2 months ago, Prissy had a stye growing on her right eye. Thinking that this would go away on its own, I ignored it until some time later, my brother observed that the stye had grown into a small round ball about the size of our pinky! By then, i realised that almost half her eye was obstructed. Flustered by the inconvenience of having to consult a doctor, it was time for me to step up to be my girl's personal physician: I took her to the pharmacist, showed him the problem, got the medication and end of the story. But NO, the stye had to grow! I don't know what is wrong with bacteria these days! When I was a child, my stye just went away even without my mother realising it being there in the first place! In 21st century, the bacteria had to get mothers busy, school teachers stressed up from having to help the ill child catch up with missed home work and doctors' pocket filled up! (ok perhaps I'm exaggerating!).
Knowing that I can't delay matters any longer, I brought Prissy to see Dr Chai, who in turn recommended an eye specialist who is located in a bigger town called Ipoh, 40 minutes drive away. Much to my dismay (apart from the distance and time ), the specialist checked her eye thoroughly and gave me a grave look, saying "Based on my experience, such stye would not go away on its own. Since Prissy is still a child, we need to put her on GA and make an incision on her inner eyelid in order to thoroughly remove the puss." I was fighting to contain my disbelief! Gosh, this is not a tumour we are talking about....only a stye. I had goggled enough to be informed that it would go away by itself. Perceiving that I must be resistant to the idea, the doctor suggested to put Prissy on one week's medication before making the final decision.
The following one week was painful for me. Whoever we met, whether at school or on the train, had endless solutions to offer Prissy. "Use the method taught by my grandma!" shared a kind lady who happened to be sitting next to me on the train. "Take a rice kernel and tap lightly on her affected eyelid. The stye would be gone in no time!" But to those with medical training, they would give a sympathetic nod when they see Prissy.
My dilemma at this point was: I know I have to pray for healing but too many external sources of information tell me that I could solve it on my own - whether its via the knife or rice kernel! "Dear Lord, please forgive my disbelief and lack of faith. I do believe that you can heal. At the same time, I don't want to be disappointed should you choose not to heal without intervention." Memories of unanswered prayer came flashing by, challenging my faith. One day as I looked at Prissy, although with one eye swollen, she carried on with her usual cartwheels and sports. "Prissy's faith matters too" came a small voice. I knew at that very instant that God will do something but still not quite sure what, when or how.
The 2nd visit to the specialist only confirmed that the incision is inevitable. "Next Monday would be good!" I suggested as I wanted this done and over with. "I'm sorry but the doctor is only available next Thursday for the procedure." The nurse replied.
In the days that followed, I was down with the flu and had to skip the prayer meeting on Tuesday. When Wednesday morning came, Raymond woke me up excitedly and showed me Prissy's stye. Lo and behold, the swelling was gone! Disbelief, I woke up my princess and inspected her eye closely. "Last night, Aaron (my nephew) prayed for Prissy. Half an hour later, Prissy started vomiting profusely. When I came to her to clean her up, I noticed some yellow fluid was stuck on her eyelid." Raymond related last night episode to me. At just the nick of time before the operation on Thursday, God had healed her! And I observed that Prissy's faith in God had grown over this period. What an adventure! Praise the Lord for He indeed will always stay true to His word.
The Lord is Good and His Love endures forever Psalm 100:5
