the business of miracles

We celebrated last night.  Not just a 'hey, let's have a scoop of the Blue Bunny Peanut Butter Panic ice cream in our freezer' deal,  but rather a 'let's go get some of the good stuff at our local favorite frozen custard place!' kind of evening!

The celebrated?  Darcy.  Her right eye to be exact.

Yes.  I said we celebrated her eye.  Why? 

Well, before her first surgery, the pressure caused by the glaucoma in that eye was above 30.  Dr. F (have I mentioned before how much we love her?) wanted to act quickly to lower that pressure as it needed to be below 20 to stop further damage to Darcy's optic nerve.  Back in April the fact that my baby was having surgery just one month after she got home had my head spinning!  But today I'm so grateful that we moved at a quick pace to have one surgery that was quickly followed by a second.  That's because at her final surgery follow up exam this week, the pressure in Darcy's eye was 18.  Yes, EIGHTEEN!!! 

That means that the shunt implant ~ which has many potential complications ~ is officially off the table for now.  Can I get an AMEN? 

And I just have to mention that when her strong eye was patched in the doctor's office, Darcy's vision was tested at 20/60 in her 'helper eye.'  Yeah, 20/60!  I used the term 'helper eye' because that's what we thought her right eye would be.  Kinda drastic improvement from the 'not as good as 20/400' diagnosis we were given at her first pre-op appointment with Dr. F back in March.

Using both eyes, (with her glasses) my girl now sees at 20/30.  Oh, and I have to brag again to say that she now uses the letter chart instead of pictures ~ she must have a pretty good preschool teacher.  ;)  

To me  it's all amazing when you consider what Dr. F said to me at this most recent appointment.

"I know you remember that first visit when I told you we were going to be trying to preserve light recognition in Darcy's helper eye.  If you had told me that day that in six months you were hoping for pressure under 20, without an implant, AND vision in that eye of 20/60 with corrective lenses, I would have told you that you were whistling Dixie.  She's a miracle child."

Some people take the position that God is no longer in the business of miracles.  There was a time that I may have fallen into that camp.  But today I present evidence that proves otherwise.  My baby can see!