EYE-YAY-EYE:

Hmm, I’ve had this little bump on my upper left eyelid for quite a while now, and it’s grown and shrunk and grown and shrunk again. To tell you the truth, I’ve never really noticed it before, not until a colleague at work pointed it out to me months ago. Several other people have pointed it out to me as well but I never thought anything of it since it’s never really bothered me. Nonetheless, I decided to get it checked out at the eye doctor's (optometrist!)…

My appointment was at 12:15PM and though I got permission to leave work fifteen minutes before my appointment (it takes about 8 minutes by car to get from here to there), I didn't arrive till 12:25PM. I walked in and gave the secretary my name and appointment time and she looked at me, then at the big clock hung on the wall, and then she raised an eyebrow and said: “You’re LATE!”

I just as dramatically looked at my watch, then back at her and shrugged, “Sorry?” Yes, I was 10 minutes late (and its not like me to be late), but who isn’t? She took out my file and raised an eyebrow again before exclaiming: “You haven’t been for a checkup since 2007!” Strike two against me…

I went in to the examination room for my first round of checkups. “You wear lenses, Nour, right?” I nodded. “For how long do you wear lenses a day?” “Umm… from about 7AM till 5PM. Sometimes more.” “10 hours!” he then made me read some letters projected on the wall, and it didn’t take long before I began reading Ds as Os and Fs as Ts. He jotted down some notes. “Ok Nour, I’m going to give you an eye drop now, and its going to make you blurry eyed for the next 12 hours”…

I spent about an hour in the waiting room, waiting for my pupils to dilate, and for the second round of checkups to begin. When it was finally time, I went in to misread some more letters, only to confirm that I had gained 0.25 (Myopia) in each eye. So now, I’ve go 5 in my left eye, and 4.75 in my right. Right…

“What about laser?” I asked. “I’m sorry; your vision needs to be stable for at least a year before you can think of laser. And since you haven’t been for a checkup in three years, I can’t tell whether you've gained the extra 0.25 in 2008, 2009, or 2010…” “Oh…” I sighed…

“Well, what about this bump on my eyelid?” it was the main reason I had come to him in the first place. “Let me see,” he said and leaned in to check it out. “Oh, that’s nothing. It’ll go away, just massage it for about two minutes everyday and it’ll be alright” Hear that? It’ll be alright!