I don’t know why I haven’t I blogged this yet. The 9-year anniversary of getting a nail in my eye and having the surgery that saved my eye was last week. I commented about it on Facebook and realized that many of my friends don’t know this story. It’s a long and dramatic story, so here we go…
The photo above is me at the hospital. An hour earlier I was volunteering on a construction site with a team of students for an organization that builds houses for low-income families. We were all hammering nails on a crisp spring morning when something hit me. I was told that I stood up, held my eye, and cried out for help. Then I passed out on the concrete slab. Next thing I know I’m on the ground, my head is in someone’s lap, and the girls on my team were crying. What happened? Why are the girls crying? Why do I have a splitting headache? What is the gooey feeling I have on my face? And why can’t I see anything? Another volunteer had mis-hit his nail and it flew through the air and poked through my eye. The nail popped out by itself, and when it came out so did vitreous fluid. (Eyes are sort of like balloons. The inner parts of your eyes are held in place by fluid, so if there’s a hole, your eye will start to deflate.) My team’s co-leader said we were going to the hospital. I was in and out of consciousness at this point, but I made sure to ask someone put my leftover Papa John’s pizza in the car because hospital food is terrible. I do have my standards. 
I’ll take a pause to give you a minute to either A) Stop reading because eyeballs gross you out, B) Explain to your co-workers why you are holding your wastebasket about to throw up, and/or C) Ask some pertinent questions.
Here are some questions you may have and their corresponding answers:
– Why weren’t you wearing protective goggles? I was foolish and irresponsible. I realize that had the nail landed an inch astray it could have gone through my temple and maybe I wouldn’t be here today.
– What happened to the guy who hit the nail? I’m told that he was a retired construction engineer and had seen a lot of accidents happen in his career and he was doing okay.
– What did they do at the hospital? The first hospital sent me to a second hospital. At the second hospital I underwent surgery to laser the nail hole shut in the front of my eye. They didn’t know about the hole in the back. I was then referred to a retina surgeon for another surgery back at home.
– Could you see out of that eye? No, my retina had been pierced in two places and was peeling away. My vision was clouded by the blood clots and resulting scar tissue.
– Were you freaked out? Yes and no. Getting a nail in your eye hurts like… like getting a nail in your eye. Experiencing mind-numbing pain while desperately clinging to truth minute-by-minute about a God who says He is sovereign and good and personally ordering all of your circumstances feels like you’re nearly suffocating inside a dark cloud. When I woke up from surgery my co-leader was there and he said, “Wow Glo, you have an awesome Skeletor patch!” And then he encouraged me from Scripture about the loving character of God who is in control over every atom in the universe and never says, “Oops!” These truths and others from the Bible were things that I wrestled through, wept over and memorized to guard my heart in the midst of pain and temporary blindness.
The next several months were a whirlwind. I had a big metal patch on my eye, weekly doctor visits, and a college degree I was trying to finish. My parents, roommates and dozens of people from church came together to help me. I couldn’t see to read, write, drive, work, put in my eyedrops, cook/clean, (and at times) walk straight. People prayed with me, read my textbooks aloud to me, accompanied me at my job, met me outside of classrooms to walk me up and down stairs, and I have a shoebox full of cards and letters that people wrote to encourage me. One of those people who reached out to help take care of me was David– we were just friends at the time. He likes to say that he fell in love with me when I only had one eye. But that’s a blog post for another day. 
I asked my doctor if the next surgery was going to give me my vision back. He said I would be lucky if I got to keep my eye at all. So everyone kept praying. Then 9 years ago last week, I had reconstructive eye surgery. My peeling retina was repaired, the two holes from the nail were lasered shut, the vitreous fluid was replaced with a saline-based solution, and a scleral buckle applied. The scleral buckle is like a belt that goes all the way around my eye and holds my retina on.
This is a picture of the x-ray from after the big surgery. The dark spots on the top two small pictures is where my retina was peeling away from my eye. The other pictures are the holes lasered shut. There’s a retinal artery dangling in the middle of the hole, undamaged by the nail. Why wasn’t it broken by the nail? Did it move out of the way and then back in place? The doctors couldn’t figure it out. So my eye is in a medical journal somewhere because of this bizarre x-ray.
