A sight for a sore eye

My left eye has a big scratch on the inside of the upper eyelid, making it feel like I have a sand dune in it. It's tearing constantly, it hurts, and it's sensitive to light. ~whine~

Not sure how or when it happened, although when I put in that contact this morning, it burned like crazy and then it was hard to remove (it was fine yesterday) to check it. After I'd been out and about this afternoon, lenses in place, I tried to pop the lens out because it was clearly irritated and tearing. Well....just as I pulled on the eye to release the contact (they're hard lenses), Cheswick strolled just under my nose along the countertop, plumy tail high in the air and brushing my face. The lens did not fall into my hand, and it felt like it was still in my eye, but not over the iris.

Every contact lens wearer has "lost" a lens in the eye at some point. It slips onto the white and can be pushed, using fingers just below the eye, back into position. First you have to chase it all over the eye, however. It slides to the nose side. Then just under the iris, slipping away just as you think you've got it in position. Ooo..then let's go to the top of the eye, waaayyy back so you have to look down and at the same time manipulate the elusive disk into a place where you have a chance to slip it back onto the iris.

Except I couldn't find the lens. I turned on all the lights and checked my eye in the mirror. I pushed. I rolled my eyes. I got Tony to look with a magnifying glass and a light. It FELT like it was there. It certainly wasn't on the counter, or in my hand, or on Cheswick (I checked).

The eye got redder and redder, tearing more and more, so I called my eye doc and explained the situation (it was, at least, just before they closed -- not my usual luck) and was told to come in. At the clinic, the doc flipped on the very bright light and looked. Up. Down. To the side and up...then down. Nothing.

Except, she said, a very unhappy eyelid. Swollen and angry red with a big scratch.

So I'm stuck with glasses for this week, plus 4x a day eyedrops, a red, watery eye, and -- I thought -- the cost of a new contact. Not a good Monday.

Once home, I took a flashlight into the bathroom to go over everything once more, although I knew it had to be gone. Patted down the throw rugs. Examined every crumpled Kleenex discarded as I was mopping the teary eye. Moved glass, toothbrush, lotions. Peered into the hairbrush.

It's just money. Right.

Tony came into the bathroom to check on me and to aid in the futile search....and as he was looking on his side of the counter, he spied a greenish disk in his sink...probably a good 3 feet from where I was standing when the removal-with-Cheswick-strolling action went down.

Yup. That's my lens.

He said he'd probably have turned on the water without noticing it, and washed it down the drain. (Oh, I've taken wrench to pipe to retrieve a lens -- long ago when I first started wearing them. Since then I always, always close the drain.)

So I'm squinting and swollen and red-eyed tonight, but I don't have to buy a new lens. And the eye will heal. I am grateful for that, and reminded of how precious our sight is. Thanks to the universe for watching out for me today.