Hmmm, doesn’t have the same ring as tomato/tomato…The eye doc gave us a piece of paper that has blepharitis (inflammation of the eyelid margins) and chalazion (a lump that fomrs in the eyelid as a result of blockage of an oil-producing gland in the upper or lower eyelid) on it. Guess it doesn’t matter which it is, as long as it goes away. We’ve been applying the warm compresses (which she pretty much hates now) twice a day and putting in the TobraDex eye ointment (which she’s not too crazy about and I suck at because her long eyelashes keep getting in the way of the ointment getting into her eye) 3 times a day. It’s been 4 days since we’ve been to the eye doc and I’m not really seeing much improvement. She still has big, disgusting bumps inside her lower lids and who knows what inside her right upper eye lid, which is still swollen and red. Some days it seems like it just never ends, ya know? It’s such a good thing that she’s so good natured about life…
But the big news is that we had our appointment with immigration this morning and they approved Manolis for his permanent residence status, so he’ll be getting his green card in the mail in 3 weeks! It was an easy interview. We took Maria with us. He told us some people are easier to interview than others. I think it was pretty obvious to him that we have a real marriage. He said they still catch many people trying to fake a marriage to get into this country — which results in big fines and/or jail time. So Manolis is ok to work, travel, and live here now. The only thing we have to do is to file one final set of papers in May 2008 — how am I ever going to remember that??!!
Maria Rose
The blog of a little girl dealing with hydrocephalus and a variety of neurological problems.
Hi, I came across your page while searching for chalazions…my daughter has had them for the past SIX years. It’s rough, we’re going through a nasty one right now. Good luck to you. I think the baby shampoo does work well (we hadn’t been doing them, uh-oh); and putting part of a potato in the microwave helps the compress stay hot. Again, good luck. They do pass eventually.
Yeah everything I find emphasizes the cleaning and the compresses more than the medication. She doesn’t like the compresses though, which makes it tough. We mostly do them when she is asleep.
Good tip about the potato. We have also tried wrapping it in Saran wrap, which keeps it from cooling from evaporation, but we think the plastic might be rubbing against the tender areas which is why she is fussing.
I shared my experience and struggle with chalazion in my following blog. It also describes how I finally found the ultimate remedy.
http://chalazion-treatment.blogspot.com
Amit B
Thanks Amit, for the tip. We will try green tea next time Maria gets any chalazion(s?). Did you ever try a green tea compress? I’ve heard putting tea bags on your eyes decreases swelling (e.g. in the morning, from fluid retention), perhaps if it was green tea, it would help the chalazion?? Glad it worked for you and I appreciate your description of how it feels. Since my daughter isn’t verbal, it’s only a guess as to how miserable she is. Fortunately, she’s been chalazion-free for maybe a year or more?
During our computer cleanup extravaganza they deleted a lot of stuff, including Maria’s blog address. I looked on the internet and this is the closest I’ve come, but they don’t give out the address. So you can send me instructions on how to reconnect.
Dad & Ida