My Sight is Back
This blog is not intended to be
about me. However there is something on
my mind that I feel as though I should shout from the housetop. And here it is:
About ten years ago I had a surgery
on my right eye for a cataract removal.
Even though they told me that only about one in several thousand ever go
bad I won the lottery. Mine went
bad. Shortly after the operation my
retina began to detach. That happened
eight times and ended with a final surgery that left my retina in perfect
shape. Only all of the blood stopped going to that
eye because of the many surgeries and I was left blind in that eye. After
fighting my computer for a while I became aware that I was no longer able to do
the computer assisted design by CAD and was forced to retire. I immediately failed retirement. I did not want to retire. I wanted to work. I loved the work I was doing. And anyway I could no longer drive a car as
well so what was I going to do? So for the years since then I watched my sight
go away bit by bit.
Please don’t quit reading yet! This all has a happy ending.
The doctor who did the final surgery
had me coming back once a year to see if there were any new procedures that
could return the sight in that eye. And
each year a cataract in my left eye was beginning to grow. Now
reading was becoming harder and harder to the point that I no longer even
wanted to try to read. I tried to hide
the fact that seeing was difficult for me but it was reaching the point that I
could no longer keep it secret. So I did
what all good husbands do. I asked my
wife what I should do. In her kind way
she softly explained to me that I was the only one who could make the decision
as to whether or not to have the cataract in my good eye removed. She has just recently had both of her eyes
done without any problem. She talked to
the doctor about me and he said that he could not see any problem with my
having it done. So I went to him for advice.
He looked at everything and
convinced me that he would be able to at least save the left eye.
So the operation was done. Having had so many other such operations I
expected to spend the next few weeks recuperating. But not so!
The day after I awoke and went to my bedroom window and looked out. And there to my surprise were colors. It had been years since I had seen
colors. I looked around the room and
everything I looked at was clear. Did I
have new glasses? No! Had I died? No! I ran into the kitchen where Linda was and
there she stood, the same beautiful woman I married fifty four years ago,
cooking something as always. She was
smiling and looking at me. I could see
her eyes. They were glowing.
So am I thankful? You have to be kidding! Of course I am thankful. I am thankful for the doctor who used that fine
mind God gave him to learn how to fix eyes.
I am thankful for all the many people- family and friends- who cared
enough to pray for me. But most of all I
want the world to know that I am thankful to God who loved me enough to give me
back my sight. I can write every day for
the rest of my life and will never have the words to completely say what that
has meant to me.
If what I have written sounds too
good to be true then it is all right for you to think that if you want, but all
I can say is that all of my life I have been a liar but this time I am telling
the truth. I am happy! And I love you and there ain’t nothin’ you
can do about it. So hug somebody. And stay off the road. They let me drive again.