EYE SURGERY IN SPOKANE

Dear Family.

We have two weeks off from our Temple assignment. They close the Temple twice a year for cleaning and repairs and when called, we were asked to take our vacations when the Temple is closed in January and July. That cramped our travel a bit but keeps us out of trouble.

This time we went to Spokane to see Jeff and Tammy, Rob and Eva and their children. Eva left for France to attend a family wedding in Paris, (how cool is that?) and Mom watched Anna and Julie and spent a lot of time with Tammy and her kids.

Rob is in a very nice opthamology practice and is one of the retinal specialists. He had arranged with one of his partners to take care of a cataract in my good eye.

I did n0t realize how much of my vision I had lost; I could not read, could not drive at night, and all sorts of corrective glasses did not work. So it was up to Spokane and to Rob's practice where I had a cataract removed from my left eye, (the right one had been previously removed).

It was very slick. You sit in this comfortable chair, they put in a little IV and then gave the Versed and I was out. They did an orbital block that I was unaware of. It did not take long and I could hear them say, "Don't move!"

The patch came off the next day and wonder of wonders, I could see at very long distances. I could see street signs, store signs, individual trees and all of a sudden I could see to infinity without glasses. It is most wonderful! The plastic lens they inserted is to focus at infinity so close up I need correction and we are fiddling with that. I need 3 diopters to read my Blackberry and 2 Diopters for intermediate.

I thought of what the Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians ( I Cor 13:12) in his treatise on Faith. "For now we see through a glass , darkly". This statement describes walking through life with Faith because we do not always see the distant so clearly. This describes my vision before the cataract surgery. Clearness of vision is such a wonderful gift.

We seek clarity in out lives. We try to see direction in the future, clarity in our decision making.and to see clearly is so wonderful in all applications. To see clearly and discern good from evil, right from wrong gets easier with time. To see clearly the difference between good, better and best requires requires very sharp vision.

I am so grateful to be able to see anything clearly again.

Love, Dad