Germ-X + Eye = :-(

There's a suspected case of H1N1 at our son's preschool. With young kids germs are everywhere. So, without going overboard, we're washing our hands more and trying to avoid obvious germ hideouts.

Yesterday I cleaned the boys' bathroom again and then washed my hands with soap afterwards. To be extra germ-resistant I then squirted some Germ-X onto my hands. I felt something hit my face and then my eye was burning and I was yelling. The Germ-X squirted directly into my right eyeball!



I was steps from the bathroom sink and was able to flush my eye within seconds. I ran it in cold water for two five-minute segments and called Ken and my health clinic. The clinic was booked, so I went to urgent care once Ken drove home from work.


Urgent care this time of year is GERM central! When I checked in the wait time was over 2 hours, and the waiting room was packed. Oh no! A freak squirt of Germ-X has forced me to bathe in a waiting room of germs!!

Fortunately if you have "a chemical in your eye" urgent care moves you near the top of the list. And I had effective, yet ouchy, treatments:
- I had my pH taken twice. A nurse sticks a little strip of paper under your lower eyeball for a few seconds. Mine was 7, normal, so I'd done well flushing.
- I had numbing treatment squirted onto my eye. Before it numbs, the medication first stings as it goes in.
- The doctor painted my eye with a yellow dye and then looked at my eye with some sort of black-light goggles. Fortunately no scratches visible on my eye.
- More flushing, irrigating of my eye.

I was almost done. Then Poison Control suggested more flushing of my eye. Up next, the Morgan Lens. Here's how it's used: http://www.morganlens.com/use.html. None of the nurses had used one before, and the doctor said it'd been a few years since she'd put one in... It took a few tries. My eyelids were too slippery from all the irrigating.

I don't wear contacts. And the Morgan Lens is more than a contact. It's thick, like a suction cup you'd hang a suncatcher with. I'd like two healthy eyes, so I did my best. I was terrified the lens would pop out again. I did not want that thing inserted under my eyelids again!

Of course I'm thanking God I have both eyes! And I think it's amazing what tools and procedures medical teams have to help people in accidents. But each time I squirt my hands with Germ-X this winter, I'll do my best not to cringe.

Questions for You:
- What are you doing to stay germ-free this winter?
- What's the strangest injury you've had?

photo credit: An image of H1N1 influenza virus. Taken in the CDC Influenza Laboratory.