Transplanting put me in the ER

[Rwise]

The things we learn the hard way, glad everything is going to be ok!

[katkootsharmoot]

Good thing you didn't wait for this reservation-only ER! Get well soon bud! Thank you for sharing the story so we'd raise awareness about this. Strict solid hand washing is a MUST after dealing with any soil or dirt.

In your case, I don't think the chemosis had to do with bacteria per-se (usually it takes a lot longer for this reaction to happen due to bacteria), but because there were so many irritants, both organic (bacteria etc) and non-organic chemicals (minerals, silicon, dirt, etc). The eye, lid and mucuous membranes like mouth and nose are not made to be in contact with any of these subtantaces. I always tell patients to treat them just like they would treat their vaginas or pee-hole; If you think it's not safe to let something touch them, then make sure it doesn't reach your eyes or noses (or of course, mouths). You would be surprised how often this happens.

Have a speedy recovery!

[vostok]

Last weekend I had quite the experience....

Saturday started off as any other day. Woke up, checked the babies, and noticed one was ready for a bigger pot. So I grab some ProMix Organics and Dr Earth dry amendments and mix it together. Transplant the seedling, and all is good. So I thought.

My wife decides we are going out for lunch. So in a rush, I rinse my hands off quickly and splash some water in my eyes and face. Little did I know, all those micro organisms that we depend on in our soil had been dumped into my eyes.

As I’m driving with my wife and kids, we pass a bunch of people getting ready to celebrate graduation in a parade. I make the inconsiderate joke, “man I miss high school” (As we pass all these beautiful girls). Of course my pregnant red-headed wife wasn’t happy.

Within seconds of my comment my eyes start itching. This was an itch I’ve never experienced. We all get those moments (typically in the am) when your eyes itch for a while. Well take that and times it by 20. My eyes were on fire. I never have allergies, thank God, but I thought maybe there was some pollen in the air and decided to grab some Visine and Claritin at a gas station. I put the visine in and it seemed to help one of my eyes. My other eye instantly got worse. It looked like I had the worse case of pink eye. There seemed to be a gelatinous substance that I assumed needed to come out. I thought maybe it’s a contact from years ago that got “lost” in my eye. So I try pulling it out and nothing happens. Then I look in the mirror to see the most disturbing eye I’ve ever seen. It was bright red and extremely swollen. At this point I was a little concerned and decided to go to an urgent care.

I walk up to the urgent care and the door is locked. A sign on the door says to call the receptionist. The receptionist (at an urgent care mind you) says “sorry but you need to make a reservation, and we can’t get you in until 4:00.” Well 4:00 was two hours away. Not being able to wait, I decided to go to the ER where HOPEFULLY i won’t need a reservation 🙄

After arriving at the ER I receive the greatest care, and find out I have Chemosis. What’s Chemosis you ask? It’s when your eye has some sort of bacterial irritant, and causes the thin layer covering your eyeball to become inflamed as it tries to fight off the outside irritant.

To wrap up this long story, doctors think that it was the organic fertilizer, teaming with bacteria that got splashed into my eyes while washing my face. On the other hand, my wife thought it was God punishing me for the rude comment I made about being back in high school.

The Lesson- always thoroughly wash your hands with soap after mixing up your soil.

**Heres a picture of what Chemosis is. This is not my eye, but mine looked pretty much the same. The gelatinous substance I tried to pull out? That was part of my eyeball.

Ok I read this many times but in truth I think not the bugs that caused an issue but some serious caustic burn possibly from some 'heavy' alkaline in the mix
to have caused so much eye damage the clue being when you say:

The gelatinous substance I tried to pull out? That was part of my eyeball.

good luck

[Greenlivin]

Very possible