons from the experience.

Familiarity brings comfort

As someone who could go blind one day due to diabetes, this experience was a good introduction to what that may be like. Sitting in the passenger seat while my husband drove me to the hospital, I only had my senses of sound and feel to know where I was. Having driven that route several times, I knew where I was based on the turns, etc. As a result, I felt in control even though I couldn’t see and was in an annoying amount of pain.

A Trained eye and full perspective is key

I had looked in the mirror many times that day to see if my eye was injured and, other than it being bloodshot, could not see anything. It took the doctor less than a minute to see the scrape on my eye — even before he started using the equipment and dye available to him. The equipment allowed him to get a better understanding of the situation but was not needed to make an initial diagnosis.

Healing requires pain and uncertainty

It has been a while since my last injury. I had forgotten that the first few days would hurt like the dickens. I also forgot that medicine is one of the reasons for that pain.

Day one following the trip to the hospital featured burning every time I applied the ointment provided to me. On day two, the pain was less intense with each application. I also had the fun of not being able to see clearly because my eye had a layer of translucent gel over it.

Healing is necessary for Independence

Now that I am healed I can see, drive, work, and run errands again. I am independent and grateful for it. I also learned that should I go blind one day, I will adapt because life is worth living and I want to live it on my terms.