I tried to get a good picture of just my eye, but the camera kept auto-focusing on my crow’s feet [sigh]. You can see where the hole was and the bump from the scleral buckle in the inside corner of my right eye. If I’m looking at you straight on you can’t really see it, but if I glance to the side it’s apparent. Really observant people will ask me if I’m tired because they can see the blood vessels. I have two cheeky monkeys, so yes, I’m tired, but that’s not why my eye is red.
So now what? I can see 20/20 with my contact lens and my super trendy glasses, and my eye is supposed to degenerate just like a healthy eye does as people age. There are a few “floaters” in there already that my doctor is keeping an eye on.
I’ve come to recall this testimony of God’s mercy as a reminder from Him to look forward to that Day when I meet my Savior face-to-face, my vision no longer clouded or obstructed. I also realize my story may raise some deeper questions for you about suffering and pain, God’s character, and His activity and intentions in the ordering of the universe. I know I can’t perfectly answer all of these questions, and I’m acutely aware that my compassion for those in pain ultimately falls short. But I can point you to Jesus who has unfathomable empathy because He suffered unjustly at the hands of those He came to save.
“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.” 1 Peter 2:24-25
{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks so much for this wonderful testimony. It is awesome to hear from your point of view since I had only heard it from your moms view. Praise the Lord for His loving hand all the way through this.
2 Corinthians 12:9 kept coming to my mind as I read this…..
“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”
Gloria~
This is an amazing story of God’s faithfulness. I also loved the bit about you remembering to have someone grab your left over pizza :0) I agree they should have another word for that stuff they serve in hospitals and on airplanes shouldn’t be allowed to be called “food”.
Happy anniversary to you & your eye.
I think you were out for this part, but getting to ride in the front passenger seat of the ambulance from hospital 1 to hospital 2 was one of the highlights of my life. Imagine getting from Denton to downtown Dallas in 15 minutes.
I came dangerously close to passing out after reading about 4 sentences of this story. Seriously… laid my head down on the desk.
I think I’m just going to choose to know that everything turned out okay. Spare me the labor, show me the baby; that’s what I always say.
That story still gives me chills. Since I was working for Habitat at the time, and knew the staff where all of the CL teams were, I can say that Charlotte was possibly the best place you could have been! God was laying a foundation of protection even before you left Texas!!
Chris, I came dangerously close to laughing so hard about your comment that tears came out of my eyes. I should have put a big disclaimer at the top of the post. Hopefully no one is reading this while driving.
it’s all fun and games till someone pokes their eye out.
Hearing the story from Wes first hand was simply amazing….
Love and miss you!
I remember you carried eye drops around for more than a year. And it was not fun having to wrestle you to the ground to get them in…ha! J/K. You were such a trooper. One of the bravest people I have ever known.
Funny you choose now to post about this because a couple weeks ago I was telling Billy how I came out of my bedroom and you were watching a movie in the living room with just the light of dusk coming in the window. I snapped on the lights and said in, I am sure, a very not nice tone, “You are NOT supposed to be doing that. You have to have lights on, Gloria. Or at least your patch!” Billy laughed and shook his head saying “I’m sure she loved you for that one!” I said “look, her Mom was in San Antonio. I was speaking up on her behalf!”
But you know if it wasn’t for you getting a nail in your eye, we wouldn’t have fallen in love with either of our husbands, because you know how I met mine! So thank you for taking the hit for us.
Love you and your wonky eye.
So I shared your x-rays with my husband who is in PA school. He consequently pulled out his medical books and ophthalmoscope. I received an eye exam and extensive knowledge regarding the retina.
Glad you shared this whole story, I had heard bits and pieces before but I was glad to hear it from you.
I was moved the first time I read it and the second (when I shared it with my husband) at the generosity and servant hearts of all your friends that read your textbooks and walked you up and down the stairs. The body of Christ is beautiful.
Hi Gloria! I had NO idea this happened to you.. Guess family communication isnt the best. I am glad to hear things have turned out well for you, and as you, I truly believe God is watching and taking care of us all. Love ya!
Such an amazing story!
Thank you Gloria for this post…i got my eardrum almost burst, and in severe pain..
( only half a day…) I was encouraged how you guarded your heart. I will just do the same. Thanks:)
I think me and you have the two coolest medical stories and God stories in College Life history. I didn’t realize thought until reading this that you had weekly doctor’s appointments and months of people helping you. I had some very faithful friends and stories that could go on and on, but mine wasn’t that intense or for that many months. Love reading about God’s faithfulness and goodness!!! Thanks for writing so eloquently!