Our unwelcome and unwanted souvenir from our South Island Adventure has turned out to be a blessing in disguise. What seemed to be an intrusion into our ability to settle back into the daily rhythm of life, has become a blessing far greater than we expected.
Yesterday DH returned to Wellington for follow-up surgery. At the hospital DH had a pre-op appointment where the surgeon examined his eye and expressed surprise that it had healed so well. It was then that he explained in more detail the extent of the damage to DH's retina and told us that he had only given the surgery a 50/50 chance of success and the retina reattaching. (So glad he didn't tell us this earlier.)
He warned us that the follow-up surgery could cause the retina to detach again and that repair work might be necessary. When DH had not returned to the Recovery Ward two and a half hours after I'd seen him go off to theatre, I could only assume that it had gone badly.
How wrong I was! Apparently he had had to wait a lot longer than expected before his procedure began, and when they did operate, everything went extremely well and further repairs were not needed. While DH had to stay in hospital overnight, I suspect this was more a precautionary move on the surgeon's part.
So now we are home and feeling extremely thankful and blessed. Blessed because of the outcome and all the answered prayers. Blessed for the way this all fell into place from the travel, to the emergency surgery, to the scheduled surgery, to places for me to stay. Blessed for the surgeon whose hands and skills were the instruments that saved DH's sight. Blessed for the wonderful staff who cared for DH.
Blessed for the way this whole ordeal has had a positive impact on our marriage by drawing us closer and causing us to rely on the other's strength. Blessed for the way family have rallied around and supported us both (and DH has really looked forward to those after school visits from The Most Adorable Granddaughters). Blessed for friends who have prayed and been an encouragement. Blessed for safe travel (and DH not only survived my driving but complimented me on it).
And blessed because in every aspect, in every decision, in every thing we did, God has been there. He went before us to prepare the way and was with us every step of the way.
Yesterday DH returned to Wellington for follow-up surgery. At the hospital DH had a pre-op appointment where the surgeon examined his eye and expressed surprise that it had healed so well. It was then that he explained in more detail the extent of the damage to DH's retina and told us that he had only given the surgery a 50/50 chance of success and the retina reattaching. (So glad he didn't tell us this earlier.)
He warned us that the follow-up surgery could cause the retina to detach again and that repair work might be necessary. When DH had not returned to the Recovery Ward two and a half hours after I'd seen him go off to theatre, I could only assume that it had gone badly.
How wrong I was! Apparently he had had to wait a lot longer than expected before his procedure began, and when they did operate, everything went extremely well and further repairs were not needed. While DH had to stay in hospital overnight, I suspect this was more a precautionary move on the surgeon's part.
So now we are home and feeling extremely thankful and blessed. Blessed because of the outcome and all the answered prayers. Blessed for the way this all fell into place from the travel, to the emergency surgery, to the scheduled surgery, to places for me to stay. Blessed for the surgeon whose hands and skills were the instruments that saved DH's sight. Blessed for the wonderful staff who cared for DH.
Blessed for the way this whole ordeal has had a positive impact on our marriage by drawing us closer and causing us to rely on the other's strength. Blessed for the way family have rallied around and supported us both (and DH has really looked forward to those after school visits from The Most Adorable Granddaughters). Blessed for friends who have prayed and been an encouragement. Blessed for safe travel (and DH not only survived my driving but complimented me on it).
And blessed because in every aspect, in every decision, in every thing we did, God has been there. He went before us to prepare the way and was with us every step of the way.
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