Metal in My Eye

Well, here is the scoop if you have not heard:

Roy and I were fixing a metal door at camp that had been dragging on the floor.  I took a grinder to the bottom of the door which solved the problem.  And I will have you know that I was wearing protective ear and eye wear.

That evening, after I had crawled into bed and was trying to fall asleep, I began to feel a slightly irritating object in my left eye.  I put some eye drops in my eye that proved to be inaffective, and then I just figured whatever was in my eye would just flush out overnight.

On Saturday I went through the day without feeling a thing in my eye until the evening.  I was operating the tow cable on the Bunny Hill when the irritation returned with greater intensity.  I had my eye drops with me, and after putting about 500 drops in my eye I gave up.  Again I went to bed that night just hoping that the speck in my eye would just flush out.

Sunday was horrible.  While I was at camp I was trying to avoid going outside (which is impossible) because the brightness of the snow brought unbearable irritation to my eye, even when it was closed.  Even indoors it hurt whenever my eyes would change focus.  Due to my inability to function properly, I went home early.  I had been told that if I had metal in my eye, it would begin to imbed itself and rust in my eye.  That was not comforting news.  Since it was Sunday my options were to wait until Monday to see a doctor or go to the ER.  Having had corrective Lasik eye surgery four years ago, I did not want to play games with my vision, so we decided to drive an hour south to Marshfield.  The doctor numbed my eye and was able to dig out a couple specks of metal.  He could still see a rust ring in my eye and he referred us on to see an ophthalmologist the next day.

The highlight of the day was when we stopped at Hardee’s on our way home.  I cannot decide which fast food restaurant has the best burgers: Hardee’s or Culver’s.  I had the double thickburger, which was incredibly messy and delicious.  Tawnya faithfully pointed out some ketchup on my face which was actually out of my tongue’s reach!  Now that’s a messy burger!  You’re probably wondering what Tawnya ate, but if you know Tawnya you would guess chicken strips.  Yep, chicken strips.  She claims that she’s kinda “burgered out.”  Unbelievable.

So Monday we returned to Marshfield to receive great news from Dr. Anderson.  After removing the rust ring, he gave me some antibiotic eye drops and said that I had a swollen cornea.  He expects my blurred vision to return to normal as the swelling goes down.  Because I am a diabetic he said the healing could take several days to a week, but I have noticed a significant improvement in my vision in the 24 hours since that appointment. 

Thank you so much for your prayers.  The greatest thing about life is that our God is in control.  The One who spoke the universe into existence is in complete control of even a microscopic piece of metal.  It is great to know and rest in that.