Noelle's Eyes Update ~ (February 17th)

Noelle had her follow up eye exam this morning, and based on that, they have decided to send her for laser eye surgery this afternoon between 1:00 and 2:00p.m.  The surgery will take a couple of hours from start to finish, and she will be intubated and sedated.  Our prayer for her is that she tolerates everything well and that the surgery does not overly stress her yet again.  As far as the surgery, our prayer is that it is successful in stopping the growth of the extra vessels and tearing the retina from the back of her eye, causing blindness.  This surgery usually is very successful, and they feel they have caught the issue early.  We're very thankful that God has revealed some purpose in being transferred here.  He did not have to do that, and He could have had us wait here indefinitely, but He graciously did not make us walk through that this time.  We have a revealed purpose in being here, and we also have a time frame in which she can be transferred back to Forsyth, provided everything goes well with her recovery.  Regardless of how the surgery goes, she still could have eye issues the rest of her life...it's the life of a preemie, and some have problems and others have none.  All in all, it honestly has been one of the least of my worries in light of all the issues she has faced or could have faced in the past ten weeks.  My heart would certainly grieve if Noelle could not see and experience things normally, but in comparison to the heart issues they thought she originally might have, this seems to pale.  I'm probably more nervous today about how she will handle the intubation and anesthesia.  Either way, we're grateful yet again for how God orchestrated the moving of our care just a couple of weeks before she was born.  Could He have prevented these issues from the start?  Of course.  But this has how He has chosen to work...through medicine, and we're again thankful that we ultimately rest in His hands.  Thank you for praying along with us.  I know we keep saying that, but I simply cannot seem to find other words that would express our deep appreciation for everyone's love, care and concern and ultimately prayers.  Thank you.