Eye venture

I had a bit of unwanted excitement on Tuesday. What happened was that I went to a private hospital on the island for my eye check-up. It wasn't the first time. Every few months, I'm required to go for a review of my eye problem. Sign of growing older, surely.

At the hospital, I'd be put through a series of tests that would guarantee making my pockets lighter. Every time. Ouch!

This time around, the doctor decided to peer deeper into my eyeballs and told me that he would be dilating the pupils. So there I was, sitting outside his room while every now and then his nurse would come and squeeze some solution into my eyes and then shine a torchlight at them. And finally, my pupils were regarded as dilated enough for the doctor to run his tests.

Now the problem is that once the pupils have been dilated, they do not revert to the original condition quickly enough. It takes time, possibly several hours to recover. But there I was, alone at the hospital. The tests were at an end and I was free to go home.

Unfortunately, the moment I drove out of the carpark, I was confronted by a blazing glare. If you don't know what it's like, just look at an over-exposed photograph. For the first time, the world looked so bright to me. Excruciatingly bright. Couldn't keep my eyes opened for long. I didn't expect this and I didn't have any sunglasses with me. But what to do? I was already on the road and driving.

Luckily, I had the presence of mind to remember that the hospital was near The Old Frees' Association and that was where I headed slowly. After a lot of squinting, I made it to the OFA, parked the car and retreated to the library. Good, I was alone. I could draw all the curtains and cut down on the light. Rested there for more than two hours, then went for lunch.

By then, my eyes were better. The world still looked very bright but at least, my eyes weren't watering any more and I didn't have to squint. However, my vision was still affected. I couldn't focus correctly on the distance. Everything looked fuzzy. But I knew it was already safe for me to get back on the road.

So I took the car and began driving back to Bukit Mertajam. It was a slow drive and I guessed along the way, my eyes began to refocus properly. I looked into the distance and couldn't help marvelling at how bright the day was. The sky was a deep blue tinge and the clouds were white. The BM hill before me was etched out sharply against the blue sky. I thought to myself: was the day exceptionally clear today or were my eyes playing tricks on me today? Guess I'll never know because nobody answered this particular question of mine on facebook...