When I woke up this morning, my eyes weren’t as dry as they have been lately. I didn’t use that eye ointment last nite since I used it for the previous 4 nites or so. I wanted to give my eyes a break. But I don’t think that not using the ointment was a factor in the less dryness this morning.

I really hope that this is a sign of good things to come. I’m hoping that the situation stabilizes and improves. I really want to be able to wear my contacts to work again. I had no problem with them yesterday … and I was on the computer almost all afternoon and nite. I’ve got ‘em in again today. So far so good.

Mood: anxious   NASCAR Race Day

That’s how I feel when I wake up in the morning. Like I slept face down in the sand. My eyes are extremely dry. And it feels like it’s starting to get worse. I was gonna call my eye doctor to see how much an exam to check things out would be. But I think I’m gonna hold off on that … at least ’til the end of the week.

I stopped at Target on my way home from work to see about getting some lubricating eye drops or artificial tears. I found some ointment. It’s Bausch & Lomb Advanced Eye Relief Night Time Lubricant Eye Ointment. I’m hoping it’s exactly what I need. The only thing that sucks is that it was about $8 for a 1/8oz tube. It’s TINY. It damn well better work for that price … LOL. I also bought Bausch & Lomb Advanced Eye Relief Dry Eye Environmental Lubricant Eye Drops. It even says “… fast relief from exposure to: … Computer Use”. My eyes have been kinda dry during the day lately too. I don’t know if it’s all in my head or not. But hopefully this eye gook stuff will help.

If things aren’t any better by the end of the week, then I AM going to call my eye doctor. I really want to go back to wearing my contacts at work again. I haven’t been able to since I started back. I can wear them on the weekend though. I think it’s because I’m up for at least an hour before I put my contacts in, so my eyes have a chance to lub-up and wake up and stuff. I don’t have that much time in the morning before work.

Mood: blah   Inside Nextel Cup

For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been having issues with my eyes. They’ve been REALLY bloodshot. Now … they’re normally a little bloodshot, not sure why, but they’ve always been that way. But for the past couple of weeks, they’ve been REALLY bad. Mainly right around the iris they’ve been really red. There were a few days where I couldn’t even wear my contacts.

I thought that the problem was either allergies or the contact solution I was using. I changed my contact solution after the issue that Bausch & Lomb had with the solution I used to use.

Thursday nite they were so bad that I actually decided that I needed to call and make an appointment with my eye doctor. I had been wearing my contacts for part of the day, but took them out in the afternoon. My eyes were really red and I even got a headache that wouldn’t go away. I was starting to freak out a little.

I called my eye doctor yesterday, but the earliest I could get in is Wednesday afternoon. So … I decided to go get some different contact solution. I went back to Bausch & Lomb … but not the kind they pulled off the shelves (obviously). I didn’t wear my contacts at all yesterday. They seemed pretty good. I had gotten some rewetting drops as well, and I was using those every now and then when my eyes felt dry. Seemed to help.

This morning I put in my contacts … a new pair too. I threw away my old pair since they had been in that other contact solution. I have had no issues with my eyes at all today. That makes be believe that it WAS the contact solution. There must be something in that brand that my eyes just don’t like.

I’ll have to see how my eyes are tomorrow and Monday. If they’re still okay, then I’m going to cancel my appointment. Hopefully that’ll be the case. It’ll save me some money.

What was ‘Step 1′? Well … it was ‘get off my ass and start getting in shape’. LOL A couple of weeks ago, I posted a couple lists. One of the things on one of the lists was that I wanted to change my exercise habits. Well … I started that today. I went for a walk earlier this afternoon. It was only about a 30 minute walk, but it was a start. I need to work up my stamina so I can go for longer walks. I am so frickin’ out of shape that isn’t not even funny. I’m hoping to change that this summer.

My plan is to start going for walks after work or later in the evening if it’s too hot when I get home from work. And if it’s crappy and rainy out, then I can do my ‘Walk Away the Pounds’ DVD. I’m gonna keep the walks at about 30 minutes for a while until I build up the stamina and then start increasing the length. Then, after I can go for hour walks, I plan to rotate the length of the walks … 30 minutes one day then 60 minutes the next. And do this every day of the week except for Sunday. I’m hoping the exercise will help my mood and make it so I’m not so damn tired all the time … as well as help me lose some weight.

I’ve already started working on my eating habits. I haven’t been snacking on junk food for a while … I never have it in my apartment. LOL When I get hungry in the evenings, I’ll eat things like crackers (Triscuits) and cheese or pretzels. I need to get some fruit in here too so I can snack on that. I still really need to work on portion control though. That’s a biggie for me.

Well … I’m gonna go sit out on my balcony for a while. It’s so nice out. I just can’t stay inside.

Mood: good

I heard something on the radio this morning that greatly concerned me. They were talking about the fact that Bausch & Lomb was recalling some of its solutions from store shelves.

New Health Alert Over Contact Lens Solution
Rare Fungal Infection Seen in Increasing Numbers in Past Year, Most Infected Wore Contacts

April 10, 2006 - Bausch & Lomb voluntarily suspended shipments of its ReNu MoistureLoc brand contact lens solution as the federal Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continue to investigate a rare fungal outbreak among contact lens users.

The decision was made after a preliminary investigation found that ReNu was used by many of those known so far to be infected, FDA officials said in a press conference Monday evening.

“The data … associates the use of certain products with some of these cases in a fairly dramatic fashion,” said Dr. Daniel G. Schultz, director of the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health.

Contact lens solution is used by all contact lens wearers to rinse and store their lenses when they are not wearing them. Bausch & Lomb is one of the largest manufacturers of both brand-name and generic solutions.

read the rest of the article

I have been using Bausch & Lomb ever since I first got my contacts. And which one is in my bathroom … the MoistureLoc one. The bottle is almost empty too. I was planning on getting some more this weekend (since I get paid on Thursday). I think I’ll be checking out a different brand … just to be safe. I’m gonna do some more searching online to see what I can find. My sister sent me the link to the article I posted above.

Even if it’s only just a slight chance that there are problems with the Bausch & Lomb products, that’s not a chance I’m willing to take. I already have eye allergies. I don’t wanna end up going blind. If I run across any other articles that have more info, I’ll post ‘em.