Eyes Wide Shut

27th September 2006 - Kathmandu
No, this is not a review of the classic Cruise/Kidman movie, rather a brief update on my (John's) eye injury. As you may remember, I got something under my contact lense during a sandstorm when we were staying with a nomadic family close to the K2 mountain range on the Kazakstan/China border last month. It was nothing serious and I got treatment for it at the No 1 Hospital in Kashgar and free bonus surgery to remove some small pimple-like growths from under my right eyelid. Apparently these are quite harmmless and very common for people of our age (old).
Anyway, problem solved, lenses back in, eyes wide open again, and, you guessed it, more dust and an opening of the old wound. However this time complicated by a bacterial infection which resulted in a visit to the National Eye Hospital in Kathmandu. As God would have it, straight into the office of the head opthermologist, and English trained eye specialist and head of the retina clinic. This time though it was a little more serious and he advised against travelling to Africa until tests confirmed that the bacterial infection had cleared and the abraison shown some signs of healing. So for the last several days I've been sitting on my bed, eyes wide shut and bandaged with nothing to look forward to but the next two hourly antibiotic drop and my next visit to the eye hospital for tests which will hopefully show that I'm cleared for travel at the end of the week.
Well, patience is its own reward and the eye is now free from infedtion, well on the way to a full healing of the abrasion and ready to see the sights of Africa. It will still need regular medication for the next couple of weeks but I've learned my lesson, Eyes wide Shut in a sandstrom and no more contact lenses. Just in case!