Random Nuclear Strikes

I wear disposable contact lenses. They’re great because they come in little sealed containers — effectively, I have a years’ supply of contact lenses on hand most of the time, and it’s easy to pack extras in a pocket, your bugout bag, car SHTF kit, etc. — and just rotate ’em out over the year. Good stuff.

However, I’m not wearing ’em for the next few days. I’d popped open a fresh pair and inserted one in my left eye this morning, then accidentally dropped the other one in the sink. No problem, the sink was dry, and I just did what I usually do in those situations — pick it up, inspect for foreign debris, and spray off with saline. Then I put it in my eye. INSTANT BLINDING PAIN. I could barely pry open my eyelids, which were reacting by involuntarily clamping shut. Got the contact out and began splashing water in my eye. That helped, and I noticed with my other eye that the water was foaming as it hit the surface of the sink. Uh oh. There must have been some residue left from when we cleaned the sink last week using Dow Bathroom Cleaner With Foaming Bubble Action. I wiped the sink clean as best I could, then filled the basin and submerged my eye for twenty seconds or so. Felt much better. Then I irrigated with more saline and got myself to the eye doc.

Turns out I’d burned off the outer surface of my right eyeball. If you imagine that the surface is ten layers thick, I vaporized the outer twenty percent. He was able to see the exact burn area with some new kewl dye drops. It should heal completely within 24-48 hours, but I’m on antibiotics now ’cause your eye is very susceptible to infection when there’s a break in the surface. No loss of vision, so I’m a very lucky fellow indeed.
(Pic above is not of my eye, but that’s about how it looked and felt.)

Read the whole thing: it’s an abstract and very short. It is also an issue of significant interest to me.

Of note was this quote:

It has been shown that the level or exertion required for the Rhabdo is dependent on individual fitness. In fact, as little as 50 sit-ups a day for 5 consecutive days led to a case. Studies of NYC Firemen have shown that there is an inverse relation between risk or Rhabado and fitness level.

My near-fatal adventure with Rhabdomyolysis all started for me when I’d pulled a muscle in my back. In my situation, I was absolutely not physically fit and I think that contributed a great deal, because pulling a back muscle has never come close to killing me before, but I’d really allowed myself to fatten up over the past couple of years.

Contrast today: I’m conscious of my hydration all the time, and I’ve been running a mile a day for several weeks. I am jumping to two miles per day this week. I’m taking it easy at roughly ten minutes per mile, forcing myself to stay conservative.