I was pondering what to write today and I thought about sunglasses then I though I didn't have anything I could write about, then I thought the opposite and remembered when I went "blind" for a day back in August 2009. I was working at Pinsent Masons Law Firm then, they are really nice people by the way, so hello to the beautiful Ang if she is still in the print room.
Blind for a day © 2009
By
Michael Casey
Well Easter is over, I had 2 weeks off work to have a rest. Unfortunately I picked up a chest infection and spent my holiday coughing and spitting,I went through 1 roll of paper a day for 7 of those days. That’s a hell of a lot of gunge in my chest. Finally just as it was time to return to work I got better. But the irony was that at least my back didn't hurt as I had a holiday from standing up all day as I do in my Print room.
So God works in mysterious ways. he cures my back but I have a bad chest instead. I also gave my bad chest etc to my wife who wasn't best pleased, she didn't want my pollution as she said in her Shanghai English, he was was really bad so I told her not to speak, she sounded like an old lady of 95 who smoked 30 cigarettes a day, just terrible.
Monday just gone I went back to work and the kids went back to school, so all was well in our Chinese/Irish family.
That was the case until yesterday, Friday. I went to work all week and told them that hey presto my back was fine, except I had a chest infection instead, so they laughed at that. Then yesterday Friday I went out to lunch, 3pm is my lunch time, then I noticed as I hit the streets that things were out of focus, I couldn't read the signs over the shops, people were out of focus too. People had a light shadow around them if that makes sense. I walked down the road to grab my sandwich, ate it in the street and walked around the corner to go to another store to buy my semi skimmed milk that I have to wash down my sandwich. As I walked I looked this way and that to test my eyesight. It was very disconcerting, troubling and perhaps a little worrying. I made my way to the cathedral, there had been a marriage blessing, I spoke to Dot asking her about it, she said it was her, it was her 19th marriage she just hoped it lasted a bit longer this time. So I laughed and sat in my spot near the candles and near the crufix. I looked around at the stained glass windows, see how my eyes were. The verger passed bye and he was out of focus and had a light shadow. I hope and prayed that if I gave it a bit of time my eye would go back to normal. Imagine you are short sighted and you drop your glasses yo are then as blind as a bat. I wasn't that bad , but it was similar.
I went back to work and I hadn't improved. My left eye is perfect and my right eye is rubbish that’s the normal state of my eyes. But now my left eye had gone AWOL and I felt stupid, I could no longer read at 20paces away, I was a normal weak person. I mentioned my state to the folks in my room but they thought nothing of it. WE had finally reached a quiet period after weeks of manic working. AND the drinks trolley was just outside, so it was time for a well deserved beer. I had a can or two of fizzy pop, I did grab a Budweiser too, BUT I decided not to drink it as my eye was playing up. We have an advertising campaign on TV at the moment about stroke awareness, you know the face, the headache, can you raise both hands, is your voice slurred. I had none of that,
So I stayed a few more hours at work at Googled my symptoms, I rang home and spoke to my wife, she rang a few Doctor friends, they said go to hospital. I decided to go home after my shift and eat and only after I'd eaten then go to hospital.
Luckily my sister lives around the corner, so after I phoned the emergency helpline and they had said go immediately to the Emergency room I got my sister to drive there its 2 miles away from my house. My wife stayed at home with our 2 kids. I queued and got seen by a nurse after 15mins, then we waited for the doctor. The nurse appeared and said as they just had a few casualties there could be a 4hour wait. Luckily after 2hours of waiting we were seen, or I was my sister held my coat. A very nice doctor with a Trinadad accent looked in my eyes, he said I really needed to see the Eye specialist, as I did not have any major systems. He made me read the eye chart, my right eye I always knew way bad, but I couldn't really focus on the top 2 lines. My best eye, my left eye was better, but because of the sudden weakness it was bad at going down the chart too. Satisfied that I had had some attention, my sister took me home, we were told to attend the Eye hospital this morning and get the experts to look at my eye. It was after midnight when I got in, so for 9 hours my sight was playing up. But at least when the new day dawned I'd get some answers. I just had to get up early and beat the queue at the Eye hospital.
Last night I prayed and held my rosary to my eyes. I had given that rosary to my mum years ago. Years after she had died, and its nearly 13years since she died, my brother had given me a rosary, and it was the one I had given to my mum.
I awoke this morning and my sight was back to normal, a perfect left eye and a weak right eye, I could read the number plates on cars in our street, 5 feet was no longer the reach of my sight, I was no longer a prisoner to my sight.
WE went down the Eye hospital, I was seen by a specialist, another very nice Doctor, I joked that I'd put him on my blog and 100 people my read about it. He put drops in my eye so the pupils were very large, he put coloured lights in front of me it was a bit like all the colours of the rainbow .He listened to my neck both sides and my chest.
His final conclusion it could have been a migraine. One thing the nurse did was to put a cover on my eye with lots of little holes on, when I had this over my bad, my lazy right eye, I could see perfectly. Strange but true. Back to the Eye specialist, he said go to my GP, my normal doctor and check my cholesterol etc, the nurse had done a prick test and with the sample it shows I am NOT diabetic, but perhaps being slimmer would be better.
I suppose it was a warning, I suppose I should get glasses to help my lazy eye.
One thing is sure though, I will never never take my sight for granted.
Life is short and last night I couldn't see my kids faces clearly.
So I thank God for my kids, and pray that I'll see them for 50more years.
And thank you all for your prayers.
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