The Whites of Seth’s Eyes

Over the summer, due to all the swimming in our community pool, Seth’s eyes often got irritated due to the chlorine. Since then he’s been fine, until yesterday.

Sunday morning, he awoke with two red eyes. Out of the blue. We quickly called the doctor….getting a doctor on a Sunday is no easy feat. She said it’s probably an allergy. He should take Benadryl and use Visine. What does he sleep with, she asked?

His favorite teddy is always by his side, along with a host of other animals….subject to change on any given day. Piggy, bunny, woofy dog, etc. She said they could be carrying irritants. Teddy, a dust mite culprit?! Beloved teddy?? I guess it’s not entirely shocking since teddy seldom gets a bath. Frankly, it slips my mind to do it, but it does make sense.

That said, we gave teddy a good soaking. But, Seth’s left eye was still quite red today. We kept him home from school and made a doctor’s appointment. Luckily he wasn’t symptomatic, so he didn’t have discomfort. He was just restless all day, missing his friends in pre-K.

We had to wait all day til our doctor appointment, and then sat restlessly an hour in his waiting room. I just kept thinking what a germ factory this is. No wonder kids get sick so much. A mere trip to the doctor’s office for one thing can expose you to a host of other unwelcome viruses, etc. I now carry Purell with me wherever I go and often spring it on Seth.

I hope this isn’t the start of a challenging winter for Seth healthwise. It was just two weeks ago that I took him to the doctor for a flu shot. No offense to the pediatrician, who I happen to like a lot, but I’m not looking to be a regular in his office.

Seth was thrilled not to get a shot this time…and he made out well in the end, with his usual lollipop.

We’re keeping him home again tomorrow, and he’s now on prescription eye drops. It’s like torture to give them to him, but hopefully it will do the trick.