Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory........

We had the appointment with the eye doctor who originally treated Paul in the week following his accident. At that time we were told that he would probably not ever see in that eye again. We found out later that he had some limited vision, where he was able to see the lower half of his vision field, but basically was legally blind. His last appointment in May, he was not able to see the 'E' on the eye chart. The nurse checked him today and he could see the 'E' and the next row down. And the next row down. And the next row down. And yes, the next. When we had come into the room, she talked to us about the history and asked if he could see out of his eye and I responded that we had been told he could see in a very limited way. So as she was going down the rows, she was looking at me and her smile got bigger with each row, as did mine and Jon's!! Jon and I kept looking at each other as Paul kept calling off the letters, row by row. I started to get tears in my eyes, and was basically stunned by what was happening. The nurse finished and said, "Well folks, as you can see, he has 20/20 vision in both eyes." She walked out to get the doctor and Jon and I jumped up and went to Paul and just hugged him. He said, "I think we should thank God for my eyesight. Let's say a prayer." We prayed our spontaneous prayers of thanksgiving to God and just kept hugging each other. After about 10 minutes, Jon and I sat down. Paul started to do a drum beat that he always does when he is sitting around and is waiting, and so I asked him to show me again so I could learn. Then Jon joined the 'drum' lesson and before you know it, we were all working on the pattern Paul does. Then he showed us some things his friend Brendan (who is an awesome drummer as we have mentioned before.......hello Brendan!) had showed him and we had a really fun time trying to keep up with Paul and laughing at our complete ineptness (compared to Paul). We had to wait for about 45 minutes for the doctor, but we were talking, drumming and laughing the whole time. The doctor came in and asked us how we all had been doing. He then concentrated on Paul and asked him to put his eye patch on his right eye. He wanted to make sure that Paul had not used his right eye in reading the chart. He knew how badly Paul's eye had been injured and I don't think he believed the findings. He went straight to the row that would prove the 20/20 vision and Paul could not read it. I could hardly breathe, thinking Paul had 'cheated'. The doctor asked him to rub his eye and then he tried the row above the 20/20 one and Paul read it just fine. Then the doctor went back to the 20/20 row and Paul did read it. The doctor said that he just had to make sure Paul had not faked it somehow. As he turned the lights up a bit, he turned to Jon and I and said, "There you have it. His eyesight is better in both eyes than mine are with glasses!" He was so pleased to be part of this awesome news. He called his nurse and said, "I don't know if you remember this young man, but he was not supposed to walk out of a hospital again. And look at him now." He said to Paul, "I didn't get to hear your voice when I saw you. Do you remember anything I did to you at the hospital?" Paul said no and the doctor said, "That's probably a good thing too." He then checked Paul's eye and said we had done a good job maintaining the health of his eye and he was really glad about it. He said the globe is in very good shape and said that with surgery, they will be able to work the muscles to help Paul not have double vision. He said that they might have to do surgery on the right eye also, to coordinate the muscles in both eyes. Paul at that point said, "Excuse me doctor, but I have a question. Why would they have to do surgery on my right eye?" The doctor explained it further and Paul was satisfied with the answer. (It is hard to tell if he is listening half the time, since he wears his sun glasses, you can't tell if he is paying attention. This showed he was paying very close attention!) Dr. Tucker is not the doctor to do the surgery, but he will help us find one. He said we really should get the hydrocephalus issue resolved first and to rule out any brain fluid leaks since it has been brought up by Dr. Ghaly. It would become an issue if the leak is in the orbital area and would affect the surgery for repairing the eye muscles. He set up a game plan we should follow, then we are to call him when we are ready for the eye surgery. We will continue taping Paul's eye as we have been as it has proven to be very effective for maintaining his eye health. We will now get the appointment with the doctor in Charlotte NC, and if he can't help us, we will have to head up to Chicago to talk to Dr. Ghaly. We were hoping to stay closer to home, but we have complete trust that God will be steering us as we go forward.

Today's Doctor appointment, $200
Gas to get there, $9
Drum lessons while waiting, $100 (per Paul)
Joy felt in that room..........priceless!!

We started to call family members as soon as we started to walk to the car. Paul was on the phone with Jon (his brother) and I called Michael and then my family members that I could reach, which was only 2 since I was driving. We were driving by Jerry's house and as I was thinking it, Paul said it, "Pull into their driveway so we can tell them." I honked the horn as we pulled into the Hufford's driveway - I was so excited. We told them that Paul's vision is fully restored and they were as overjoyed as everyone else. They invited us to stay for dinner. We had to go home first to get Paul his medicine. We quickly drove the 2 blocks home and got out and saw Bob and Barb across the street. Paul's head was hurting really badly, but when he saw them he said, "Let's go tell them too." So we walked across the street and after he hugged them both he shared the good news. So much exitement all around! We went back to the Huffords after Paul was done and we had a wonderful meal amid much laughter.

My sister in law, Kelly, was the one who said "Mine eyes have seen the glory" when told and it is a great title for this blog indeed!

Paul's spirituality is a wonderful thing to witness and be part of. His first words were to say thanks to God when he understood what had happened today. He asked God to keep helping him be a good son to his parents and to be able to be of help to his family. He is so centered in his prayers and has the very trust in God that children have in their earthly parents.

Thank you for all of your words of love, encouragement, joy and faith. Ten months of beautifully written sentiments - Our eyes HAVE SEEN seen the glory of the coming of the Lord. In gratitude to the God who gives us every blessing we pray, Blessed be the God of our salvation!
Love,
Jon and Rebecca