These Eyes

I am sitting with the monitor to my right as I type this and can hear Paul's gentle breathing as he sleeps very soundly. ( I don't believe there is a more wonderful sound in the world than the sound of our children breathing peacefully while they sleep!) He really had a long and painful morning. It started with a very long walk from the parking deck to the doctor's office. It was a very welcome sight to see a couple of chairs that had ottoman's in front of them in the waiting room.........and the bonus - they were empty! Paul settled into one and dozed off and on while we waited for our appointment. He was examined by the nurse, who had to do some very painful preparations and then by a resident student who was assisting the doctor. Paul was not able to keep the patch on his eye throughout the entire exam and with his sensitivity to light, his headache was very painful, along with his eye hurting. He patiently allowed all the nurse, resident and doctor do all sorts of exams, but near the end, asked how much longer. For him to show any impatience, it must have become extremely uncomfortable. They numbed his left eye and moved the eyeball to see if there was any restriction which was adding to the paralysis issue of the 3rd cranial nerve. There does not appear to be any, which is a good thing. There were 2 other doctors who were part of the examining group. The doctor congratulated us on a job well done in protecting Paul's eye. He was literally amazed that the cornea was in such good condition, given that Paul's eye never closes. The first and immediate need is to keep Paul's eyelid closed and they have ordered a weight to be used externally on his eyelid. This will give them the time to review all of the cat scans done and the prior reconstructive surgery so that they can plan out a course of action to be taken in repairing the eyeball and the muscles and bones. There was a discussion of implanting a spring mechanism for the eyelid, which may be done at a later date. It is more successful in younger people's eyes, but the doctor did say that it comes with its own set of problems. We won't rush into that without getting a lot of information about its use. The less surgeries, the better. Obviously! It would be used for the long haul, if Paul's nerve does not regenerate. There is partial nerve damage to the 3rd cranial nerve, and it is not severed. There is no real sign of recovery of the paralysis in Paul's face yet, but we keep this all on our prayer list. The doctor also mentioned that there may be the possibility of repairs to the nerve, but without all the xrays and the doctor notes from the first surgery, he could not say definitively what all will be done other than the obvious repair to the eyeball placement in the socket. His nurse was very helpful in showing us how to tape Paul's eye closed and then covering it with a bandage that would help hold his eyelid closed. This is more preferable to the patch we have been using because the best protection for the cornea is a closed eyelid, not just a covering over an open one. It will be much more comfortable for Paul and we are all about finding ways to ease Paul's pain and discomfort! We should have the external weight in about a week or so. It is being ordered for us. It has 2 sided tape, and will be skin tone. It is placed on the lid right above the eyelashes. Jon jokingly said he will check out the tackle department to see about getting a fishing weight in the meantime. It actually makes you wonder that with all the advancements in technology, how little there is on the market that addresses this problem. The one they showed us could probably double as a fishing pole weight!

One thing that was reassuring was that Paul is still very alert and pays alot of attention to detail, which was evidenced by our ride in the elevator. He and I were going down and a woman got on also. I pushed the first floor, and I didn't see the woman push any button. When the elevator stopped, I started to help Paul get out of the elevator and he would not step forward. I said "Let's go Paul" and he just pointed to the number displayed up above. It was for the second floor, not the first. I laughed and thanked Paul for staying cognizant of his surroundings. He noticed that despite his headache and use of only one eye! I told him he might want to ask for a more alert caregiver, and at the very least, continue to remain ever watchful!

I took notice of the fact that he kept up his endurance the whole morning, which indicates that once we get past these headache/shunt issues, he should be able to regain his strength fairly quickly.

We have another event for the day and that is a trip to the hospital to pick up his xray copies and then to the appointment to get his cat scan done for tomorrow's appointment with the neurologist. Please pray that the shunt has not overdrained the ventricle, as that will be a really big problem. It is more preferable that the shunt is not draining enough brain fluid.

I had a thought yesterday that we are just one day closer to the recovery God intends and I am one day closer to my seeing Jesus as I pass from this world to the next. So much to pray for and do...............so little time! Instead of dreading the long waits, I will look forward to utilizing that time to pray without ceasing.

Psalm 89 from today's readings.

The favors of the Lord I will sing forever;
through all generations my mouth shall proclaim your faithfulness.
For you have said, "My kindness is established forever";
in heaven you have confirmed your faithfulness.

The heavens proclaim your wonders, O Lord
and your faithfulness, in the assembly of the holy ones.
For who in the skies can rank with the Lord?
Who is like the Lord among the sons of God?

Blessed the people who know the joyful shout;
in the light of your countenance, O Lord they walk.
At your name they rejoice all the day,
and through your justice they are exalted.

Forever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.

We place our trust in you, Jesus.
Peace to all,
Jon and Rebecca