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Imagine our surprise when, walking down the hall of our homechurch in Minnesota (Wooddale), we look up and see a photo of me, larger than life! Wooddale is tackling a multi-faceted approach to outreach, and this was one of their examples of medical outreach overseas. (Eric and I took very few photos while we were in the states this fall, unfortunately, but we couldn't pass this one up! :) Plus, now Eric has proof that I'm getting a big head. :) )
We did many other activities while at home for those 6 weeks, too. We started off in Omaha with Eric's parents and family for a couple of weeks while I studied for my ophthalmology oral boards exam. Then we travelled to San Francisco for the exam itself and to see some friends and family (the Trents, the Peppers, Chris Lin, and my cousin Becky). We had a good time sightseeing together. The exam was stressful but we (me especially) just tried to rest in God's presence and walk through it, whatever the outcome. Next we flew to Boise, ID and drove on to Ontario, OR to visit my grandparents for a special visit of several days - the first time we had seen them in a couple of years.
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Then we flew to Oklahoma City, where my parents and brother Matt and family are now living, and two days later began another mini-travel tour of the southeast US. We flew first to Miami, where we had a full day of training on the optical workshop equipment that Wooddale helped us to purchase for Bongolo's eye clinic. Then we spent a few days with Eric's brother Lance and family in Fort Walton Beach in Florida's panhandle. Then we flew briefly back to OKC to pick up a rental car and drive to my sister April's home in Conway, Arkansas. We stayed there for a few days before we all caravaned back to OKC to spend Thanksgiving with my parents - and then had an early Christmas celebration together as well.
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What excuse did Eric and I have for all this travel?? Well, the main reason for the trip was my exam, and we recently got the news....I passed! Praise God. In some ways, this was the culmination of all of my medical training over the last 10 years, so it is a great relief to be done. Another reason for the trip was going to Miami to learn to make eyeglasses for the Gabonese. This will be a great source of affordable glasses for our patients and we can't wait for the equipment to arrive sometime in February (we hope). It's currently stuck in the capital city, 350 miles away, because we're awaiting an airplane that can bring it down while avoiding the rough roads. Finally, this trip was a key time for us to spend some time with family (and a few friends) before the birth of our first child....We hear travel is never the same again afterward! :)
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Christmas itself....
After arriving back here in Gabon, we jumped back into life here. Our friend Meladee brought back from the states a lot of decorations for our little church here in Gabon, called "Moutongo." Together with a group of ladies from the church, and Eric (who took the photo), we decorated for several hours. It was a good time of fellowship and service, and helped the ladies and the church to feel proud of our small group of believers.
The hospital put on a fun time of giving gifts to the children of our hospital workers, remembering the three wise men's gifts to the baby Jesus. The nurses and other workers at our hospital are nearly entirely Gabonese, and they aren't paid a lot because we are a mission hospital and try to serve the poor (who can't pay much for hospital services). So the national workers at our hospital really are missionaries too, and it is a joy to be able to give them back something for their own children at this time of year.
Another child who received a different sort of gift this Christmas is Joseph, pictured above. Many of you may remember "the little girl with the big eyes" from a previous blog entry of ours last year. Well, Joseph is an 11-month old baby who has the same disease: congenital glaucoma (high eye pressure). And he also has the huge eyes, though you can't see them here because the eyelids are closed.
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This picture was taken at the beginning of his first surgery a couple of weeks ago, for the right eye. Because of the difficulty and need for reoperation on the other child, the little girl, this time I decided to try to perform one of the surgeries that is usually done in the states for babies with this disease: a suture trabeculotomy. This surgery can be incredibly difficult because of the anatomy, and I spent over an hour searching for a tiny structure in the eye that would let me complete this surgery - without success. So for that eye he ended up with the same surgery we would do on adults, a trabeculectomy.
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There had been a handful of people praying for this surgery, but for the other eye, we decided to involve our entire prayer team. This last week we did the left eye, and lo and behold, I found the structure almost immediately and was able to complete the surgery as it would have been done in the states. And actually, the pressure in the right eye is still good as well. The next day he was easily opening both eyes, and the cloudiness of those large eyes was already much clearer. Merry Christmas, Joseph!
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