Grannymar

Well not exactly. But I want you to listen up and pay attention.

On Sunday I was busily sorting and organising the very first Grannymar International Sports Special for 2012! It was fun with plenty of suggestions for events.

Now what happened next is a bit of a blur. Literally! It might have been the glare of the lights (inside my brain) or all those sequins suggested by Steph, but something happened. I know I turned my head to the left and felt a pain in my right eye. Now all my life all you had to do was say the word ‘Eye’ to me and they went red. In fact my mother often called me ‘scaldy eyes’!

So now back to Sunday.

I pushed on and tried to ignore the problem thinking like a man - if you ignore something it will go away! It didn’t and it seemed to get worse. Knowing there was a history of eye problems in the family I decided as evening went on to have it checked out. One of my younger brothers had a problem a few years ago and ignored it for a few days. When finally pushed into going to see about it, he was given a dressing down and admitted for immediate surgery as the retina had become detached. In this kind of situation it is imperative to seek help ASAP. Alas the problem was not resolved and he has since lost the sight in that eye. Since another brother has been diagnosed with Glaucoma I am sure you can understand my concern.

Being a weekend I called the local out of hours medical service for advice and they suggested I head straight to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast. Since my newly returned friendly neighbour was not at home I called a taxi. So armed with my permanently packed overnight bag we set out on the nearest thing to a Formula 1 race. I did say that I was not pregnant and that we could slow a little but the driver was not amused. Racing down the M2 is a little like the M50 in Dublin right now, a chicane of cones all the way. Thankfully I was trying to keep my eye closed and could not see the speedometer!

We arrived safely and I was seen by the triage nurse quickly, followed by a rather long wait. I did not complain. I have gone through A&E before and each time the need was really urgent and I was seen to immediately. While I was looked after others had to wait. Sunday night was my turn to wait. My turn eventually came and a handsome young Toyboy took great care to check me out thoroughly. He even tried turning me into an ‘orange woman’! The dye he used for one of the tests was bright orange and some of it overflowed onto my face. It clashed with my red rims and flushed cheeks.

Finally we discovered there was no major damage but the cornea was scratched. I was given some drops and allowed home. I was assured that I did the correct thing by having it checked out. So please mind your eyes they have to work for a lifetime!

Imagine not being able to see my Toyboys…..