A random thought

[Eli]

Do you know what permeates my life nearly as much as the pain of DES? The damn caps from the twist-off preservative free tear vials! Does anyone else suffer from this plastic infestation? I have found these critters in my shoes, washer/dryer, in the bathtub (yeah, I know that's weird), between the bed sheets and in nearly every pocket of every garment I've ever owned. Ever.
In my bedroom (in which I basically hid for six months with my cheap humidifier) the caps tend to pile up around the trash can, having ricocheted from poorly aimed throws. In the early months following my diagnosis, they practically drifted like the snow outside. I thought at the time that it would be darkly funny to take all of the empty vials and put them into one of those empty glass lamps that people fill full of beach glass or seashells. Hey, it would be the only one on the block, right? Just thought I'd share this random, unhelpful thought. Welcome to my brain!

[liz56]

I do not have that problem, Eli, but I cannot help but worry about where my not-empty vials of Restasis go when I throw them "away." They must enter the groundwater some way. This concerns me. I wish that there were ways to dispose of them so that they would not become dangerous over time.

--Liz

[Lucy]

Eli---I'd like to add something that I've probably mentioned before on DEZ. Last year, my dishwasher was acting up and making funny noises. Finally, I decided to call repair before it was ruined. It seemed to run the cycle ok, but there was a definite clanging noise.

The price of a repair call was (I think) $119. Well, the repairman looked in the dishwasher and poked around for a minute and then pulled out one of the ends of a TheraTears vial. He asked if I knew "what this was." Yes, I did. My husband sort of looked puzzled. That's what was wrong with my dishwasher. The $119 snapped off top of a plastic tears vial. It was not funny. Lucy

[Julie1]

Eli,

You are way too funny. I was just laughing the entire time that I read your post. I find the plastic caps everywhere as well. I also worry that when I use the drops at my parents' house that my mom's small dogs (maltepoos) will eat the plastic cap or vial itself and choke to death, so I double and triple check the wastebasket to make sure the caps went directly in the basket instead of on the floor. I would never be able to live with myself if a plastic cap was the cause of their demise.

I have a funny story about the caps. My fiance and I were cleaning out my car over a year ago (when I was highly symptomatic), and he kept fishing plastic caps and vials out of the side basket on the door. He looked at me and said, "I think you have a problem." I remember thinking, "No, really?" I think he was just trying to be funny at the time. Anyway, it's funny now because I am feeling better and can look back on it as a memory.

I hope you are doing well, Eli. I haven't seen you post for a while. Thanks for the laugh!

-Julie

P.S. I only have about three months until my wedding.

[skygoddess]

I have actually thought about collecting the vials and trying to come up with some sort of art work. I thought of ,maybe a sculpture , collage, a mosaic?

Or, I can imagine myself one day as some sort of weird hermit with the worlds largest collection of little vials

LOL

[Julie1]

I just had a thought...

We could put all the plastic caps in a glass jar and play...

guess how many plastic caps are in the jar!!

The person who is closest to the actual number of plastic caps could win a year's supply of their favorite preservative free drops.

I need to get a life.

[rubyslippers]

This is too funny. I do art work involving various inks. The other day I needed to lift a few drops of ink off a surface and I wanted to save it. I actually got one of the vials out of the garbage and tried to suck it up like you would using a syringe. Didn't work, but I ended up realizing how much those little vials are a part of my life.

[Amy09]

haha i just laughed when i read this post! last year i threw away the empty vials and caps into a trashcan that was near my roommate's bookshelf. i always tried to pick up stray vials and caps off the floor- but apparently i missed a lot! when my roommate's parents came at the end of the summer to move out her furniture and they picked up her bookshelf they were very puzzled as to what all the pieces of plastic were on the floor (TONS of the caps from throughout the entire year had somehow ended up behind her bookshelf). my roommate knows me extremely well and found it really funny.

[Eli]

Thanks for sharing everyone! So glad you got a chuckle from this unusual problem.

Julie-that's right I forgot your wedding is right around the corner!
Liz56-I wouldn't worry about the groundwater too much-it's such a tiny amount of fluid. Maybe once enough cyclosporine gets in the groundwater then no one will have dry eye anymore, right? You are very conscientious of the environment though-that's a nice quality!

[liz56]

Liz56-I wouldn't worry about the groundwater too much-it's such a tiny amount of fluid. Maybe once enough cyclosporine gets in the groundwater then no one will have dry eye anymore, right?

I think that Lucy wins the PF-cap-cum-gremlin award. That's a great story, Lucy! I really enjoyed all of these stories.

Eli, you may be onto something there. We'll all get a dose in our showers. Thanks for starting this light-hearted thread.

--Liz