Towards the end of the forum, I found myself in the middle of a sand fight, and quickly learned why mothers always tell their kids not to throw sand at each other, but not before I received a tightly-packed fistful of fine, oil-laden, black sand smack-dab in my left eye. Hit at full force from only five feet away, I went down. My first instinct was to rinse the sand out in the waves. Eventually, I gained the attention of some awesome fellow volunteers who pulled me aside, hijacked someone’s sacred bottled water, and helped me flush out my eye as I whimpered like a baby.
They did a pretty good job at rinsing most of the sand out, but there was still a pile in the bottom lid that just would not leave. My eye was sore and it pained me to blink, but I was not the least bit concerned and assumed it would magically figure itself out overnight, the way bodies tend to do.
Two days later, my eye was still a bit sore, and it still bothered me to blink. When I looked upwards, I could see a small cluster of black spots, as if a flock of birdies were constantly following me around, even indoors. It didn’t bother me too much though, and I still assumed that it would figure itself out on it’s own. The birdies would eventually go away.
Then a buddy of mine woke up with his eye swollen and red (sympathy pains?) and clearly infected. When I heard that PCMO (Peace Corps Medical Office) had prescribed him antibiotic eyedrops, it finally dawned on me – hey! Maybe I should call PCMO!!!
The conference came to an end, and our PCMO nurse, Mishna, requested that I come to Yaounde for a week and see an ophthalmologist. Having 20-20 vision (at least up until this point), I had never had a really intense visit with an eye doctor, and certainly was not thrilled that my first time would be in Cameroon. The doctor, however, turned out to be very nice, and very accommodating to my childish squirming and fear as she put funky drops in my eye and attached sheets of paper DIRECTLY TO MY EYEBALLS (seriously…is this what is supposed to happen, or only in Cameroon?!). A few hours later, I walked blindly out of her office, my eyes too dilated to even recognize my own friends back at the case (transit house).
The ophthalmologist had found that my cornea was scratched, and prescribed some sort of goop to pour in my eyeball every night for a week. At the end of the week, my eye was no longer sore and the birdies had disappeared, but I was still seeing spots whenever I moved my eye around. After a lot of begging and a realization that there was really nothing more she could do, Mishna released me back into the wild, allowing me to return North and attend the “Men as Partners” conference that another volunteer, Lola, had organized in Garoua.
I was back up North for only five days before Mishna called and told me that if I was still seeing spots, I should come back down immediately for a follow up appointment with the ophthalmologist. So I made the 30ish hour trip (I know I may exaggerate a wee bit sometimes, but this is for real) back down to Yaoundé for Med-Hold Round 2.
This time, a different pokey eye doctor did the same old weird drops and paper act, but this time he also put a goop-covered lens directly onto my eyeball and pushed as hard as he could, telling me not to blink as he moved it around for 17-gazillion hours to check my retina. (I blinked once, silly me, and the whole process had to be started all over again).
The doctor found nothing – even my cornea had healed. PCMO decided to write up a field consult to Washington DC to see what to do next with me. But you know, that internet over there in good ol’ America, it’s tricky business. No way can we respond to someone in less than a week, not even for a medical concern! After about a week and a half, PCMO finally told me to go home to Sanguéré-Paul, and just forget about it. Hopefully things would take care of themselves, and if not, I’d come back down for a check-up in a month.
Welp, after another 30 hour trip, I was back in Sanguéré-Paul. For how long this time? A whopping TWO DAYS before PCMO called me and said they had heard from DC and I would be medically evacuated to Morocco. I needed to come back down to Yaounde ASAP. Luckily I hadn’t unpacked my suitcase yet!
Anyways, after another 5 days in Yaounde (at least I was in good company with other volunteers who were in town for a “training of trainers” conference), I boarded a plane to Casablanca! Greeted at the airport by a man holding a sign with a Peace Corps logo and my name (I’ve always wanted that to happen!!), I got into a super fancypants car and was driven on the fancy paved roads to Rabat.
In Rabat, I stayed at a hotel with a few other med-evac volunteers (one of my buddies from Cameroon was there getting his tooth fixed, one kid from PC Liberia, and another from PC Sierra Leone) and some PC Morocco volunteers as well. The other med-evacs had been there for a few days already, and were able to show me around the city.
The next morning, a Peace Corps car picked me up and drove me to the office (I think they were under the impression that I was slightly blinded, when in reality my vision was still 20-20, just with the added bonus of spots). I had a very thorough physical exam and learned that my reflexes are tiptop, I do in fact know where my nose is, and my liver and spleen are definitely still intact in the correct locations. (Apparently I am wildly unaware of various body parts that can affect vision).
Then I went to the Moroccan ophthalmologist who had me look into all sorts of fun machines: one that blew air into my eyes, one that showed me a picture of a teddy bear riding a rocket ship, and one that took a picture of my optic nerve (which, if you’ve never seen your own optic nerve, looks just like a jelly fish!). She then put drops (though much less funky than the Cameroonian ones) into my eyes, and did that same old lens-pushed-up-against-the-eyeball shenanigan. I didn’t blink this time – learned my lesson! I was also able to see my own blood vessels through the mirrored lens she was pressing against my eye. (It looked just like flying over the Sahara!)
Conclusion – the doctor found absolutely no damage to the retina or the
optic nerve, which is what the concern was. The spots will eventually go away once my the
weird jelly part of my eyeball regains strength. One full day in Morocco and I was already
medically cleared!
Luckily for me, the following day was National Day in Cameroon, meaning the Peace Corps office was closed and nobody would be around to buy me a plane ticket. Oh well! Guess that means I have a few days to sight see without worries!
Below are a few pictures from my brief little vacation in Rabat (if you're friends with me on facebook, you can check out the whole album here).
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| Boxes of happiness. (Rainbow chickens!) |
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| Entrance to the Chellah -- the Roman ruins |
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| Inside the Chellah |
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| Delicious eggplant, pepper, and potato sammiches. |
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| Inside the Medina |
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| A gigantic seaside cemetary. |
After nearly a month and a half
of being yanked back and forth by PCMO and living in cases (though I would like to say hats off to Mishna for being incredibly supportive throughout the whole process, and to all the volunteers who entertained me throughout my seemingly-indefinite medhold), I’m finally back in
Sanguéré-Paul, and happy to be here!
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