Where do I begin with all that has transpired the past 25 days? At the beginning I expect, although it has been challenging to revisit what has transpired. Writing on my laptop is not always easy, opening up the doors to all the trauma that occurred is never easy. But seeing God in the midst of it all is very necessary to the healing process.
On Tuesday afternoon, October 11th I had an eye injection. We were excited because the exam showed that the new medication was working so well and I no longer needed to go every 3 weeks for a shot....but 4 and maybe longer. BUT I woke up Wednesday morning to very strange vision in my left eye where I had the shot. I knew it was serious, called the Retina emergency number and an hour later we were on the road to West Des Moines. By the time we arrived my vision in that eye was completely gone. Just darkness. I saw the doctor quickly and soon was at their surgical center having cultures taken and two injections of broad spectrum antibiotics injected in the eye. They believed and later confirmed it was an aggressive Strep bacteria that had come in through the injection hole. Rare, but they have dealt with it. We stayed with our son and daughter in law that night and the next morning I was seen again. We went home with a number of eye drops I was putting in up to 16x a day, but I had to go back the next day, Friday the 14th. Very quickly I was sent back to the Surgical Eye Center. It was already closed but the doctor called people back in for emergency surgery. This time I was put out for awhile, and then they pulled out as much infection as they could and injected me again with 2 different broad spectrum antibiotics. We spent the night again at our son and daughter in law's before seeing the doctor Sat. morning at their (closed) clinic. I continued all the drops at home and the next week I saw him 3 more times. Twice here in our clinic and once in their main office in West Des Moines. My pressure had gone up to 33 but by the time the week ended it was bottoming out at 2-5. Neither number is good. I have continued to see doctors 3x a week here and in West Des Moines which is a 240 mile round trip. Things are now improving as far as inflammation reduction and cornea less swollen, less debris. My vision is still gone and at this point there is only a slim chance some vision will return. Right now our focus is on making sure the infection is gone and inflammation is going down and pressure up. The appointment this past Wednesday has given us the most hope as progress is being seen. The doctor was pretty excited after the ultrasound. Another surgery is in my future to clean up all the inflammatory debris and clean off the cataract implant.
The doctors have given me good care. The prayers of friends and family continue to sustain us. We are "broken hearted" and "crushed in Spirit" over what has happened. I am still trying to adjust to having vision in one eye. This eye has dry macular so on a chart I "see" 20/20 but because of the dry things are a bit distorted and dingy and my vision blurs in and out. My depth perception is way off and I am actually seeing things that are not there due to the retina/brain connection trying to compensate fir what has happened.............entoptic phenomena........and the steroid and antibiotic eye drops have caused nausea and excessive fatigue/weakness. Now that they have lowered the number of times the drops go in it that is somewhat better~ I've stopped losing weight and am a bit stronger at times. This journey is very hard for both of us......impossible without God.
A Bible verse comes to mind for me "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean NOT on your OWN UNDERSTANDING. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight." We don't begin to understand this journey. God did NOT orchestrate this in any way shape or form, but He did allow it. And the healing process has been one big scary challenge. Seeing at 20/20 and going to a distorted blurry vision has and is a one day at a time journey. Yet we see God in the midst of it.......the doctors who have seen me on Saturdays , their days off...have reopened a surgical center with everyone showing up to help with the surgery. Staff and techs bending over backwards to bring us comfort and care. The prayers of so many friends and family. A neighbor bringing by a "gift basket" and offering to cook for us. Our son and daughter in law opening their home and our son there to steady us at both surgeries and several appointments. Good weather to travel in. Even when the doctor gave me his personal cell number and told me to call him anytime in the night if anything changed after the first surgery. Seriously God showed His love and care through so many others. This is what I am grateful for today. We don't know what is ahead.....we are tired, and we are certainly living and breathing one day at a time as this long slow healing process continues, but we already can look back and see how God has been in the midst of yet another medical crisis.
Thank you all for your prayers and support. We would love to pray for you and your needs too. So much to be grateful for on this first weekend in November.
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