I had a patient call with “something irritating her left eye for the past day.” We brought her in right away. I initially thought it was a chalazion that she had been picking at until I looked under the slit lamp. What I thought was a scab actually had legs. It was a tick embedded in her lid margin! — Kimberly Riggs, OD, Ligonier, PA

Had a patient come in the office five minutes before their appointment to tell us they will not be here for their appointment and then ran out. — Michael Davis, OD Opti-Care, Eldersburg, MD

True tails! Our office policy is no pets, service dogs only. But there was one time we made an exception. A middle aged male patient arrived with his dog on a leash. He was talking very sweetly to his pet and bending over to pet him. As I approached him I looked down to greet the well-behaved animal. But behold, there was only a leash. This is when we implemented “the exception of the invisible dog.” — Dave Schultz, OD, Urban Optics, San Luis Obispo, CA