When Melanie Smith was in college, she stayed up all night and slept in her contacts.
When she woke up, she had eye pain, and her eyes were sensitive to light. She also couldn’t see very well.
She went to an ophthalmologist, who told her that she had Acanthamoeba keratitis. This is caused by an Acanthamoeba parasite entering the eye and infecting it.
These are commonly found in soil, air, and water, even water that’s been treated.
When the parasite first enters the eye, it first just eats the bacteria that’s already there. But then, it starts eating away at cells on the eyeball. One expert, Dan Riskin, explained to People magazine:
“What makes the Acanthamoeba parasite so dangerous is their ability to burrow deep into the tissue of the eyeball. Once there, they can be hard to remove or even treat, which allows the parasites to feed on the host’s cells unchecked.”
Of course, sleeping in her contacts didn’t help at all. This restricted the oxygen in her eye. The surface of her eye tore, leaving it a perfect place for bacteria and parasites to nest.
When she went to see her ophthalmologist, he prescribed her an eye solution “similar to pool cleanser found in commercial pools,” which he told her to apply every hour.
However, the drops were only painful, not helpful. One morning, she noticed that one of her eyeballs had turned white.
“It made me look possessed, and I was starting to lose my eyesight,” says Melanie. “The parasite was completely taking over.”
After months of this pain, her doctor decided she needed a corneal transplant. However, if her body were to reject it, it would leave her blind in her right eye.
Thankfully, the procedure went well, and her eyesight was fully restored.
But one thing is for sure: she’s never sleeping in her contacts again.
