May 22nd 2012
While I'm sure you've been bored to death by my constant picture posting
of our new arrival, I write to ask for your support on behalf of our
family. This afternoon we found out that Bridget is currently blind in
one eye due to a detached retina (among other
problems). Tomorrow we expect that she will undergo
exploratory surgery to determine whether or not the retina can be
reattached and a portion of her sight restored to her. The struggle we
currently face is that Bridget's eye is so small that the
surgeons instruments are too large to perform the task normally and
there is much internally which must be remedied.
I write to ask your prayers and good thoughts, we have friends and family across the globe of many faiths, beliefs and traditions and ask your support in the form of petitioning your higher power for her welfare, that she will endure the anesthesia well and if it be God's will that her sight may be restored to her in what ever measure is possible.
As you can imagine this is a very emotional time for our family, but we have been so blessed by the presence and support of our extended family, friends and colleagues and have faith that all will work together for her good. Thank you for your faith and support.
I write to ask your prayers and good thoughts, we have friends and family across the globe of many faiths, beliefs and traditions and ask your support in the form of petitioning your higher power for her welfare, that she will endure the anesthesia well and if it be God's will that her sight may be restored to her in what ever measure is possible.
As you can imagine this is a very emotional time for our family, but we have been so blessed by the presence and support of our extended family, friends and colleagues and have faith that all will work together for her good. Thank you for your faith and support.
~ That night I stayed up with Bridget we sang songs and cuddled and I held her the whole night until it was time to get in the car and drive the 3 1/2 hours to the office for our 8am appointment.
May 23rd 2012
We met with the specialist today, he examined the internal structures of
Bridget's eyes and concluded that there is nothing that can be done
within the realms of current medical advances to restore sight to her
right eye. Once able to see the whole eye structure he discovered that
Bridget's eye did not form into a globe shape but rather like a dumb
bell - two globes connected by a very narrow canal between them, this
has meant that the retina of her eye in the first globe can not adhere
to the surface tissue of the eye as it moves and is sucked in to the
canal and cavity behind.
Thus, the shape of her eye ruled out the possibility of reattaching the retina as there is no tissue to attach it to on the back surface of her eye. The doctor suggested that even had that been possible she probably would not have regained sight in the eye due to the other abnormalities present. Unfortunately, her right eye is extremely badly developed and will never have sight, there is also a large possibility that the eye will not grow with her due to the degree of damage, so we will be exploring options to artificially enlarge the eye as she grows (purely for cosmetic reasons).
We also found out today that her left eye has a small amount of the same developmental defect with a pit around her optic nerve, however this is vastly less severe and providing that there is no degrading of the eye as she develops it will be a seeing eye of normal shape and size, in need of glasses for far-sighted correction. So we feel richly blessed that she will have sight in her left eye which will be able to do the work for two!
So, Bridget won't be a fighter pilot with the RAF or a Baseballer or a Heavy duty truck driver - but none of these things were on my list of careers to encourage! She should be able to live a perfectly normal and happy life providing that her left eye remains in good condition and she has no accidents (as the specialist said "she's got no spare tire"... what a lovely turn of phrase). We are going to look in to having an MRI scan to ensure that no other developmental defects are present in her body to ensure that we are fully aware of the extent of the challenges she faces, however, so far we have not noted anything that would suggest there is anything further to find. Children are so resilient, I'm confident that Bridget will rise to her personal challenge and do great things with her life, she is such a happy and joyful baby, I have no doubt that she will do exceedingly well.
We have been so incredibly blessed to have so many people praying for Bridget's welfare, we have felt the hand of The Lord and the love of our friends and family across the globe throughout our journey over the past few days as we received the peace and assurance that all would be well. The greatest miracle we experience in life is a change of heart, when I heard on Monday afternoon that my precious baby girl was blind at least in one eye if not both, I felt like my world got incredibly small. I was devastated for her and felt so afraid of what the future would hold, but I have felt the calm assurance of the spirit that all will be well, that The Lord is mindful of her needs and has entrusted to us a truly miraculous child. Knowing that so many people were praying for her, that they love her and our little family and desire to serve us has opened my eyes to the loving community of family and friends Heavenly Father has provided for our support.
