A sight for sore eye (s)-no photos please!

My daughter has been self conscious as of late... About 3 weeks ago she complained of a sore eyelid. Because I was in a hurry to get to work, I called the nurse and asked her to please check it out.

At first, we thought it might have been a bug bite-her eyelid was swollen and it was VERY noticeable. The nurse gave me a call back that day and said while she saw no bite marks (from a spider or other insect) she seemed to think the eyelid was healing itself and would be fine within a few days.

As the days passed, the swelling seemed to go down considerably. She's not complaining of problems with her vision or pain anymore, but the bump is still there... and still noticeable. Not terribly so, but enough to know that her eyelid droops a little bit due to this bump on the eyelid.

At first I thought it might have been a sty, but those usually heal up within a week or so. The I saw it might be a chalazion, which is basically a small bump on the eyelid caused by a blocked oil gland. That sounds more like it... and she does have a small but noticeable bump there that she says is somewhat sticky when she touches it.

Of course, I am going to call the doctor to confirm-but in the meantime, school photos are scheduled for October 6th. And she is literally freaking out. We are putting the warm packs to it in hopes that it will bust eventually, and go away on its own. According to what I read online, it usually goes away in a month or two. But that is NOT fast enough for a very upset 8 yr old who is already self conscious due to her glasses and upcoming braces she will need within a year or two.

She has not allowed me to take pics of her, which really stinks because she received the most beautiful dress from Shabby Apple about a month ago, right before she came down with this eye infection. She plans on wearing it for photo day, so if all does go well, I am hoping we can get rid of the bump or shrink it so that it is less noticeable and so I can get a photo of her in her lovely dress for my review!

I feel like such a bad mommy for not knowing what this was, and thinking it was only a bite or irritation after hearing from the school nurse... :( So tomorrow I will be calling the doctor to get her in and check it out to verify what it is, and what else I can do to speed up her healing. (I am thinking maybe antibiotic eyedrops) Hoping to have a photo opp soon, I've told her she can pose back-to, sideways etc... but in the meantime, the Princess has requested... no pictures please!