Richie's Eye Injury

I wanted to fill you in on the happenings of the last 18 hours or so. Last night Rich and I were playing tennis with friends and as Rich was serving the ball, Richie standing diagonally in front of him turned and the ball hit his eye.

I noticed shortly after that there was blood in the eye (where the iris is) and he was complaining that he could not see out of it. We went to the ER and they diagnosed him with Hyphema (bleeding in the anterior of the eye) and a corneal abrasion (which is very painful). They admitted him for observation and until the Opthamologist could see him in the morning. He had to be on bed rest and sleep upright so that the blood would not pool at the back of his eye causing more problems.

The Ophtamologist's report this morning was good. He said the blood in the eye was at 5% as opposed to 10% the night before. There was no damage to the back of the eye and the prognosis was good for a full recovery. He said at least 24 hours more of bed rest, a patch for the eye, drops, and medicine for the pain. We are to see him again tomorrow at 1:30pm to check the progress. He thought the abrasion should be healed by then and that (hopefully) the blood in the eye would be completely absorbed.

We were discharged from the hospital, but as soon as we got home he started complaining of his stomach hurting and threw up (we think this was from the medicine on a mostly empty stomach). He still seems to be in a lot of pain, is still struggling with nausea, and is having a hard time leaving the eye alone. We are also concerned the eye might be bleeding again...it is hard to tell by just looking.

Please continue to pray for him. Thanks to everyone for all the prayers, thoughts, and kind deeds. We are truly grateful!