Timing is Everything

Thank you to all who have sent your thoughts and prayers! Please bear with me and my slow postings. I honestly haven't meant to leave you hanging, but it seems my life has been on a fast track for the past couple of months! It's amazing to me that anyone would even bother reading about someone else's troubles, as we all have so many of our own. I know we aren't the only family who is going through difficulties. There are so many other situations that are far worse than this and we recognize that. However, no matter what one goes through in life, it's still important and relevant to your life. Writing about this has helped put into words the emotional rollercoaster I've been feeling. I promise I will soon enter more uplifting posts about art and life, but for now I feel an obligation to finish the story I started.

When Dale finished recounting the events that had unfolded over the past few days, and my heart began beating once again, we were anxious and concerned. We had no idea what was happening. The only thing that came to our minds was the condition his step father has been going through for the past twelve years... macular degeneration. This progressive eye disease creates large black spots in your central vision, eventually leading to permanent blindness. To date, there is no cure. Fearing this debilating disease had also come knocking on our door, we were both very afraid and held each other tightly throughout the night.

Since Dale had already scheduled a vacation day, we called our eye doctor the following morning and explained the situation. The doctor worked him in as her first patient of the day at 2:00pm. After a careful examination, our opthamologist confirmed there was a definite problem and he would need to see a specialist immediately. She personally called and scheduled an emergency appointment with a specialist. We left the office and drove across town to his next appointment.

After a thorough examination, the retina specialist gave us some very good news. Dale's condition was not caused by macular degeneration. Even though Dale still couldn't see anything out of his right eye, this diagnosis was a huge relief! The bad news was Dale had a completely detached retina. This is sometimes caused by an injury, such as a blow to the head. Athletes who participate in contact sports are prone to incurring a detached retina. Although he hadn't had any head injury that he could remember, the doctor said this can also happen to anyone, especially as we age.

Dale would need emergency surgery in an attempt to reattach the retina to his eye. A partial retinal tear or partial retinal detachment can generally be fixed using laser surgery, with a 90% positive outcome. If the retina is completely detached and involves the central vision, a more complicated procedure is necessary. The longer the retina is detached, the more damage occurs, as cells begin to deteriorate and die. The possibility of vision restoration becomes increasingly compromised. Time was of the essence. If only so much time had not already been lost while he was out of the country!

The surgeon said he would be willing to perform surgery the following morning if he was able to pull together a team to assist him. It was now 4:30pm on Friday of Labor Day weekend. He would need to find four nurses and an anesthesiologist who would also be willing to work on the spur of the moment on a holiday weekend. If not, Dale would need to wait until Tuesday morning when the eye clinic reopened. The surgeon said he would call us by 7:00am the following morning to let us know. Needlesstosay, we spent another sleepless night waiting and wondering what the outcome would be.