Then Aaron took off by himself for a spiritual retreat at a monastery about an hour away. This was to make up for the class retreat he missed in January. He was a little nervous he might offend some uptight monks somehow, but he really enjoyed it.

He got back just in time for the seminary picnic to welcome all the new and returning students. My friend E. also kicked off a group for the spouses of seminary students, which I think was much needed and will be much appreciated by those who take part. Friday was the all-seminary (and families) retreat day at a nearby camp with a sweet pool open in the afternoon (AJ can tell you what happens if you get cocky and step from the wading pool into the big pool without swimmies–lesson learned, I hope!). I really enjoyed the retreat this year and feel like I know a lot more seminary people now, although the new incoming class is huge so there are many I haven’t met.

It feels much different being on the “experienced” side of a seminary year. It’s fun getting to know new neighbors and their kids who play with ours on the big playground behind our houses. It’s nice knowing better what to expect from the year: I wrote on the calendar for August 30 “Classes start/Aaron freak out.” I sometimes have the urge to gather some of these innocent, fresh-from-college newlyweds and shelter their tender hearts from the onslaught that’s about to hit them! Of course each will have to find their own way, but I hope  I can offer someone the encouragement they need on the day they’re bursting into tears, like further-along friends did for me last year. I know we’re going to need that encouragement and support ourselves too, but it feels like a different role in the community somehow.

This semester’s workload for Aaron is looking like no less of a doozy than last year’s, though. He is trying to keep his freak-outs under control, but they’re in there jabbering at his brain This is impossible. This is impossible. This is impossible. Still, it seems possible he’ll really like some of his classes. And in 15 weeks, he’ll be halfway done with seminary!

As you’re praying (please) for his studies, please also continue to pray for his eye. His actual doctor (the kind, calm one, not Dr. FreakYouOut) is willing to do the surgery if he finds the partially dislocated eye too difficult to live with, but there is risk. We could decide at his October appointment whether to schedule the surgery for Christmas break or not.

This weekend, because we hadn’t had enough time away lately(?!), we are going camping with our church at a summer camp. This is an annual tradition but our first time. It should be good hang-out time (when Aaron’s not studying) and AJ loved camping earlier this summer.

After that we will be really READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL!!! Go Lions! And go Suh-Nami Zone, our first ever fantasy football team! We had our draft party last weekend and it was a blast even though we only kind of knew what we were doing. Chatterbox came all the way from Oregon just to babysit for the day! Okay, no, she came to go back to college, but we put her to good use while we had her for a few days between her arrival and her dorm opening tonight. We are so happy to see her loving school and so proud of her. And so glad she does dishes.

Wow, that was a long blog. Behold the power of the early bedtime! I mean for AJ, now that the school routine has started, although honestly I feel ready to follow suit. Goodnight, my friends.

On the 3rd the eye doctor said Aaron’s lens was “stable” where it was and so he shouldn’t have surgery. It was so stable, in fact, that it stayed where it was for four more days before shifting from the bottom of his eye over to the left side. So instead of seeing double when looking down, he started seeing it sort of pop in and out of his vision from the left. It’s not double vision but more like he has a hair in his eye that he can’t get out, and sometimes light reflects through it in funny ways. Assuming that it having moved meant it was, you know, actually not stable, we started thinking surgery again. He got squeezed in at the eye specialist’s on Monday afternoon, although he wasn’t able to see his regular doctor.

This guy said it probably had moved, but it was still not a problem to leave it where it was. Aaron said but this is really annoying in my vision. He said but surgery is risky. Aaron said you don’t understand how frustrating this is. He said you don’t understand how risky it is. He really pretty much made it his mission to scare the crap out of us as far as the idea of surgery. And it’s understandable–it’s their job to weigh the risks based on their expertise, and given Aaron’s history….  But still frustrating.

