Red [swollen] Eyes

I woke myself up last night rubbing my eyes. I was in the state of not-quite-awake-not-quite-asleep for a little while as I tried to get myself to stop. Finally, I headed to the bathrooom to flush them with some cold water, and WOW were they ever so red! And then hives showed up above and beneath my eyes, which continued to enlargen. I looked through my mom's cupboards (I was staying at her house, although she is in DC) and only found Visine.

Last fall I woke up with super swollen eyes. I visited the Student Health Center whereupon the Doc poo-pooed Visine--it restricts blood vesiles in your eye. He recommended Opcon A, and it worked. But my mom only had Visine, as far as I could tell. So, I called my brother who works swing shift to see if he'd stop on the way home and buy me some Opcon A drops. He didn't answer.

By this point my eyes were super burning, and more swollen than before. I wanted my mommy. I called my mom's cell phone (about 2:45am her time in DC), and asked if she had any eye drops somewhere beyond the cupboard. She didn't have anything better than Visine, but told me to sleep in her bed and to take a benedryl.

Then my brother called back and was just on his way home. It still took him about 45 minutes to get the drops and get home (I'll blame that all on Walmart...hate walmart!). Meanwhile, I was flushing my eyes with cold water and holding a bag of ice over my eyes. I don't think it helped the swollen-ness, but it felt nice on my eyes, so I kept doing it. The drops were miraclous. Before 5 minutes had passed, the redness was gone, and the swollen-ness had dramatically decreased. Amazing. So, I let the benadryl take over and headed to bed.

In the morning I added 2 more drops per eye, and slept again for another 2 1/2 hours. Now, they are almost down to normal. I can't help but think what I would have done if I were in Duchesne and didn't have any Opcon A. The nearest store open 24-7 is Walmart--an hour away. And I'm not sure if there is an insta-care out there. Hmm..something to check on. Moral of the story: don't rub your eyes, use Opcon A, live close to something open 24-7, and know where an insta-care near you is located.