Brilio.net/en - I was at the local ER in Denpasar on a sunny afternoon when the friendly Indonesian nurse typed into my Google translate app that I had a good chance of going blind. In that moment, I cursed Google. Some things are just better left lost in translation.
I had been warned of rabies and mosquitoes and Bali belly all before I arrived on the Island of the Gods, but no one prepared me for the trouble my contact lenses would eventually come to give me. As someone with a -4.75 prescription, I have relied on glasses and worn contacts since the age of 12 without any complications. But a few weeks into my stay in Bali I was suffering from small problems such as dry eyes and the occasional bacterial infection, which was easily solved by some Gentamicin eye drops. The change in weather, unsanitary tap water, polluted oceans in addition to the motorbike rides were surely not helping my eyes.
But something was seriously wrong when I awoke to find myself with fuzzy vision on New Years Day. It didnt start off as something seriously blinding, but rather that slightly foggy mist than hangs in the eyes in the mornings. I couldnt blink it out and as the day went on, it only worsened. Not to mention the incredible redness, swelling and watering happening only in my right eye. Unfortunately for my situation, I spent New Years on Gili Trawangan, where the medical aid is less than ideal. The few clinics were playing a catch and release game, sending me from one to the next. No one could diagnose my eye properly, most likely, as they were workers plucked from the street with little to no medical education, especially at the pharmacies. Luckily for me, I was able to reach a friend in pharmacy school who prevented me from taking medicine that several pharmacists recommended, despite potentially worsening my situation.
Eventually, I just gave into the pain and with the comedic relief of my best friend was able to embrace the unfortunate situation by wearing a makeshift eye-patch for the better part of two days. I was quite the looker on the small island, and not in the good way.
It wouldnt be a proper Balinese misadventure if the transportation somehow wasnt mangled up. As companies are wont to do, our boat was entirely overbooked and we were told we would catch a later speedboat from Gili T to Padang Bai. We knew it was sham to keep the disgruntled 50 or so tourists at bay but we werent prepared for a 12 hour roundabout journey that involved a boat to Lombok, a 1.5hour bus ride across the island and finally the slow, and penultimately a cargo boat that took 6.5 hours to get back to Bali. Arriving at 2 in the morning we slowly trudged to our van drivers, who hustled us for some money despite having already been included in the price.
At any rate, I found myself four days later at the ER in Denpasar. As an American citizen I have an inherent mistrust of insurance companies, so I decided to go for the cheaper option and see the local hospital for aid. My Bahasa is limited to apa kabar and hari ini panas. I crossed my fingers and hoped someone could speak English well enough to fix whatever painful nightmare was happening in my eye.
Ilustration of corneal ulcer
At this point, I had relatively no vision in the center of my cornea. One of the most frightening moments I have experienced was discovering the true dangers and severity of my situation. As I was sitting in the small corner office of the eye division in the ER, the nurse took a step back and held her index finger out for me to see. But I couldnt. I could see her head and her feet and I knew where her body should but I couldnt see it. In its place a white, fuzzy blur dominated. She had few to none comforting words in her limited English vocabulary, and told me to see the specialist the next day. She managed to stick a needle into my cornea before I even had breakfast.
The specialist told me that I had a serious corneal ulcer that had the potential to leave a damaging scar that could permanently alter my vision. A corneal ulcer is an inflammatory or infective condition involving a disruption of the outer layer of the cornea. The cornea has 5 layers and my ulcer was four layers deep. Not only was there an abrasion in the middle of my cornea, but it most likely got infected in the waters of Gili T. Contact lens wearers in the tropics are especially susceptible to the condition.
While its not comforting to hear that I narrowly escaped permanent damage to my vision, I am well on the way to a full recovery. Three weeks since and I am still using my eye drops daily and having follow-up appointments with the doctor. Im rocking the glasses as contacts and swimming have been on my no-go list, which is far from ideal in Bali, but at least I can see the sunset with both eyes.
(Reported by: Ivana Lucic)