Aaron will see his usual specialist this week, but the discussion will probably be the same. The other doctor did say it’s possible the lens would completely detach and fall all the way down to the bottom of his eye where he wouldn’t see it at all, and they’d still probably leave it there. Maybe that would be less frustrating. Meanwhile please pray that stable really means stable, or if it’s going to move again it moves to the least annoying (but still retinally safe) place–and that Aaron can adapt to and accept however it’s going to be.

(That sermon on contentment really sucked!)

Now that this roller coaster of yes-no-maybe-so surgery thoughts is hopefully coming to a complete stop, we are looking ahead to seminary starting back up for Aaron and a new routine for all of us. This week is sort of the last hurrah of summer already, since orientation starts next week. I feel like I shouldn’t say it, but I think I’m ready for fall. But not winter!

Dad: Why’d you lick the floor?

3-year-old: I didn’t lick the floor. I bite the floor.

Aaron’s retinal specialist today said he doesn’t think he needs to do surgery right now. He says it appears at least one of the sutures holding in the lens implant broke, so it did slip down, but it is not flopping around in there like the other guy made it sound. He feels it’s better to leave it in there than to do surgery–unless Aaron really cannot see well enough with it where it is. The doctor feels he may adapt to this somewhat and we should give it some time.

So that’s a relief, mostly for me, because I won’t lie, I was just about ill with dread at the prospect of surgery. But it is still so frustrating for Aaron because he still has the double vision effect when he looks down, and it’s coming up on time for him to do a lot of reading/studying/typing. And of course if the lens slips further into a bad position it would need to come out. That could really ruin a semester.

So please continue to pray for us:

• that Aaron’s vision rapidly improves, whether by the lens shifting just slightly or the brain somehow looking around it, so that he is able to do what he needs to do and avoid surgery, forever
• that his glasses are adjusted to the best possible fit
• that his retina continue to be protected, forever

Thank you all for your care and prayers.

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Oh yes, and pray: that I can stay off of Facebook, forever. Ha!

Editor 1: “I hate grammar.”

Editor 2: “You’re fired!”

Editor 1: “I hate grammar.”

Editor 2: “You’re fired!”

Aaron is going to have eye surgery soon. He only has vision in his right eye (due to retinal detachment in the left, years ago). So while we kind of took it in stride when we found out–because hey, what’s one more hospital trip this year?–the reality is that this is a big, scary, pain in the —— deal.

In 2006 he had an artifical lens implanted in his right eye. On Wednesday it fell out, basically. Aaron and our friend B.McD were going to take the kids to the beach, but as they were leaving Aaron felt like his contact was messed up. He couldn’t fix it, couldn’t fix it, and realized he couldn’t see anything with his glasses on either. A neighbor friend took him to the hospital and B. heroically insanely took all the kids to the beach anyway. The hospital sent Aaron to a nearby opthalmologist, where I met him.

The doctor seemed almost a bit too excited when he was able to confirm his theory: Aaron’s lens had dislocated and slipped down toward the bottom of his eye, so he was able to see pretty well looking straight ahead some of the time but had bad double vision especially when looking down because the lens would sort of float into his line of vision. The doctor said the lens possibly came loose because Aaron’s eye shape has changed quite a bit–his prescription actually went from a positive to a negative! This would be unusual for most of us but is not so unusual for someone with Marfan Syndrome, because it makes tissues stretchy, and the gas permeable contacts he was wearing may have contributed.

They’ll have to take the lens out of there, but this doctor thinks they won’t put in a new one because now he is actually seeing better without a lens than he was with the implant. Crazy. Tuesday he will see the vitreo/retinal specialist who will do the surgery, and we’ll see what he says about a new implant. Aaron did get new glasses with this new prescription Friday, so he can see and drive again in the meantime, although sometimes he still gets the double vision.

Please pray for all the doctors’ wisdom and for the upcoming surgery, which will probably be early next week, and that his retina is protected while the lens is floating around in there. I’ll let you know after Tuesday what the plan is.*

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*Dangitall, am I going to have to get on Facebook too?!