Thursday, June 4, 2015

Swollen Eye

Poor little Caitlin has a swollen eye! I was shocked to see that she woke up one morning and one eye was red and swollen. I brought her to the GP downstairs who prescribed antibiotic, and constantly assured me, the anxious, worried and frightened mother, that she do not need any eye drop or wash. So I gave her two doses of the antibiotic that day (once in morning and once at night) but the next day, the swelling got worse. The upper and lower eyelids were so swollen that her eye look permanently shut! So we went to the GP again who referred her to KKH.

Here's the answers I got from the doctor at KKH.

  • It's not contagious.
  • It's an infection of the eyelid, most likely due to her excessive rubbing of the eye when there is a broken skin on the lid. He suspected the broken skin is due to insect bite, mosquito or something else.
  • It should get better in two days. If not, we have to go back to the eye clinic. We were given an appointment in case we need to return.
  • Caitlin has a stubbornness to reject medicine and spit it out while we feed it to her. So if she continue to reject the medicine and the swelling persists, she has to be admitted to hospital and be put on drip.


So when we come home, hubby changed the bed sheet and vacuumed the bed. Maybe she was bitten by an insect while she was sleeping, maybe not, but we are not taking any chances! I just mopped the floor with tea tree essential oil yesterday. Every night starting from yesterday night, I diffuse lavender essential oil to ward off the mosquitoes and hope we all enjoy a better sleep.

The experience at KKH was quite good. The waiting time was long but the process seamless. There was a flat charge of $103 for children emergency cases that included doctor's consultation, blood test, urine test, medicine etc. But when I was purchasing the medicine from the pharmacy, I was told that I have to pay for the amoxicillin antibiotic as it is not a standard drug. Standard drugs, like paracetamol, are free. I hope more drugs can be subsidised. This could make a big difference to low income families.

Pray hard that Caitlin get well soon!