Thursday, November 13, 2014

Eye-yi-yi!!!

Tuesday was a warm day ... sunny & dry. Temperatures after Tuesday were predicted to drop like a rock &, God willing, remain that way until spring.  I therefore decided it would be the perfect day to cut down the daylilies & irises & to put the Christmas lights on the little pine tree we bought a couple years ago to plant in the front yard.  I ran into a little problem while stringing the lights.  There were some dead branches on the bottom of the tree.  Not limbs, mind you. Branches. It was only after I put the lights on the tree that I thought I should trim these branches.  I walked back to the garage, took hold of the big pruner, & returned to the tree.  I knelt down & trimmed a few small dead pieces away from the trunk directly in front of me.  Then I don't know where my mind was, but seeing the dead branches to the right of me, I placed the pruner against the trunk of the tree & cut first the upper & then the lower "branch" & was heartsick as I saw the entire bottom right side of the tree collapse to the ground along with the lights that had been strung there.  I hadn't cut the branches ... I had cut the limbs!!!  Our cute little pine tree now looks as you it see in the photo below ... lol!  I can laugh about it now.  A permanent memorial to my stupidity!  
After composing myself ... & imagining John's horror over this when he returned home (he was out doing a bit of Christmas shopping) ... I carried the pieces I had cut from the tree back to where we put such things.  As I was was walking to this place where we put garden debris, I noticed how ratty it looked underneath our large myrtle bush, & so I decided to stop a moment & pull away this ratty growth.  So there I was, on my knees, making my way around the bush, bending closer to pull away this ratty growth, & suddenly a small branch which I did not see ... which was sticking up toward me ... met my eye.  I saw stars.  I blinked & blinked & blinked, then ... yes ... finished pulling away the remainder of the ratty growth, then disposed of it along with the cuttings from the tree.  I then headed into the house where I profusely rinsed my eye with eye drops, then showered & let the water rinse the eye further.  It felt like there was a little something in the eye, & I wasn't seeing very clearly with that eye, & what I was seeing kind of had a little aura around it.  I decided that if things weren't better in the morning, I'd call the eye doctor.  

When I woke up yesterday morning, the eye seemed to be okay at first, then started bothering me again.  I called the eye doctor's office & was told to come in at 10 o'clock.  It turns out that the point of that little branch had poked my cornea & then scraped upward a bit.  This is apparently a bad thing.  Not as bad as a fingernail poking you in the eye, but with what happened to me, there is a real concern for fungus.  Apparently fungus causes major problems with infections.  The debris & whatever else that was on the point of that branch takes a back seat to the fungus possibility.  My eye was slathered with antibiotic ointment & then a nurse put a huge patch on it to keep it shut for 24 hours.  I am seeing the doctor again this morning so he can take a look at the eye again.  I may have to be repatched for a couple days ... something I pray will NOT happen because this patch hurts!  After the patch is no longer necessary, I will then have to bathe my eye in antibiotic eye drops for a week or so.  I was useless yesterday as I couldn't read, couldn't knit, couldn't do anything because it caused pain.  This morning I'm a bit better.  I have my glasses spread open across the patch & I'm writing this post using only my "good" eye ... lol!

Incidentally, John took the tree damage amazingly well.  He said it doesn't look bad at all & that he could think of worst things that could have happened.  God bless him   : )

18 comments:

Simple Pleasure said...

Dearest Shirlee,
So sorry to hear of your misadventure...glad you went to the doctor for treatment. Please keep us posted...hope you are feeling better by the time you read this.
Happy to hear John's response to your trimming...now, I would have made things worse by attempting to "even" it out...LOL
With prayers,
Patricia

Frances said...

OOOHHH!!! I read your post and was saying that the entire time!! I hope it's not too painful and that you get a good doctor's report today!! Eye injuries are so scary to me! Take care of yourself!!
Plus--your tree doesn't look bad at all! I was expecting the Charlie Brown Christmas tree from your description! HA HA But it is fine!
Hope you'll be back to normal in a few days!

The Bear's Blog said...

Oh Miss Shirlee, you poor baby. Wish I lived closer, I would come and take care of you.

We are praying that your injury will be much improved today.

As for your little tree - it's "bee-u-tee-ful", remember the little tree that Charlie Brown brought home (A Charlie Brown Christmas)? In the eyes of its beholder it was perfect.

Stop worrying and get better. That, is an order. Maybe watching a Christmas movie, a cookie and a glass of milk would make you smile.

Heaps of Hugs
Prudence & The Gang ♥

Shebafudge said...

Oh no Shirlee! I hope your eye is not too badly damaged. Are you on any painkillers for it? Sending you hugs and prayers for a speedy recovery! xx

Trace4J said...

Oh my friend!!
Sending you a big giant hug.

The Inspired Stitcher said...

Oh Shirlee, you poor thing. I've scraped my eye before doing a similar thing. I know that pain and it's no fun at all. I'll send special positive thoughts that you heal quickly.

P.S. The tree really doesn't look that bad. :-)

Robin in Virginia said...

I like the way John thinks, Shirlee! It could have been much worse. Praying your eye mends and heals properly. Thinking of you!

Robin in Virginia

Sarah in Stitches said...

Oh my goodness! That sounds like an awful experience. Hope your eye feels better soon! :(

Annette-California said...

oooh Shirlee! I was holding my breath the whole time reading your post.
Hope your eye heals fast and that you have no infections. Your tree does look beautiful. HUGS - love Annette

Kaisievic said...

Oh no, Shirlee! Such bad luck - please look after yourself, dear one.

Kaisievic said...

P.S. I am with John, the tree looks okay.

Vickie said...

Oh my! I am praying for you Shirlee.

gracie said...

You poor gal. It certainly has not been a good time for you. I hope there will be no infection and your eye will heal quickly.

Pam in IL said...

Do take care of that eye! Your tree looks really cute too.

Ann at Beadlework. said...

Oh poor you, what an unpleasant thing to happen. I hope it clears up nicely for you and that you can get back to doing some of the things you enjoy very soon.

jennifer768 said...

Oh no Shirlee! I am so very sorry to see that you have injured yourself. It is scary when things happen to your eyes.Praying that all is better soon.And the little pine well it will be okay too. Big hugs,Jen

Kevin said...

Oh Shirlee!! I'm so sorry about your accident with the branch and your eye. Just reading this makes my eye hurt thinking about what you are going through. I just feel awful. Thank God the doctor got you in right away to treat it and patch it. I sure hope it's not causing as much discomfort today (Sunday) and certainly am thinking of you and praying that this

Kevin said...

Ugh - got cut off! Just want you to know I'm thinking and praying for you to have a speedy and painless recovery. I hope you're feeling a little better today. Kevin