Yesterday I had some time to think what I could have done differently for Bridget and I found such comfort in Job's words "naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord". My friend Christopher reminded me of the passage in John 9 when Jesus passes a man who was blind from birth and his disciples ask who sinned - the man or his parents that he was born blind and Jesus answered "neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him". I know that the works of God will be made manifest in our family's life through the gift of our daughter and the challenges she will face. One day Bridget (like all of us) will receive a perfect body without fault or blemish and in that resurrected state she will see God. So our challenge is to make the very best of every day from this day to that, when all will be well.
Thank you so much for praying for her, the peace and comfort we have received as a family allowed us to participate in Bridget's examinations and hold her while the doctors probed, scanned and penetrated her eyes. I know that we would not have been able to comfort her without the calm reassurance we felt that all would be well. So our little family will be getting back to normal tomorrow and preparing for our lovely trip home to the UK as the doctor cleared Bridget to fly, so in less than 70 days we'll be wending our way to the real land of the free!
Thus, the shape of her eye ruled out the possibility of reattaching the retina as there is no tissue to attach it to on the back surface of her eye. The doctor suggested that even had that been possible she probably would not have regained sight in the eye due to the other abnormalities present. Unfortunately, her right eye is extremely badly developed and will never have sight, there is also a large possibility that the eye will not grow with her due to the degree of damage, so we will be exploring options to artificially enlarge the eye as she grows (purely for cosmetic reasons).
We also found out today that her left eye has a small amount of the same developmental defect with a pit around her optic nerve, however this is vastly less severe and providing that there is no degrading of the eye as she develops it will be a seeing eye of normal shape and size, in need of glasses for far-sighted correction. So we feel richly blessed that she will have sight in her left eye which will be able to do the work for two!
So, Bridget won't be a fighter pilot with the RAF or a Baseballer or a Heavy duty truck driver - but none of these things were on my list of careers to encourage! She should be able to live a perfectly normal and happy life providing that her left eye remains in good condition and she has no accidents (as the specialist said "she's got no spare tire"... what a lovely turn of phrase). We are going to look in to having an MRI scan to ensure that no other developmental defects are present in her body to ensure that we are fully aware of the extent of the challenges she faces, however, so far we have not noted anything that would suggest there is anything further to find. Children are so resilient, I'm confident that Bridget will rise to her personal challenge and do great things with her life, she is such a happy and joyful baby, I have no doubt that she will do exceedingly well.
We have been so incredibly blessed to have so many people praying for Bridget's welfare, we have felt the hand of The Lord and the love of our friends and family across the globe throughout our journey over the past few days as we received the peace and assurance that all would be well. The greatest miracle we experience in life is a change of heart, when I heard on Monday afternoon that my precious baby girl was blind at least in one eye if not both, I felt like my world got incredibly small. I was devastated for her and felt so afraid of what the future would hold, but I have felt the calm assurance of the spirit that all will be well, that The Lord is mindful of her needs and has entrusted to us a truly miraculous child. Knowing that so many people were praying for her, that they love her and our little family and desire to serve us has opened my eyes to the loving community of family and friends Heavenly Father has provided for our support.
Yesterday I had some time to think what I could have done differently for Bridget and I found such comfort in Job's words "naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord". My friend Christopher reminded me of the passage in John 9 when Jesus passes a man who was blind from birth and his disciples ask who sinned - the man or his parents that he was born blind and Jesus answered "neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him". I know that the works of God will be made manifest in our family's life through the gift of our daughter and the challenges she will face. One day Bridget (like all of us) will receive a perfect body without fault or blemish and in that resurrected state she will see God. So our challenge is to make the very best of every day from this day to that, when all will be well.
Thank you so much for praying for her, the peace and comfort we have received as a family allowed us to participate in Bridget's examinations and hold her while the doctors probed, scanned and penetrated her eyes. I know that we would not have been able to comfort her without the calm reassurance we felt that all would be well. So our little family will be getting back to normal tomorrow and preparing for our lovely trip home to the UK as the doctor cleared Bridget to fly, so in less than 70 days we'll be wending our way to the real land of the free!
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