If it's not one thing, it's another.

I'm pretty sure I could scream right now (if I wasn't afraid of waking Makenzie up from her nap). I am so irritated. Let me rewind a little bit . . .

Remember those "red eyes" Alexis has had this week? First I was thinking it was a sinus infection because of the way Lex was feeling, then I thought they were allergies. I have had allergies my whole life and my little sister has them very badly. So allergies aren't something new to me. Well, they have only gotten worse.

Yesterday Alexis had to come home from school again because of her eyes. When I picked her up she kept saying she just wanted to get to the car as quick as possible so she could shut her eyes. Again they were red and swollen. She would constantly blink just to avoid the light. When we got home I kept asking her a hundred questions trying to figure out what exactly this was. Before school (and for the past 2 days) I gave her allergy medicine and put allergy drops in her eyes. They did nothing. Alexis says her eyes aren't itchy, they actually hurt. Under her eyes, above her eyes (as far up as her eyebrows) and her eye lids hurt when you touch them. The eyes themselves are completely red and swollen.

At softball last night I was telling a friend of ours about Lex's eyes. She said her husband dealt with that same kind of thing for years. So I talked to him about it. He has iritis which is a painful inflammation of the iris of the eye. When I explained some of Alexis' symptoms to him he said that was exactly how he felt. As soon as I got home I researched iritis. Interestingly enough, there is a connection between iritis and lyme disease & rheumatoid arthritis. The amount of people with chronic lyme disease who end up with eye problems is outrageous. I knew I couldn't put this off any longer in case it was something more serious like that. 

This morning Alexis' eyes looked and felt the same. She could barely open them. There was no way I could expect her to go to school. I called the doctor as soon as they opened and got an appointment for an hour later. When we got there the doctor asked Alexis how she felt. She explained it the best she could. Afterwards the doctor asked me if I noticed any yucky stuff in her eye - that would go along with pink eye. I haven't noticed it at all. That's also something I am very familiar with so I knew from the start this was just different. The doctor spent 2 seconds looking in her eyes. He said "Well, her eyes are bloodshot but since there isn't any yucky gunk in them then it is just allergies". Why though? Why is it just allergies? Because her eyes are red? Nothing else points to allergies. I started to get really irritated. I reminded him I've been giving her allergy medicine and that I've been putting allergy drops in her eyes and it has made no difference. I reminded him that she has lyme disease and questioned if it could be something more related to the lyme. He said no and that he was sure it's allergies. He gave us different eye drops to try and that's it.

I'm just not buying it. I really really don't think it is allergies. I feel so helpless. I am going to try these eye drops for a couple days and see if it makes a difference. If it doesn't I'm just going to take Alexis right to an opthamologist. I don't want to wait too long in case it is something more.

Alexis has to read a book and do a book report on it. How in the world is she supposed to read an entire book when she can't stop blinking. I'm not even exaggerating - she doesn't stop blinking. If any of you see her you will notice it right away. She hasn't been able to read much this week. Yesterday she was stressed out because some of her friends in her class already finished the book. She can barely read a page. Last night my mom came over to read with Lex and my mom ended up having to read to her. I know that's not good for Alexis but we have no other option right now. Alexis has a hard enough time when it comes to reading and comprehending things right now. This just adds one more challenge to the list for her.

This just makes me really frustrated. I wish Alexis was seeing a Lyme Disease Specialist at times like this because they would be more familiar with the connection between lyme disease and the effects it can have on the eye. It makes me crazy that all the doctors aren't on the same page when it comes to lyme disease. Why can't they be? Why can't they just figure this disease out, change the regulations that go along with it and get all these doctors up to speed.

On another note - if I am being too dramatic and it is just allergies doing this to my little girl then I will be very happy. I would much rather Alexis have allergies than find out that the lyme disease has done something else to her. I am so sick of different things happening to her.

If it's not one thing, it's another.