Prayer Support

[Kingfisher]

While working at home today my brother somehow managed to stab himself in the eye with a piece of wire. Apparently it was on a coil under tension and sprang back as he was cutting it, entering under the lens on an upward trajectory. I don't know how bad it is yet but he was losing some vitreous humor and there was some foreign matter embedded in the orb. The local hospital ran him up to Albany Medical Center for emergency surgery to see what they could save. He was in good enough spirits when I saw him, joking about how he had named his son after Alexander the Great and now he had lost an eye, but he was in a lot of pain and understandably freaking out that it was leaking down his face. I don't know if he's out of the OR yet, but we could use whatever prayers and energies y'all can send to him for the healing of his body, and for his mind however this turns out. I never ask you guys for anything and I wish I could take the injury in his place, but I really need your help this time. With HIPAA protection I won't have an update for a while but I'll let y'all know how it goes as soon as I get word.

"Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever."

[Brother Kaman]

I will keep you, your brother and his family in my thoughts and meditations.

[Kingfisher]

So they rushed him by ambulance (not covered by insurance) to Albany and then kept him waiting for 12 hours because the surgeon couldn't be bothered to show up until 3am. He was having panic attacks because he developed a cataract from the fluid leaking into his cornea, it was this huge emergency, and nobody would tell him what's going on. Apparently he was so out of it when he woke up in recovery he assaulted several nurses, and they only called off the police when he started to come around. He waits all morning for the doc to do his rounds, but again he never arrived. They then kept him waiting for a couple hours in the hospital ophthalmology clinic this afternoon, and yet again the doctor doesn't show up, so he checked himself out. They tell him at that time that it was so urgent he be seen that they squeezed him in immediately at the guy's private practice, and when we get him there they tell him it was still going to be another couple hours before he could be seen (assuming a golf game or something didn't postpone that appointment too.) He was at the end of his wits without his anti-anxiety meds, so he insisted we just bring him home and he'll be checking in with his primary physician on Monday. Onward to the Thracian seaboard, so to speak. He said there's no pain since they got the eyelashes/debris out of his eye but he still doesn't even know if they did a lensectomy or not. If they did, the repair also won't be covered and he'll probably have lost most of his sight in that eye. If not, it'll be at least a few months for recovery, and we have no idea how much might return until we can get him examined again. Complete communication breakdown. As he was discussing with his roommate, apparently triage is driven by profit and even the patients themselves aren't important enough to know the details of their treatment these days. The doctors are too busy to follow up, but I guess they're so awesome they don't need to worry about their bedside manner anymore. Physically his future is uncertain, but psychologically it seemed he'd rather risk losing the eye entirely than leave himself in their hands for another minute. Ahh, the joys of government healthcare. I did let him know you guys were praying for him and he expressed his gratitude. It was more support than he got at the hospital. From all of us, thank you.

"In regione caecorum rex est luscus." ~ Desiderius Erasmus

[grateful]

oh for gods sake! that's just awful! I'm sending you all good wishes and good things..

[RevJackP]

I can understand your feelings, trust me I can. The medical system in this country has really sunk to new lows. Our local medical system, including doctors, clinics and hospitals, almost cost my wife her life. Only by hanging in there and many phone calls did we locate a facility that helped us.

Call all the doctors you can find, network with other people. Maybe other persons on this forum are more familiar with your area. When I had a torn retina iwas able to get to the Retina Vitreous Associates in Pittsburgh.

May God bless you and your family. May He send healing for your brother.

We'll keep you in our prayers.

[Songster]

Wow.... My prayers will include your brother and his family.

[Kingfisher]

He went in to a local clinic yesterday, but the doctor refused to even examine him because she's not an ophthalmologist. She called the surgeon and he said my brother needs to come in and see him... if it was that urgent why couldn't he keep his appointments on Friday? If we had been late we would have been charged for his time, so I can't really blame my brother for not dancing for someone who thinks their convenience is more important than his eye. This one did give him the antibiotics he needed, but she wouldn't prescribe the eyedrop form because, again, she wasn't an ophthalmologist. Crikey, was the surgeon's recommendation not enough? There's an optometry group nearby he'll check in with tomorrow. Hopefully we can at least get the right meds and a prognosis, even if it's bad news. Once again I'd like to thank you all. There's a tremendous strength to be gained through prayer and fellowship, even if it doesn't produce instant miracles. Any surgery and severe injury can be challenging, but to have one of your primary senses compromised is one heck of a mountain. Your support is truly a blessing for our family.