Looking on the Bright Side

I am scheduled to have eye surgery on March 6th, to repair a macular hole in the retina of my left eye.  In the meantime, I'm living with greatly reduced vision and a headache by early afternoon, most days.  I'm not looking forward to the out-patient surgery in Denver, but I'm even less excited about the five days after the surgery, when I have to spend 99% of my time face-down, in a motel room, with no reading or computer use allowed.  I can't come home right away because I can't change altitude right after the surgery.  And after all of that, I don't have any guarantee that I will regain vision in that eye, although the surgeon hopes that I will get back at least 50% of the vision I've lost.

It's easy to feel discouraged about the prospect of this surgery and the aftermath.  I'm still not feeling 100% after my bout with a sinus infection and bronchitis last month, and I'm certainly not ready to miss even more school days.  However, I've decided to look on the bright side instead of dwelling on the negatives.  With that in mind, I've come up with several positive things about this situation:
  • I don't have an automatic sentence of blindness, because we live at a time when doctors know how to repair eye injuries.
  • God gave me two eyes, so I still have one that works reasonably well.
  • After we meet our deductible, insurance will pay for most of the cost of the surgery.
  • I get to spend five days in a motel room with my husband, without kids.  Ahhhh--peace and quiet!
  • I have a loving husband to take care of me and wait on me when I need his help.
  • We will be able to rent special equipment that will make my extended face-down position easier to manage.
  • We will get to see Erin sooner than expected, because she has volunteered to look after the kids while Bill and I are in Denver.
  • Erin is free to come from California now because she has accumulated plenty of sick days at her job.
  • Since extended computer time causes me much eye strain, the school district paid an aide to help me enter computer data for my students' online winter evaluations.
  • Because I know about this surgery in advance, I can make sure that the school district provides a high-quality sub for me while I'm gone, and I have time to prepare my students for my absence this time.
  • God willing, I only have to miss five teaching days, because my time off will include two weekends and a teacher work day.
  • I have built up enough sick days that I will get paid for all of my additional time off of work.
  • I will have plenty of time to rest, think, and pray.
  • I have many friends and relatives who have offered to pray for me and help me. 
  • God is in control of this situation, just as he is in charge of all aspects of my life.  I can trust him to provide whatever I need.

Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art;
Thou my best thought by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light. 
Dallan Forgaill, c. 8th Century A.D.


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