Cancer Took My Eye Moisture Too

Cancer Took My Eye Moisture Too

🌼 Date: Tuesday, August 11, 2026

⚡ Energy: Dry eyeballs and Google MD

💖 Status: New drops, warm compresses, and a prescription change

🤨 Outlook: Tina 2.0 now comes with eye maintenance

Today I had my follow-up appointment for my eyes.

Because apparently my eyeballs wanted their own subplot.

My right cornea is still irritated and dry.

Not ideal.

But I do get to stop using the gel at night, which is a blessing because that stuff is nasty.

I know it is supposed to help.

I know it has a purpose.

I know my eye doctor is not sitting around prescribing things just to ruin my evening.

But that gel?

No thank you.

It feels like putting Vaseline on your eyeball and then trying to function like a normal person.

Hard pass.

So now I am switching to a different eye drop during the day, and I need to add a warm dry compress on my eyes for 10 to 15 minutes before bed every night until my next appointment in six weeks.

Because if Cancerland has taught me anything, it is that there is always one more thing to add to the routine.

Morning meds.

Evening meds.

Protein.

Hydration.

Stretches.

Compression sleeve.

Treadmill.

Two-pound weights.

Eye drops.

Warm compresses.

At this point, I am less of a person and more of a high-maintenance houseplant with medical accessories.

The good news is that my eye doctor said my prescription is still about the same as it was at my last appointment, so she felt confident changing my prescription today.

The wild part?

My new prescription has changed by 0.75 since the end of June.

That feels like a lot.

Especially when I am already out here trying to keep track of boob cc’s, protein grams, appointment dates, lab numbers, and whether I remembered to put my eye drops in.

Now we are adding vision math.

Fantastic.

So now I am waiting for them to make new lenses for my current frames.

Once those are ready, they will just replace the lenses in the frames I already have, which means I will not have to be without my current glasses at all.

Small victory.

Tiny win.

We take those.

Of course, because I am me, this immediately made me wonder:

Did cancer or chemo cause this?

Welcome back, Google MD.

Still on probation.

From what I understand, cancer treatments, especially chemotherapy and some of the supportive medications that come with it, can cause dry eyes, corneal irritation, and temporary shifts in vision.

Chemo targets fast-growing cells, and sometimes it unintentionally affects the delicate glands and tissues that keep your eyes moist and comfortable.

Because apparently chemo looked at my body and said:

“What else can we inconvenience?”

Dry eyes can happen when the tear glands and oil glands are not working the way they should.

The lacrimal glands help make the watery part of your tears.

The meibomian glands make the oily layer that helps keep your tears from evaporating too fast.

Today, during my appointment, the doctor applied pressure to my eyelid and could not get anything to come out of my oil glands.

Those glands are located just under the lash line on the underside of the lid.

And mine appear to be clogged.

Of course they are.

Because why would my eyes simply mind their own business?

Without enough oil and water in the tear film, the eyes can feel dry, gritty, irritated, or burning.

The cornea can get angry.

Vision can get blurry.

Focus can fluctuate.

And suddenly your glasses are not doing their job the way they used to.

Steroids and other medications can also cause temporary blurry vision, and things like dehydration, fatigue, anemia, and hormone-blocking therapies can make dryness worse too.

So yes, it is very possible that cancer treatment contributed to this little eyeball adventure.

Thank you, cancer.

Just one more thing to add to the list.

It is the little things that people take for granted.

Eyes that make their own moisture.

Eyes that do not feel like they have sand in them.

Eyes that do not require a bedtime spa treatment.

Eyes that do not need special drops just to act right.

Before all of this, I never thought about my tear film.

I never wondered if my oil glands were clogged.

I never sat in an exam chair while someone pressed on my eyelid and waited to see if anything would come out.

Cancer has introduced me to so many body parts, functions, glands, and medical terms I never asked to know.

And now, apparently, Tina 2.0 needs to carry special eye drops with her to keep her eyes moist because cancer took that ability away too.

Along with my original boobs.

My hair.

My eyelashes.

My eyebrows.

My energy.

My stamina.

My patience.

My ability to assume my body is just going to function without a maintenance plan.

Rude.

So here we are.

New prescription.

New drops.

Warm compresses.

Six-week follow-up.

Another piece of the new normal puzzle.

I guess I am still figuring out this version of myself.

This new body.

These new rules.

These new routines.

This whole Tina 2.0 operating system that keeps requiring updates I did not approve.

But at least we are figuring it out.

One appointment at a time.

One drop at a time.

One warm compress at a time.

One “what fresh hell is this?” moment at a time.

And hopefully, soon, one clearer pair of glasses at a time.

Because if I am going to keep navigating Cancerland, job changes, reconstruction, treadmill workouts, and whatever else life throws at me…

I would at least like to be able to see the nonsense clearly.

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One Badass Day at a Time