I didn't know James Joyce had iritis. I knew he had eye problems, but not specifically this. I doubt he had access to steroid drops. How he wrote Ulysses half blind is beyond me. For me, the effects of the dilation drops are worse than the blurring of the condition. You feel otherworldly. It is bizarrely difficult to absorb information when your vision is blurry. Although I am severely shortsighted, I have excellent vision with my contacts/glasses and this week of crappy sight has made me realise how alienating it is not being able to see properly. I am 'praying even though atheist' - to quote Helen Fleet - that the inflammation has gone down and I can reduce the damned medication this afternoon. Am so glad the eye hospital is literally five minutes from me. Off to do my ten o'clock slot. I feel like Howard Hughes, washing my hands twenty times a day.
10 comments:
Do hope it's getting better. Know how horrible th ewhole dilation thing is.
thanks, cusp, thankfully the inflammation is subdued so i can half the drops for the next week. some blood tests are back, all normal, but lots more still to come! i can only hope it is idiopathic - i think most cases are - and there is no bastard underlying autoimmune illness going on. anyway i love the eyedrops for calming things down. i was thinking about james joyce and how he must have truly suffered for his art.
Sending strong wishes for your betterment, NMJ.
And look, you are allowed to be a great writer but not to have the eye affliction, ok?
hope your eyes settle down soon NMJ. those dilation drops can drive one round the bend...i become so light sensitive i have to wear sunglasses indoors. yeah, poor james joyce and many others...I often think how people died of TB, a disease that can mostly be cured nowadays. BTW, your little nephew is sooooo cute :)
Hey there you poor red eyed thing. i can totally relate to the exhaustion of having to bloody squint at everything and the constant ache just too close to the brain for comfort. Am glad to read here that things are easing off somewhat. Will keep checking and in the meantime sending big hug and lots of love
Tanvi x
thanks, willow, yes the guy 'fox' comment heartbreakingly cute.
hey tanvi, although we don't know each other except through blog comments, i have thought of you this last week, full of admiration for how you cope with your eye situation. i think you are a star. i almost wept onto the slit lamp when he said the inflammation was dying down, i have been an anxious wreck all week. x
signs, i missed you out, am still blurry eyed..i really don't know how anyone could write a novel unless eyesight more or less functional. but i think james joyce was exceptional in many ways. a few emails & blog posts have been as much as i can manage & i can't read books/newspapers at all, watching tv only slightly easier. but the dilation drops are now twice instead of thrice so that is good.
Thank goodness for a reduction in the drops. Hope it makes it all a little less wearing than it's been the last few days.
James Joyce and Howard Hughes? There's a short story in there at the very least, I'm sure..
thanks, trews, yup, a relief for now that things are calming down!
Hope you're feeling OK.
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