Jeremiah 29:11-12

My blog is to inform friends and family about Merrill's and my life here in Budapest. I am writing something very personal today because I need all of you to be in prayer for Merrill. About a month ago, he was diagnosed with a corneal abrasion and given medication to use every hour. We were warned of the danger of this situation because it was in his right eye and he has very little vision in his left eye. It seemed that as he was being seen very frequently, the doctors were saying it was improving, until Monday, September 28. The doctor who saw Merrill that day did not think it was healing and was now calling it a corneal ulcer. She did a different kind of treatment and warned Merrill that his vision might get worse for a while.

On Thursday last week, his vision suddenly became much worse and he was unable to cross the street to get to the tram stop. In seeing the doctor both Thursday and Friday, the only treatment option they had to offer was an amniotic membrane placed over the cornea. Both Merrill and I were alarmed by the treatment option and went home to see if things didn't improve over the weekend.

On Monday, we returned to the doctor, who is the head of the department at the medical university here in Budapest. He concurred with what we had been told on Friday and didn't give us much hope that Merrill's vision would improve because of scarring from the ulcer. He told us that we could think about the procedure after we had asked all the questions that we had been talking about over the weekend and let him know if we wanted to go ahead with the procedure.

Next Monday, we plan to have the amniotic membrane placed. It is a procedure done under local anesthetic and Merrill is to stay in the hospital over night. We are praying for a good outcome and improvement in Merrill's vision. We are also asking for wisdom in decisions about working at the library. We are both enjoying the work and associations here, but God is sovereign and He may have other plans for us. Most of all we cling to the promise from Jeremiah 29:11-12 "For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you."