Deep down in our hearts, every woman is vain, to a certain extent. Anyone who says she isn't, is a rare specimen indeed.
From young, one can see a little girl wanting to dress like mummy, clomping in mummy's high heels and even using mummy's lipstick. Sound familiar? We've all been through this stage and we've seen it in our children and grandchildren. This is a trait inherent in us women.
I remember when I was in lower secondary school, I discovered that I was short-sighted and had to wear spectacles. I hated the unfamiliar frames resting heavily on the bridge of my nose and its arms curling behind my ears. To make things worse, my father said that I looked like Micky Mouse!
I never forgot his comment and it really mortified me. Whenever I could, I would take off my glasses and walk around with the world in a blur. I preferred that to looking like Micky Mouse.
When I went overseas for my teacher-training, I took the opportunity to don contact lenses. In those days the contacts were hard lenses that covered the whole eye and it took quite a while for my eyes to get acclimatised to wearing them. But my vanity was appeased. I no longer looked like Micky Mouse. I looked pretty.
I used contact lenses for more than 40 years, relishing the comfort of soft lenses when they became available. No one was the wiser when they looked at me. To everyone I had good eyesight. I didn't need glasses. I could even read without reading glasses.
Unfortunately my eye problems later necessitated the use of hard lenses because of the eyedrops I have to use. Now I can't even use contact lenses anymore and alas! I'm back to looking like Micky Mouse!! Ugh!
Why? What happened? Well, I'm a glaucoma patient and have been since my teen years. I know it is a disease that older people contract but I got it when I was seventeen and praise the Lord, it was discovered when I was a college student in the UK.
I had been getting very severe headaches and the college nurse came to get me to see the visiting doctor. I was walking behind her when suddenly I couldnt see where I was going. She turned round to find me among the rose bushes and quickly got me to the sick bay where the doctor immediately had the college van rush me to the eye hospital in Wolverhampton. It was a medical emergency and I was very afraid because I could hardly see anything, even when someone right before me asked me how many fingers I could see.
Glaucoma was diagnosed and I was hospitalised. Treatment was in the form of eyedrops and onion soup. I was in and out of hospital for three months because of the headaches.
I have closed angle glaucoma where the eye pressure increases suddenly and there is severe pain (headaches), nausea and blurred vision. If left untreated, blindness results within one to two days.
What is glaucoma? It is often known as the thief of sight because there are no symptoms. The eye has two chambers and the fluid in the anterior chamber is usually drained as quickly as it forms. When the fluid is not drained, the pressure builds up in the eye. The increase in pressure causes damage to the eye and the optic nerve and leads to blindness if not treated.
In glaucoma patients, eyedrops are prescribed to lower the pressure but sometimes they do not bring the pressure down to an acceptable level and surgery has to be done. There is laser surgery where the laser burns holes so that the fluid can drain easily and there is also the non-laser surgery where a hole is made so that the fluid can drain from the eye.
I've had both types of surgery. The laser burned three holes in my left eye while my right eye now has two holes made(I've had 2 operations) to drain the fluid. Because of these surgical procedures, I'm not allowed to use contact lenses anymore for fear of bacteria entering the eye through these holes.
So I've no choice but to look like Micky Mouse again. Ugh! Such a blow to my vanity as I swear wearing glasses adds years to me. I've always looked younger than my age and now my eyes have to peer from behind glasses. Sigh... BUT, there's something that cannot be taken away and that is my DIMPLE, which everyone remembers. They can forget how I look like but they never forget my dimple! Hee..hee... hee!
So therein is the salvaging feature. My dimple! According to the Chinese, having a dimple indicates that one is a good imbiber of liquor. One can drink and drink! I remember my father used to give me cherry brandy when I was young and I enjoyed it very much. I could drink and not get dizzy. However it wasn't the case later because I suddenly developed an allergy to liquor!! I couldn't even have a glass of wine without breaking into rashes.
So here's to women, to my fellow sisters, enjoy your looks, smile and SMILE, for a smile is like a magnet. It brings you friends and happy company.
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