One of the common side effects of chemo is sensitivity to light. I've never been one to wear sunglasses. Since getting contacts last winter, I've noticed that the sun, or rather glare, bothers me more. In fact, I've bought several pairs of sunglasses, yet haven't worn any pair more than a handful of times before losing or breaking them. I have a pair in each car, but they are always so filthy that I don't want to wear them. However, I noticed Monday, when I was out and still feeling chemo fuzzy, that the sunlight was brutal. I could feel each UVA and UVB ray penetrating my skin, and it felt like needles were piercing my eyeballs.
Hmmmm....that's a little exaggeration. But I definitely felt (traditionally) vampirish.
So, when I was in WalMart (being stalked by the incredible puking child), I snatched a pair of sunglasses. Due to previously mentioned child and day-before-school-starts WalMart madness, I didn't try them on. I just grabbed a pair marked $5, figuring that I could always find something I liked better when I felt better, and headed home to the couch.
I'd slept incredibly poorly Monday night and was really dragging Tuesday afternoon, but following the advice of friends, I forced myself to do something. I rode my bike to Kroger. It was unnaturally quiet in the neighborhood. The sun was high. The atmosphere was heavy. I felt weak and hot flashy. Add it all together and reality just seemed different than "before." To top if all off, I realized my vision was different. Things were just not quite focused. Colors seemed unnatural. At one point, I thought, "I feel like I'm in an episode of Twilight Zone."
I did my little bit of shopping, and I did think to notice that, while I still felt weary and sort of fuzzy in the head, things seemed to be normally colored, if out of focus, which made me think perhaps I needed protein enzyme for my contacts, which I picked up.
Outside of Kroger, I load my bike bags with my produce, situate my water bottle and Bagallini in my front basket, preparing for the ride home and notice that it's not quite so Twilight Zone-ish.
However, putting on my sunglasses, things suddenly changed.
Yep, those sunglasses? They were amber tinted. Everything did look different because it was all amber tinted. It was the cheap glasses, not me at all.
And the protein enzyme has fixed the focus problem.
At least I can laugh at myself.
3 comments:
OH, Dawn, you are so funny. :-)
They say amber sunglasses are the best for the eyes, but when I had them I hated the way they distorted everything. 'Course I couldn't describe the images as eloquently as you, but the end result was I pitched them for a pair that were smokey grey. Much better!
I've always liked the light blue/purple ones myself. I am very sensitive to light; I have been told it is a common trait among very pale skinned people with blue eyes, such as myself. I've never liked the amber tinted ones (although the rose tinted ones are okay, if a bit ironic). I can't even see out of the dark grey ones.
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