Eyeball

(Spring may be here, but there are a few winter highlights we need to share before we can officially change seasons on our blog. So hang tight as we wrap up winter in the next few posts.)

Bodie and I were playing at our next door neighbors house one afternoon when my mom's phone rang. "Bodie got hurt. My husband is walking him home now. I'm really sorry." My mom walked outside to see us walking across the street and asked Bodie if he was okay. "Yeah, I'm fine," he said, and walked inside. My mom hung out to chat with the neighbor.

He explained that we were playing outside in the snow and that his three year old daughter picked up a metal shovel and raised it into the air, but it was too heavy so she dropped it and the shovel's blade hit Bodie in the eye...specifically the shovel hit his eyeball. A direct hit to his eyeball. Not a single mark to his face or eyelid, just the eyeball. Seriously, what are the chances of this?!?!?!

My mom went inside to check on Bodie. He was low-key, as usual, and said he was fine. It was almost 5pm and he seemed good, so we had dinner and then headed to bed. Before you decide my parents are WAY too hands off, let me just say that my mom and dad did discuss the injury, but based on Bodie's calm behavior and that he was sleeping well, their level of concern diminished.

Bodie woke up the next morning, walked out of his room, and asked for all of the lights to be turned off. THIS was all my mom needed. She had him get dressed and they headed straight to the ophthalmologist - no appointment and no plan to leave until Bodie was seen by a doctor.

It was a Friday and there were no pediatric ophthalmologists in the office. "No problem," my mom said, "Any eyeball doctor would be great, we'll wait." Even though they thought she was crazy, they agreed to look at Bodie's eye.

The first doctor began to examine his eye and said, "Are you sure you're okay?" Bodie calmly replied yes. The doctor looked again. "Are you SURE?" She then looked at my mom, "His cornea has a large cut to the center of his eye. Grown men come in with this injury and are screaming in pain. Is he really okay? I want to get another doctor to look at this. I'll be right back." And she left the room.

The second doctor came in and looked at his eye through the machines,  scooted back, and looked with concern at Bodie, "How do you feel? Are you okay?" Bodie shrugged and said, "Fine. The light just bugs my eye." Then the doctor looked at my mom and said, "In 20 years I've never seen someone with this injury so calm. It is excruciating. Our focus is always on managing the pain with this injury. Based on his demeanor, I'm not exactly sure what to do next."

So they gave him antibiotics that he had to put in his eye every hour for several days, booked five follow-up eye appointments over the next six weeks, and sent him on his way. And that was it. His eye healed perfectly and he even wro
te a short story about it at school...