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I just noticed a pattern recently. Every time UP Hell Week comes up, I get really sick. So every time I do those final papers, I would always be literally feverish. My most memorable final project was in Dr. Helen Estacio-Lopez’s Comparative Literature 310 class. I did that while in my most heightened state of feverish trance (my body gave out the moment I was done) and I was surprised when she told me — after I visited her in the summer of 2010 — that she thought my piece was great. That felt really good, since I had always been half-awed by her brilliance and half-terrified of her sharp standards. Truth be told, I only remember the gist of that paper. I knew my arguments, research instruments and sources but my head hurts whenever I try to read it because I have difficulty comprehending it.

Yes, my own darn paper reads like Greek to me.

This semester marks the last of my coursework. I will be working on my dissertation next term. But golly! As if the Lords of Illnesses (Nosoi? They must be Greek, if they can make me produce Greek-sounding works) wanted to celebrate, he “gifted” me not just with the usual fever. He gave me a little extra:

A pair of sore eyes. Yup, Cris has it, too. (We look like someone had clubbed our faces. And to think…my left eye was just starting to get red in this photo. It’s much worse now.)

Oh, but he was nice enough to start with one eye. I needed at least one eye to write two more final papers. I was procrastinating, but the fear of two eyes closing up entirely before I could finish my papers had me all fired up. Yup, I was doing my finals while my right eye had been in tremendous pain and completely covered by some white film.

I managed to finish the last research paper, and a few more non-academic write-ups, before the left eye got completely infected as well. That’s a total of 135 pages of paperwork, excluding blog entries (which don’t really have page numbers), done while my eyes were in this condition.

I think this is a little different from your usual strain of sore eyes, because I was feverish, had a throbbing head, and parts of my body hurt. I also felt very dehydrated, which was a bad sign. Cris said it must have originated from the Ateneo area because that’s where her nephews got it. Well, I am always in the area. It’s finals!

We visited the UP Infirmary to ask for medical advice and we were told not to use over-the-counter eye drops. Apparently, those things contain steroids. Yoikes! No wonder they never worked for me.

One of their suggestions was to use a cold compress. Boy, that really worked wonders in alleviating the pain.

This is 3M’s Nexcare First Aid. It’s a reusable hot/cold compress that has been nothing but my fabulous friend for the last couple of days. I’m even getting confused whether to use it on my eyes or the rest of my other body parts that were hurting. I should get more of these so I can put them everywhere.

Sorry if it looks all crumpled up. I have been abusing it.

Other easily available natural forms of relief can be found in:

1. Keeping away from smoke and sunlight.
2. Eating enough fruits and vegetables, particularly grains, legumes and berries.
3. Drinking plenty of water.
4. Washing your hands often and making sure they’re clean before you even touch your eyes.
5. Blinking often. Yes, blinking!
6. Chamomile tea. Soak this in water and then place the teabags on your eyes.
7. Aloe vera extract mixed with clean water.
8. Clean towels. This is much more hygienic than using tissue paper when cleaning excess liquids from the eyes.

I know cases of this strain of sore eyes are rampant these days, if the Facebook status messages about them were any indication. Hope this could help!

On the bright side, I’ve been chinita for the last couple of days. I’m torn between laughing and crying over it.