Bonovox

Its been some time since I posted the earlier two parts of the story, so I thought I better "get on with it!"  This is the third installment.  Part I can be found HERE.  Part II can be found HERE.

While Colin was in surgery, we were in the waiting room.  A whole passel of us.  They finally gave us the conference room that was just off the waiting room, as we were a bit loud I guess.  Besides Kelley and myself, there was Kelley's dad who had driven up from North Carolina, her uncle Roger, who is an Evangelical minister, our priest Fr. Jayson, my parents, and brothers and sisters.  It was a blessing as we did not agonize about what was happening, although it was a relatively simple procedure.

The word used is "enucleation," which basically means the removal of the eye.  After the removal of the organ, a spherical implant, made of acrylic, about the size of a large pea, was sewn under the muscles of the eye.  This is to "fill out" the new prosthetic somewhat, and give it some motion, as the prosthetic (which contrary to what everyone expects, is contact lens shaped, not spherical, although it is much larger then a contact lens) would ride on the muscles as they move over the "implant."  At this time, instead of a "prosthetic" ("glass eye"), a clear "conformer" is put in.  Its very important to have something in the ocular orifice, as the eye cavity will begin to close up if there is nothing there. 

Finally we got the word that Colin was in the recovery room, and mom and dad should go to him.  He was upset as he began to wake from anesthesia, and was quite horse, from the irritation of the trachea from the anesthesia tube.  His head was wrapped in a bandage, to keep the packing over his eye in place.  A sad sight to behold, of course.

We were kept over night, which all in all was not a bad hospital stay.  Our stay there four months earlier was much worse.  Colin had broken his leg, after a fall he and his grandma took walking into church.  We had to stay with him for four nights, with his leg in traction, and the poor little boy in lots of pain.  Needles to say, no-one had gotten any sleep at that time.

( Poor boy had a rough couple of years.  No one told me that being a parent is the most painful experience any one can go through...and it doesn't seem to end.  Probably one reason why I love the Lord's mother, the Theotokos, so much.....  Surely her passion, her suffering was as great as that of her Son's....

One more note, while I have you in parenthesis:  Children's Hospital of Buffalo is a marvelous place.  The sad thing is the kids that are left there with no one to visit them.  After our kids grow-up, we  hope to get involved there...)

So we came home.  We came home to a party.  All the family was over, and some friends.  And Colin, fresh from surgery the day before, was boogeying up a storm with his cousin Gabrielle, then age 3 1/2.  Kids don't feel sorry for themselves, and they don't let you do so.

The week after, we nervously awaited the pathology on the optical nerve tissue that was removed in the surgery.  If they had found cancer in it, then it was probable that it would spread to the rest of the body....so chemo, radiation, and all those other "not-so-nice" things were to follow.

It was tough taking him out in public, even after the swelling began to subside.  He had that clear conformer thing, and would not wear an eye patch.  We experienced for a brief time, what parents of Downs kids, or kids with birth defects and other disabilities experience all the time: the stares of adults and children, the questions, the pity and sympathy of mainly well meaning people.

I'll never forget eating at Don Pablo's.  The cell phone rang, and it was the doctor's office....letting us know that the pathology report was NEGATIVE!  Talk about a joyous meal with lots of gratitude!

About 2 months later, the swelling had gone down enough, that Colin was finally able to go the "ocularist," to be fitted for his prosthesis.  This woman, Tammy is an angel sent by God.  You can't go to a medical school to get a degree as an ocularist.  You have to be apprenticed to an ocularist.  Pretty old fashioned, but effective.  Tammy was apprenticed by a wonderful woman who was an innovator in the field, and had a artificial eye herself.

IN an adult, the first thing you do, is take a mold of the cavity.  But obviously a two year old will not sit for that, so she basically had to try a few different fits with him.  That is not easy eithe, but Tammy was so good with him, and Colin was a pretty good patient.  Once she got a size, she would get a black dot, and match it to his other pupil in "average. light."  Then hand paint the iris to match.  The, add red threads to match the blood vessels in his good eye.  Finally cover it w/ clear acrylic.  The process is amazing, but took weeks to finish.

Remember the implant that was put in?  Well, a couple weeks after his surgery, his conformer popped out.  The reason was the implant was extruding from the muscle tissue, and eventually it popped out.  We were faced with either putting him through surgery again to put in another one, or just living with it, and having his prosthesis fitted appropriately.  We opted for the latter, as who wants to see a two year old go through surgery again, simply for cosmetic reasons.  The motion of his prosthetic is not as good as it could be, and that eye has a little bit of a "sunken in" look to it, but most people don't notice it at all.  I mean, little kids don't sit still long enough for you to get a good look anyways!

The plan is that when ever he outgrows his eye and needs a new one, that he is offered the option of having surgery to have an implant put in.  That is going to be totally up to him, although I hope he waits till he is an adult, if he opts for that at all.

I'll stop for now, as this is getting lengthy.  I wanted to make it three parts, but there is alot more to the story to tell.  But I think you get the sense so far, that Colin and family are doing good, and that with God's grace a family can survive a crisis.  Our emphasis must always be on "God's will," and not our own.  But in order to do so, you have to able to trust God.  Not easy, in some people's situations.  For instance, if our earthly father was cruel, we have a hard time not transferring that to our Heavenly Father.  But to trust God leads to joy and blessings.  To trust self and our own desires, only leads to misery.

Please pray for us, and let us know how we can pray for you!