Polly’s Mum?

I documented the growth of a monstrous stye on my eye, it went global, gained over 200 million views in a few short weeks and I am now recognised in public for being Polly’s mum (Polly, short for Polly-sty-rene). Let me explain… 

It all started toward the end of the final few weeks of my Master’s degree of Clinical Psychology. I had assessments to submit and was in week 9 of placement, working with children as a provisional psychologist in a school setting. Questions were swirling around surrounding what I would be doing beyond the degree – where was I going to live? Work? Base my existence? A paradox of choice was knock knock knockin’ on Gretty’s door (I have a juke box implanted into my brain, get used to musical references). Outside of wanting to take time off, I hadn’t the slightest clue which direction to go in.

I do a pretty good job of maintaining a stable exterior most of the time, but at that point in time, clearly, I couldn’t quite control the stress of my situation, and it broke through in a volcanic form on my eyelid. Typically, exercise is a big stabiliser in my life, however in this case I also think swimming in a public pool a few days prior contributed to the development of the enormous stye on my eye. I woke up with not one but two small styes on each eye, and thought surely they’ll disappear. narrator: lol. To be fair, one did disappear, but the other grew inspiration from the size of my nose and became a gasp-worthy addition to my face. When it rains, it pours vibes ya know?

Over the prior few years, I had developed a relatively thicc social media following from talking in an unfiltered manner online. I grew a following of over 100K across Tiktok and IG through telling stories of van builds, travels, random misfortunate events (such as drowning my laptop and ipad simultaneously) and sharing top study tips. So, when I developed the growth on my eyelid it was only natural for me to document and self-deprecate along the way. Liddle did I realise just how many people would join the journey, and just how fucking long the journey would last. After sharing video close-ups of the enlarged lid, I begrudgingly attended the emergency room for the stye as it continued to grow at a rate that would have me questioning the capacity of my eyelid to house it- I properly thought the bastard would split open. And there were also plenty of comments expressing concern surrounding orbital cellulitis (nasty shiet). From there began the journey. I went on three rounds of antibiotics, attended two optometrist appointments, endured TWO surgeries to remove the THREE cysts/chalazions from within the lid and had 3 separate visits to an ophthalmologist. To this day, almost 5 months later, my eyelid still looks a little funky. And to this day, I have never experienced anything quite like the pain of a needle entering and filling my eyelid with whatever tf goes into the numbing fluid.

And that my friends, is the story of Polly. There are other parts to it, like the first time I was recognised in a McDonald’s drive thru, or the small coastal town of Robe, or the merchandise that ACTUALLY LEGITIMATELY SOLD. But that can be for another day. Thanks for reading, take care of yourself and tell someone you love them. xx

The ol’ 7 hour emergency room visit.

Rlly cute progress during the first round of antibiotics.