Preamble:
Can you imagine what it feels like to have a living parasite hiding in your eyes? Not only is it painful, but you can even see it swimming in your eyes...... It's a nightmare come true. However, this actually happened to an American woman, Carmen.
On Christmas Eve in 1999, Carmen and her husband Allen in Florida were preparing for a warm Christmas night. However, what Carmen never expected was that a seemingly beautiful trip actually hid a terrible "surprise".
A trip to Mexico: the start of a great holiday
Carmen and her husband, Allen, are natives of West Palm Beach, Florida. Alan is a successful construction contractor, while Carmen works in sales for a company. Years ago, their six children were adults and left home to live independently. Today, the empty nesters live a carefree life, spending their days at work and indulging in travel and entertainment in search of excitement.
Carmen and Alan both enjoy the sense of adventure, and they often travel together and choose some blood-pumping travel destinations. For example, deep diving, jungle exploration, high-altitude bouncing...... For them at this age, this is perhaps the biggest difference between Westerners and Easterners. In the East, elderly people of the same age either accompany their grandchildren or take them to school; And Carmen and Allen don't have the slightest look of "old age" in their lives.
In 1999, as Christmas approached, they made Mexico the destination of their outing. Surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, Mexico is blessed with beautiful landscapes, stunning coastlines and mysterious ancient civilizations. Every winter, a large number of tourists from North America flock to escape the cold. Carmen and Allen are no exception, looking for a laid-back holiday on a warm Mexican beach.
The trip to Mexico was a feast for their eyes and mouths. The exotic style, the magnificence of the sea and the sky, is refreshing. On sunny beaches, Carmen and Allen stroll along the sand, basking in the sea breeze and stopping at beach taverns to soak up the unique rhythms of Mexico. To the excitement of the two, they signed up for a deep dive trip. "We'll have to go to places we can't normally go to while we're still in good health!" Alan said, carrying his equipment in his hand, full of interest. "That's right, I'd love to see all the most beautiful scenery in the world!" Carmen smiled as she kept pace with her husband, her long blond hair fluttering in the sea breeze.
The beginning of the nightmare: a monster in the eye
The diving trip was a real feast for Carmen and Alan's eyes, but when they returned home from the trip, Carmen began to feel that something was wrong. She often had headaches and a painful right eye. Carmen at first thought it was just a normal reaction to the fatigue of the journey, and went to bed after taking some medicine.
Unexpectedly, the next day, when Carmen and Ellen went to shop for holiday items, her right eye hurt even more. It was like something was biting at her eyeballs, and the pain was unbearable. Carmen covered her eyes and crouched down in the supermarket. Seeing his wife's painful appearance, the husband Alan looked at her eyes anxiously, but found nothing unusual. So he had to go home first and arrange for Carmen to go to the hospital the next day.
On Christmas Eve, the home was warm and harmonious, and Carmen didn't want to spoil the festive atmosphere, so she endured the pain in her right eye to spend the night. However, the pain got worse in the early hours of the morning, and she had to get up to check. Then she was horrified to find that something seemed to be moving slowly out of the corner of her eye!
Carmen ignored the festive mood and quickly woke up her sleeping husband. By this time she was feeling extremely unwell, as if an egg was hatching, and something seemed to be wriggling in her eyes. "Ellen, my eyes, save me......" Carmen felt that she was about to lose her ground, and Alan hurriedly helped her. At this time, he carefully examined his wife's eyes, and saw a small protrusion in the corner of his eye!
The murderer in the eyes: a living parasite
Dr. Berry was the ophthalmologist on duty, and when he noticed that Carmen had a foreign body moving around in her eyeball, he couldn't help but feel nervous. He quickly arranges for Carmen to have eye surgery, and must get the strange thing out before it moves to a harder part of the reach!
The operation went well, and Dr. Berry anesthetized Carmen and then carefully made an incision under the right eye. He grabbed the slightly wriggling "foreign object" in his eye with his tweezers—which was so chilling—and steadily pulled the whole parasite out......
I saw that the thing was 7-8 inches long, and it was writhing and struggling with the tweezers. All the medical staff present were stunned - such a long parasite actually survived in the eyes of a person! Thinking about the torment of Carmen during this period can be said to be unimaginable.
The way that thing was bouncing around was disgusting. Dr. Berry quickly packed the parasite into a medical sample vial and sent it to a lab for further testing of its species. At the same time, he also gave Carmen's wound meticulous stitches and anti-inflammatory treatment.
Soon, the test report came out - it was a roundworm called a heartworm. This parasite can survive in animals for up to 10 years and can grow up to nearly 1 foot in length. Its eggs and larvae are transported through the bloodstream to various organs of the animal, such as Carmen's eyes. Carmen shuddered at the thought of this thing crawling around in her eyes for some time.
The source of the real culprit: the suspicion of a trip to Mexico
Carmen was infected with heartworm, and it is difficult to understand how it happened. In order to find out the source of the infection, Dr. Berry questioned her and Allen in detail. When it comes to his recent diving trip to Mexico, Dr. Berry has a vague judgment in his mind.
He speculated that Carmen may have come into contact with heartworm eggs in Mexican waters and accidentally inhaled them during the dive; Or it may be infected by the bite of a mosquito with its eggs. Because the host of this parasite is usually a canine, if the mosquito feeds on an infected dog and then bites humans, it can become zoonotic. And Carmen did get bitten by mosquitoes many times during their trip.
However, these are only speculations, and the true route of infection may be more complex. Dr. Berry theorized that perhaps Carmen had come into contact with heartworms on the surface of some organism while diving to store eggs under the skin. The parasite has the potential to be widespread in certain fish or marine organisms that are native to Mexico. They carry eggs inside them, which enter her subcutaneous tissues and blood vessels after being touched by Carmen, and finally parasitize her eyes by chance.
Whatever the true route of infection, Carmen was relieved that she had finally escaped this terrible parasitic infection.
The tragic price: the loss of vision in the right eye
After a course of medication, Carmen's body has basically recovered. It's just that this strange illness has caused her indelible damage - her right eyesight has been damaged. Not only is this eye unable to see clearly, but it is also sensitive to light, and the slightest irritation can cause pain and tears.
Dr. Berry said that Carmen's right anterior chamber had hemorrhage, some degree of damage to the optic nerve, and a month-long chronic inflammatory response, so it was difficult for the visual function of the right eye to fully recover. Carmen needs regular eye check-ups and training for functional recovery.
For Carmen, this was a huge blow. During a touching festival, it should have been warm and happy, but it encountered this unbelievable strange disease. Fortunately, she has an optimistic personality and is quite satisfied with the results of the treatment. Because without destroying the eyeball, the disease can be controlled and dissipated, and there is no obvious abnormality in appearance. She can still travel, but she has to give up some of the most eyesight-demanding projects. Carmen is not very sorry for this, after all, it is the best result to be able to save her life.
Epilogue:
Carmen and Allen's experience is undoubtedly incredible. A living parasite in the eye is simply the most terrifying nightmare. We may be glad we didn't encounter such an extreme encounter, but it does happen.
So, what kind of revelation and warning does this strange disease give us?
First, it is necessary to pay attention to all kinds of parasitic diseases in off-field travel and water activities. They can be more than we can imagine, and we need to be vigilant. Avoid casual contact with unknown animals and plants in the wild without clear circumstances.
Secondly, families with pets must pay attention to deworming and vaccinating them.
Finally, each of us should focus on our own harmonious relationship with nature. Only by living in harmony with nature can we avoid encountering the health-threatening "monsters" of viruses, bacteria and parasites. We should respect nature and live in harmony with all living beings.