Eyeballs

Cayna brought the "Letter Bucket" home from Kindergarten. We're supposed to go around the house and hunt for things that start with the letter "E" and send them back to school to be investigated by the whole class. Probably thanks to my eye surgery, Cayna had eyeballs on the brain, so we made an eyeball out of a golfball for her to include in the bucket.

Naturally, the golfball eyeball segues right into my surgery.

Tuesday afternoon Kevin drove me across town to the surgery center. I had some more photos taken of my eyes and was given a Valium. Yum. If they weren't addictive, I would for SURE be trying to get a prescription for those nifty little buggers. My husband is funny, but he was even MORE funny while I was on that drug. Life was light and happy and I had no worries.

Finally it was my turn and my buddy Beth from Shepherd Eye Center (which I highly recommend) walked us to the laser room. I reclined on the lounge-like table, was given a stuffed lion to hold onto and the surgery began. Kevin waited outside the door and watched through the window. That is where he took this photo:



See my pretty eyeball on the screen? I'm telling you, regardless of your feelings on elective surgery and this use of money --- it was a miracle. It was absolutely painless, took fifteen seconds per eye, was attended by the best doctor I've ever met (seriously, if OBs used some of the methods this guy and his staff used, there would be better hospital births out there). And I walked out into the Las Vegas sunlit afternoon on Sahara Avenue with my taped-on eyeshields and dorky big sunglasses and I could read a sign across the six-lane street. I haven't seen that far on my own since before fifth grade. I was and still am completely in AWE.

As soon as I realized my eyesight had been restored by God, a doctor, and a VERY extensive lot of technology, I wondered how much longer til they can do that for people with spinal injuries and resultant handicaps.

I can't get my uncle out of my mind. He was thrown from a car at age nineteen and has been a quadriplegic ever since. He finished college at U of A and went to work, married, and adopted two sons. He still lives in Tucson in a house downtown where my aunt works as a district attorney. He is retired and tries to find time to work on his motorcycle. He wants to adapt it to operate from the sidecar where he sits. He has medical problems, stemming from thirty-eight years of not feeling anything, and I would give any amount of money and time if I could watch him wheel into a surgery center, get zapped with some lasers and walk out.

I have NO idea why this strikes me this way. I can't express how much I appreciate this surgery, even though I didn't even need it - my "handicap" was so minor. But I'm glad I got it. I'm astounded at technology. I'm in love with Dr. Robert B. Taylor, III, M/D. and the staff at Shepherd Eye Center, and I have hope that if Uncle Ed doesn't walk again on earth, he will come to believe in and know Jesus Christ so he can walk in heaven.

Didn't think my post on eye surgery would go this way, but that's what's going on in my head. Praise Jesus for all He is and does.