Local Mennonite Pastor Gets Facelift Surgery

Last Friday I had an ectropion procedure done at Sentara RMH, not for cosmetic purposes but as a kind of "facelift" to correct a sagging lower eyelid, as recommended by my ophthalmologist, Dr. Kenlyn Miller. This turned out to be an amazing experience.

In the first place, a total of 12 different professionals, from the receptionist and intake person who welcomed me on the first floor, to the nurses and surgeon assistants on the second, were involved in the many steps of preparation and follow-up for what was a mere 20-minute procedure.

For the surgery itself I needed only a local anesthesia, which allowed me to remain fully awake and engage in some conversation with Dr. Miller. We discussed a church-sponsored seminar we had both attended the day before and I was able to ask questions about the various steps involved in the surgery.

This experience also greatly added to my appreciation for my good wife Alma Jean, who was by my side for everything but the surgery itself, and who provided the best post operative care imaginable. While my eye was a gruesome sight to behold for a couple of days, I've gotten along just fine with her help and with some of the Tylenol she insisted I take for the first couple of days.

I have never been more impressed by the quality of medical services available to most of us that we mostly take for granted. The wealthiest and most privileged people in all of the ages before us would have given anything to have this kind of healthcare.

God is good, in sickness and in health, and this has given me a greater urgency to do what I can to support good healthcare as a right for all human beings everywhere.