My left eye - an update.

We are back at Nyankunde!  

This is what has happened, in a nutshell.  We went to Vanga Hospital.  I got uveitis, a serious inflammation of the left eye.  Despite appropriate management my vision deteriorated rapidly.  After two weeks at Vanga we left for Kinshasa to receive more specialized care.  In Kinshasa I  benefitted from excellent care.  I saw a Congolese ophthalmologist and I have been treated by a team of American ophthalmologists who came on a surgical mission trip.  Despite the treatment, my vision was still very blurry.  The initial thought was that this was a result of clouding in my vitreous humor, the jelly which resides in the posterior part of the eye.  More evaluation revealed that I was rapidly developing a cataract.  This is a common complication of uveitis, and the consensus was that it would continue to get worse and eventually need surgery.  

So, if something is going to get worse and eventually need surgery, why not just do the surgery early?  There are plenty of reasons to wait, I think.  It’s better to let things settle down before doing an operation. I had plenty of reasonable people tell me to take a vacation, just stop doing surgery for a while, and relax.  Unfortunately, if I was going to be back at Nyankunde, I know that I’d end up doing surgery.  It was just a question of whether or not I could do it safely with one eye closed.  There was also the fog, which made me feel disoriented and irritable. 

Long story short, I ended up having cataract surgery in Kinshasa and I’m now on the mend!  My vision is not perfect, but it’s much better.  Glasses will help.

God has shown us his tender mercies during this time.  It this had happened to us in Eastern Congo, I don’t know what we would have done.  There are no specialists here and we could not have traveled without our passports (they are still in some office in Kinshasa).  We would not have had access to the specialized testing that we received there.  The presence of this eye team was such a blessing to us.  Did God somehow know that our trajectory was to intersect with theirs?  On the day before we traveled to Vanga, before I even knew a problem was developing, we “happened” to meet an ophthalmologist, who ended up being instrumental  in advising us and facilitating our ability to see the team of specialists.  There were so many things that happened that make us realize that God knew what was going on, and he had a good plan for us.  As a Christian, I believe this, but I also find myself occasionally thinking, “Maybe this particular situation slipped past him.”

In John 9, Jesus explains the purpose of it all, the reason for blindness and for restoration of sight.  It is simply “that the works of God should be made manifest in him.”  The same was true for Saul.  The same is true for me. I can testify to the works of God!

Of course, I would have just preferred to have avoided the whole ordeal. It has been destabilizing and disorienting. My abilities to perform basic tasks have deteriorated. Lindsey and Emmanuel were so great in Kinshasa, making sure I didn’t step in an open sewer or get hit by a car.  Its going to affect my ability to do surgery, and it’s going to make me go slower in many ways. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it’s not great.  Some days I seem to see ok in the left eye, other days not so great.  I have a different tint in my eyes, like the seeing a cool white on one side, and warm white on the other.  Things will get better with time.  I’ve also been on steroids, which has not been much fun.  It has made me jittery and causes me to wake up at odd hours.

I am thankful for the CHOSEN eye team who treated me with such compassion and expertise.  I am also thankful for Lindsey and Emmanuel who put up with me when I was not easy to be around.  They dropped eye drops, reminded me to take my medicines, accompanied me on countless trips to appointments.  They tolerated my irritability, and occasionally told me it was time to snap out of it.  They sat in Kinshasa traffic with me.  Emmanuel was such a trooper. Every morning he would hold up fingers and make me count them.  I am so thankful and proud of them.

I am thankful also for the many who supported us in prayer.  We were overwhelmed by the outpouring of concern and love.  

What a miracle of God are these eyes of ours. I’ve taken plenty of them out, for various reasons.  Believe me, they don’t look like much.  There is a little ball, filled with goo. How astounding that they let in light, focus the beam, and show us what is outside.  Sitting here in Nyankunde I can see the beauty of the world.  At the hospital I see the suffering of my fellow man.  I see something of the glory of God, and in my heart, I feel grateful. 

Warren