"A" is for Eyes

Social media entertains me. I don’t post much on Facebook or Instagram, but I do like to watch (ok, stalk…) the people that DO post. It is interesting to see what petty little things might be important to others. Haha.

Occasionally, Facebook is brilliant, in that it becomes this one little spot where OTHER stalkers like me can get information in the blink of an eye. This CAN be very helpful—especially when you need to reach a large group of people very quickly. A long post written by me four years ago popped up in my Facebook “memories” this week. It is pertinent to my topic today, so I will attempt to share it, in brief (Have we met? When have you ever known me to be brief?)

My then 15-year-old son was on a camping trip (under duress, I might add,) when I received a call from one of his youth leaders informing me that he would be taking my son to urgent care because he had been whipped in the eye by a tree branch. (I immediately began forming images in my head of his attempts to do this to himself, so he wouldn’t have to stay there.) Another phone call a couple hours later delivered the bad news—I would have to go pick him up. Doctor thought he may have scratched his cornea, and he was given antibiotic drops and a recommendation to follow up with an ophthalmologist. When I arrived at the camp site that was two-and-a-half hours away, it only took one look at my kid to make it absolutely clear that this was more than a scratched cornea. As I drove home relatively quickly, I illegally made many phone calls while driving to attempt to urgently get him in to an ophthalmologist, on a Friday afternoon, at 3pm, on 4^th of July weekend.  No dice. The soonest I could get him in anywhere my insurance covered was Monday. I called my father-in-law, asked him to get a “pirate patch” from the local ma & pa pharmacy, and meet me at my house. I wanted that eye protected until he could be examined.

He continued to deteriorate that evening, what seemed to be by the minute. I found an eye doctor that took urgent care walk ins on Saturday mornings, cash only. We were the first in line and got him right in. The optometrist there took a look at his eye, left the room, came back 5 minutes later and told us she wouldn’t charge us because there was nothing she could do for us. But the reason she left the room is because she had just contacted her colleagues at Wilmer Eye Institute at John’s Hopkin’s Hospital, and they were waiting for us in the pediatric ER. We were to go straight there. Do not pass “Go”.  Do not stop at Five Guys (ok. We stopped at Five Guys. If my kid’s eye was going to fall out, he wanted a full belly before THAT show.)

Well. Ok then. They aren’t messing around! When we arrived there, we were registered, triaged, back in a room, saw the pediatrician, had IV antibiotics started, and three ophthalmologists were all up in my kid’s face…in less than 45 minutes. Unfortunately, there was so much swelling, they couldn’t tell what had been damaged and whether or not there was infection in the retina (behind the eyeball.) After 2 different IV antibiotics infused, we were sent home with steroid and antibiotic drops with instructions to put them in every hour—All. Night. Long. Yay me. By the time we got back the next morning, they were able to see that there was no infection behind the eye, and that he had not ruptured the globe (his eyeball). But he had completely cut through his cornea. Doctors said that people usually lose the eye in accidents like this, and they were shocked that he had cut completely through the cornea and did not touch the globe of the eye. We saw the cornea specialist 17 times that year. Four years later, he has a scar on his cornea and some minor blurred vision, but it doesn’t limit him at all. Truly a miracle.

I am sure my son is sick of me telling him to eat foods that are high in vitamin A. Vitamin A enables our eyes to react to changes in the brightness of light and to see different colors. People that are deficient in vitamin A suffer from night blindness, a condition in which eyes are unable to adjust to dim light. It can also result in the failure to regain sight quickly after a bright flash of light. Color blindness can also be a result of vitamin A deficiency.

Vitamin A supports more than eye health. It helps to boost your immune system, promotes healthy growth and reproduction, and is fantastic for your bones. But let’s not get crazy—Vitamin A is what we call a fat-soluble vitamin. That means that vitamin A can be stored in your body, and since it can be stored, that means it can build up to toxic levels. You should not need to supplement this vitamin, as foods like skim milk, broccoli (dark green leafy veggies), hard boiled eggs, sweet potatoes, carrots (orange & yellow fruits and veggies), and the ever so common dinner favorite, beef liver (BLEK!) are common sources of vitamin A.

“Eat those carrots. They are good for your eyes.” Old wives’ tale? I think not. I think those old wives knew the vitamin A secret. And just like me, all those old wives want you to…

Be well!