Prayer Request

My mom will be having a retinal surgery at 1:00am tomorrow (4/28) in Malaysia. Please keep her in your prayers.

As most of you may have already known, my brother and sister took my mother back to our hometown Sibu, Malaysia to celebrate her 70th birthday. After the celebration, they spent a few days in Cambodia, and then back to Penang and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to rest up before taking the long flight home...

During the last leg of the trip, my mom complained of poor vision, and they brought her to check her eyes. The doctor said that she has Retinal detachment.

Retinal detachment is a disorder of the eye in which the retina peels away from its underlying layer of support tissue. Initial detachment may be localized, but without rapid treatment the entire retina may detach, leading to vision loss and blindness. It is a medical emergency. ^[1]

The retina is a thin layer of light-sensitive tissue on the back wall of the eye. The optical system of the eye focuses light on the retina much like light is focused on the film in a camera. The retina translates that focused image into neural impulses and sends them to the brain via the optic nerve. Occasionally, posterior vitreous detachment, injury or trauma to the eye or head may cause a small tear in the retina. The tear allows vitreous fluid to seep through it under the retina, and peel it away like a bubble in wallpaper.

They then took my mother to see an eye specialist at University Malaya. She is a retinal surgeon. She was educated in Australia, and was/is involved in medical field in UK, Ireland, Hong Kong and Malaysia. She has just returned from Pasadena for a conference. Her children were born in US. She is fluent in multiple languages, including Mandarin. My mom was very comfortable talking with her directly. She also told us that a cataract surgeon in US may not perform retinal surgery. They were also told that it is very serious and could cause blindness, if not rectified in time.

My mom then decided to have the surgery done in KL, Malaysia. They will meet with the anesthesiologist at 1pm today local time, and at 4pm (1:00am Tuesday our time), the surgery will be performed. After that, she will be resting at a ward, and then fly home the second day.

My mother just called and asked for all your prayers, especially the pastors... Please keep her in your prayers!