Paradox

By this time tomorrow I should be out of surgery having the platelet removed from my eye.  I must admit that I am looking forward to that.  Not that the pain has been bad at all.  In fact, after the first 24 hours there has been very little pain.  Immediately following the surgery I told the doctor it felt like an eye lash had fallen in my eye after taking a left hook from Mike Tyson.  He said that what felt like an eye lash was the platelet but he would take credit for the left hook.

The inconvenience this past week has been the lead shield which I had to keep under the eye patch.  Anytime I left our room I was to place it under the patch.  The reason for the shield was to protect anyone that may come within close proximity of me: especially small children and ladies who are or may be pregnant.  That is the real paradox of radiation treatment.  We are all warned about the risk of cancer from radiation exposure; yet what is one of the primary treatments for cancer? Radiation!  Oh the wisdom of man; we think we have everything figured out.

This being the 4th of July it has been relatively quiet here at the Lodge.  All but four patients have gone home for the long weekend.  Those of us which remain are either receiving treatments or like myself just quarantined to Memphis.  At least there is no want for good BBQ.

I still stand amazed at how God has been working through all of this.  How quickly the doctors in Knoxville picked up on my condition to how quickly I was admitted here in Memphis.  My retina specialist in Knoxville told me it would take four to six weeks to get an appointment in Memphis; he was shocked when it was only 16 days. The staff here at the Lodge keep talking about Dr. Wilson and how he has patients from around the world coming for this procedure.  I know that I was one of five surgeries, three implants and two removals, which he performed last week.

As I prepare for the surgery tomorrow I also prepare for the next chapter of this adventure.  There will be some double vision that I know.  It could last anywhere from a few weeks to being permanent.  So, I return to my verses in Habakkuk.

 
Habakkuk 3: 17-19

17 Though the fig tree should not blossom

And there be no fruit on the vines,

Though the yield of the olive should fail

And the fields produce no food,

Though the flock should be cut off from the fold

And there be no cattle in the stalls,

18 Yet I will exult in the Lord,

I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.

19 The Lord God is my strength,

And He has made my feet like hinds’ feet,

And makes me walk in my high places.