ABMD

stands for "Anterior basement membrane dystrophy", which Doc #10+, surprisingly, was certain to be causing me grief. [Note: None of the docs before him had been this confident in diagnosing my condition.] Apparently, it is a corneal disorder that is characterized by recurrent erosions of the epithelium (skin like covering) of the cornea. This causes symptoms that may vary from mild irritation in the mornings to deeply painful episodes that are disabling.

Rewind to 2 saturdays ago
Was serving nursery at church. Had a pillowfight with two kids. Subsequently, eyes itched terribly.

Last tuesday
Cleaned up my cube.

Last wednesday/thursday
Eyes were super itchy. then i realised that my right eye's vision blurred.

Last friday
Called CGH to set an appt. After telling the nurse on the phone that my eye was hurting me, I was told that the next appt time was 22 FEBRUARY. -___- Nurse advised me to walk in at 3.30pm and that I would be the last patient. Which wasn't too bad, cos it was quite empty and I got to see the doc quite quickly.

Was quite pleased that the Doc who discharged me (let's call him Doc #6) wasn't around. 3-4 other docs took turns to see my eyes. Photos were taken. Discussions were held. Doc #7 (who had previously thought that eyeshadow = mascara) said I looked ridiculous (in reference to the amount of flakes/tissue fibres on my eye lids, resulting from the application of "excessive eye drops").

Conclusion: possibly viral. Unlikely bacteria or fungus. Was prescribed some lubricants to sooth my eyes and told to come back on Mon.

Monday (Today)
Saw Doc #6. -_- Had to correct him when he wrote "No CLW (contact lens wear) since Oct 06". [Note: I haven't worn contact lens since Oct 05.] Thankfully, he called for a senior doc's (Doc #10+) advice. Doc #10+ was quite confident when he diagnosed me as suffering from ABMD and a viral infection. Was quite frank too, when he said that it might take months to heal. Oh well. At least they've identified (or so they think) what the causes are.

On hearing my response to his queries on my pastimes, Doc #10+ remarked that he thought cross-stitching was dead. He was in disbelief when I described my sedentary life i.e. office, online games, stitching, occasional badminton, cos of the lack of exposure to irritants. Made me wonder if springcleaning my cube caused this recent spate of discomfort. =P