In the spirit of getting my body put back together, I made an appointment to visit an ophthalmologist for a bump I’ve had on my eyelid for a few months. It has steadily gotten worse and is to the point that it affects my day to day (eye gets tired because it isn’t being lubricated/cleaned properly).

It’s called a chalazion. Mine doesn’t look a fraction as gross as those pictured. In fact, if you were to take a look at me you’d be hard-pressed to even see it. I had a dermatologist friend diagnose it over a month ago, but seeing the correct doctor for the diagnosis (one that does eyes) was a relief. As cancer has hit all around me over the years it’s my first thought any time something looks funny.

I’m pretty sure I picked it up on our trip to Hawaii. The brutal heat , slathering of sunscreen, and lots of activity is the perfect storm for clogging a pore or gland.

I’ve been using a hot compress on it 1-2 times a day since my friend diagnosed it, but the eye doc says I need to bump that to 5 times a day and get rough with massaging it. If that doesn’t work, he’ll make a small incision, kind of melon-ball the mass out (it could be mostly solids), and that’ll be that. The downside to the invasive fix is I’d lose a handful of tear glands so hopefully this little bastard pops with a little bit of effort and I’ll be good as new.

On the downside he did a full analysis of my eyes. Or maybe bright side because they are perfectly healthy… aside from genetics that predispose me to these clogged glands. He said I ought to use compresses a few times a week until the end of time.