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The new year's eve din start off very nicely for me..
Chinky's going for a minor op on her eye on Friday, 5 Jan. Apparently she has a condition called Cherry eye. Well, it only occurs on her right eye which is the one that has the more normal looking pupil. As it is, she is producing quite a bit of tears on that eye resulting in the trapping of excessive dirt as compared to the other eye.

"Cherry eye is the term used for the prolapse of the gland of the third eyelid. It may occur in one or both eyes. The condition is most common in young dogs, six weeks to two years of age. Certain breeds of dogs are predisposed, including the America cocker spaniel, English bulldog, beagle, Chinese shar-pei, Newfoundland, bloodhound, Lhasa apso, miniature poodle, and shih tzu.

Causes

• A weakness of the ligamentous attachment of the gland of the third eyelid is believed to be the most common cause in the dog.
• Although this weakness may be a heritable condition, the inheritance pattern is unknown.
• Prolapse of the gland may occur secondary to inflammation.
• Idiopathic (unknown cause) forms also exist.

What to Watch For

• Oval pink or red mass protruding from the corner of the eye closest to the nose
• Watery or thick discharge from the eye
• Redness to the conjunctiva (lining of the eyelid)
• Occasional pawing at the eye

Diagnosis

Generally, the diagnosis is made by visual inspection of the eye. A complete eye examination is warranted, including measurement of tear production, fluorescein staining of the cornea and examination of the opposite eye.

Treatment

Medical management involves the use of topical anti-inflammatory corticosteroid medications to decrease inflammation of the conjunctiva and the prolapsed gland. Medical management rarely results in return of the gland to a normal position.

Surgical replacement of the gland is the recommended treatment. Complete removal of the gland may be performed, but it is discouraged because it predisposes the dog to a life of dry eye. The gland of the third eyelid is responsible for the production of around 35 percent of the watery tears, so removal of the gland may result in greatly diminished tear production (dry eye)

Following surgery, an Elizabethan collar may be used to prevent self-induced trauma while the surgery site heals.

Home Care and Prevention

There is a 5 to 20 percent recurrence rate depending on the surgical procedure used, the size of the gland at the time of surgery, the duration of the prolapse, and the condition of the cartilage of the third eyelid. In general, if the gland is replaced quickly, is not too swollen or inflamed, and if the cartilage of the third eyelid is not bent, then the success rate is higher for surgical replacement.

If only one side had prolapsed and was surgically replaced, continue to monitor the other eye for development of a cherry eye. To prevent the other gland from prolapsing, the unaffected gland may be prophylactically sutured at the time the initial gland is operated.

Administer all medication as directed by your veterinarian and return for follow-up as directed by your veterinarian. If the gland stays in place for one month following surgery, then the prognosis is good that it will not reprolapse. If the gland does prolapse again, a second surgical replacement may be attempted, or the gland may be removed.

It is necessary to monitor tear production for sometime after the surgery to determine whether it will remain normal. The onset of dry eye may be delayed for months to years following prolapse of the gland. Signs of dry eye include thick, pussy discharge from the eye, redness to the conjunctiva and cloudiness of the cornea.

It is advisable not to breed dogs that have developed Cherry eye in order to decrease the occurrence of the problem within the breed. "

So it seems, after i settle her Cherry-eye, i might be in for dry eye if things dun go well. Now i juz hope that everything goes on fine.

On another note, i went to send Qiaomei off at the airport. She's flying off to Norway for her exchange. *envious* But i left earlier for Clarke Quay for countdown.

I celebrated New Year's eve with Jason, Serene, Kaihan and Shirleen at Mind Cafe at Clarke Quay. We had the benefit of viewing the fireworks from our table in the cafe too..save us the trouble of squeezing with the crowd at Marina.

And we got quite a few food on the house too, like free Coke and crackers!

Oh, and it dun require a Biz student to win a game of investing!!Hehe!!I won "I'm the Boss!" three times in a row, each with increasing amount!!If only those $$ belongs to me!I'll be filthy rich!!

We then proceeded to Mad Flemmings along Boat Quay, where we continued the game since Jason rented it out. My sis joined us then..and my kindergarten-cum-primary sch-cum neighbour, Xiaohan, was the one serving us!!Oh, she's gg to Switzerland in Jan la..*faint* Yeah,i dun keep in contact with her,but my mum does communicate with her mum..so i guess that's how i get updates bout her..and maybe how she gets updates bout me!

Oh, and the cab-calling frenzy was really crazy!!All the cab companies are juz so B-U-S-Y!I got thru SMART and got the operator but failed on getting a cab number coz the automated msg tells me they are unable to get a cab to respond and thank me for choosing them..like..wth!And i made Jason hang up on SMRT cab, coz we got to the operator bout the same time but i gave over the details a slight sec faster, so we all assumed we'll get a cab number soon from SMART, so he hung up!!!

ARGH!!so we had to recall the cab companies again!Shirleen got thru to Citycab operator after listening to a couple of songs but was told that they'll call back 5 mins later (Read: i'm probably not gg to call u back)..so i tried Comfort, which i believed would definitely be the MOST reliable one since they've got the widest network and the largest share of the pie in S'pore..and of coz, i got thru to the operator after much waiting, and finally got the 4 numbers that we were dying to noe..the taxi's number plate!!!!!!!!!!!Woohoo~

And that was at 4am in the morning..

Next yr, i shld celebrate countdowns with ppl who are not only drivers,but also own a car!!!

If only you knew at 5:49 PM