Thanks so much for praying, we have really felt your prayers these last 24 hours. Suzy went to bed early and slept really well. She woke up and took her second dose of medication before we headed to the airport. She is still aching and having fever but the Lord gave her strength and we traveled as planned. By the time you receive this we will be in the UK and preparing for visiting family, friends and our church family there.
I will be in USA from October 1st- November 6th, and I’m available for speaking at churches and small groups. If you are in the San Diego/Orange County area I would love to see you while I am there.
Suzy will return to Kenya in 2 weeks and collect our daughter Agum before returning to Sudan.
Please keep Agum in your prayers and our staff and compound in Sudan.
Please pray for my wife Suzy as we are preparing to fly to the UK in less than 12 hours and she just tested positive for malaria. Malaria often comes when the body is compromised and tired and Suzy has done so much in the past few weeks with the ambulance and cataract clinic team. We arrived in Nairobi on Monday night and then spent the last 2 days in Nairobi moving our belongings from the mission house we use when in Kenya to storage at a friends house. Suzy’s been packing the house, packing for Agum (who is staying with friends in Nairobi) and packing the family to go to UK where we plan to visit her family and church family after 6 years of absence. Today she felt tired and said her body ached and we thought it was due to the stress of moving and working around the clock. But as the day went on she said she felt she was having malaria. As the malaria has been so high in Tonj this season we carried tests and treatment for the family in case we get sick in UK. So I tested her tonight and yes it is positive. She will take her first dose of 6 treatments tonight and the second in the morning. We have been waiting for this trip for a long time so please pray she is well enough to travel.
Very exciting!! Yes the morning after the cataract surgery we got to be a part of the patients having their bandages removed and eyes retested. What an amzing sense of joy and thanksgiving as these people regained their sight. Some jumped up running and throwing down their trusty cane. Hallelujah – we give you Jesus all honor and praise.
We are always looking for interesting things for the kids to ‘do’ as field trips and the cataract clinic was an amazing opportunity for our kids to see something new and different.
When the doctors invited us to view a surgery we jumped at the chance and Hannah and I did a ‘walk through’ with a patient from start to finish.
Suzy and Hannah prepared to watch a cataract surgery
So please join us on this journey through a cataract operation:
First the patients are assessed to make sure their sight problem is truly cataract as there are many other eye diseases that cause blindness here.
Patients waiting to be screened
Patients then wait in line for the surgery. 173 surgeries were performed in 4 and half days, which is quite a remarkable accomplishment.
One of our Pastors shares the gospel with waiting patients
First stop before surgery is with Wilson, who uses an ultrasound machine to scan and measure the eye and the current lense to make a perfect synthetic match for each patient. They also check if their is suspected retina detachment or other complications. He puts numbing drops in the eye ready for stage 2!!
Wilson shows Hannah the ultrasound scanner
This was much harder to watch than the actual surgery. After Wilson they go to Emily. She cleans the eye with povidine and injects a local anesthetic into a small space between the bone and the eyeball. Thankfully the patient can’t see yet!
Emily injecting the patient with a local anesthetic
A pressure ball is placed over the eye to prevent the eyeball bulging out and they then wait for the surgeon.
Patients waiting with the pressure ball on the eye
The doctor starts with clamping the eye open and making a small incision. I can’t remember all the details but he basically slipped out the cataract and then slipped in a new lens.
During surgery
It was fascinating to see how the once cloudy eye was now perfectly clear. Hannah closely watched the entire process which took only 15 minutes. I was so proud of her, I think she did better than me.
Hannah with Dr. Ben during surgery
After surgery they are bandaged and taken to the ward to spend one night before having the bandages removed and being retested.
