Latest update on Whitney's eye

Hello dear ones,

We just wanted to let you know that we arrived home safely from Greece a couple of days ago. Here's a quick run-down on how things went.

The trip down to Thessaloniki was uneventful and rather quick (just under 7 hours). The car is now practically driving itself there since this was our 6th trip in the last 6 months. Kaitlyn was not with us on this trip as she is staying with an Albanian family for at least a week to work intensively on her Albanian language. The other girls did a great job on the drive through all the winding and bumpy (but getting better) roads. The border crossing was very fast. We had prayed about that as we left Tirana. When we drove out of the border patrol area Breanna piped up in the back, "We should tell God thank you that we got through the border so fast." Out of the mouths of babes... Then she prayed.

When we arrived in Thessaloniki we called the doctors office to see if we could get in on Monday night instead of Tuesday, when we originally had our appointment scheduled. We arrived in the city earlier than we thought because of the quick drive and no problems at the border. The doctor said to come on in and she would try to get us out in under 2 hours. We usually wait at least that long because they are in great demand. Actually, I think that if Dr. Kawly, in Houston, had not referred us to Dr. Brazitioks, in Greece, and called him personally, we would not have been accepted as a new patient. It didn't take 2 hours, only 1. Yeah God!!! We were up and out before some of the people who were there before us were even called in.

So, Whitney's vision was 20/20!!!! Praise God!!! The OCT scan showed that there is no accumulation of fluid behind the retina, which is the best case scenario for Whitney. So far the retina is still damaged (and will always have that damage), but has remained "dry". Once the fluid leaks into the damaged area and builds up under the scarred area, then she has the drastically decreased vision like she did in December. We are so very thankful that God has protected her eye from further complications. Based on these steady results - unchanged since her second appointment with him and after 3 shots - they said that we could begin coming in for the scan every 2 months instead of every month. This is good news. We will probably have to make this trip for at least another year, maybe 1 1/2 years. That does sound a little daunting, but very do-able. We are thanking God for all the ways He has provided financially for these unbudgeted/unplanned for trips. What a great reminder that they were not unplanned for by Him when we created out budget before we even left the USA for Albania. He has it in HIS budget. What a relief!

One other really amazing thing...
On the way back to Albania we prayed, as usual, for a safe drive home and for protection for the car and all parts. About 1 hour out of Thessaloniki, we noticed that the car was beginning to vibrate quite a lot. The roads aren't always great, so we have kind of become used to a not-so smooth ride. We pulled off the highway and Kris looked at the tires (they are old but still have lots of tread on them - he had just had them checked in April). They seemed fine. We got back on the road and had not gone 50 yards when we both realized the vibrating was a lot worse. "It just so happened" (such a God thing) that we were right at the off-ramp for Berea (yes, the one from Acts). Once we pass this city we begin the winding and steep climb into the mountains that have lots of tunnels and hardly any place to care for distressed cars. So we are praying, like we had been since we stopped, that we would find a place to fix our Toyota car with Bridgestone tires. Lo and behold, just down the road was a small Toyota dealership attached to a little Bridgestone tire shop! (Imagine lots of cheers in the car). We pulled up and the old guy at the tire shop didn't speak a word of English, but just then his son rode up on his bike and he spoke great English! (Imagine more hurrahs for God). As it turns out, and was now very obvious, the front right tire was severely distended/bowed out and was causing the car to gyrate. The guy told us that if we had kept driving, within at least 2 kilometers the tire would have exploded! That would have been right in the middle of a narrow tunnel on the mountain! WOW GOD!!!! He said that the tires we have on the car are very strong and durable and that if we had had another, less sturdy, tire it would have already blown. God's care over us is just astounding! (Now imagine tears, cheers and some great big sighs of relief).

So, we got back on the road within 30 minutes and arrived home safely. It is great to be back home in Tirana. Thanks for all your prayers for our safety and for Whitney's appointment. Our Father has been immeasurably kind to us all during this long journey of Whitney's injury (almost 1 year now). We are so very thankful for all the ways He has shown Himself so big and also so into the details of our lives. Our faith has been stretched and strengthened. We are profoundly grateful to Him for these invaluable lessons.

Just to give us even more - we found corn on the cob in Thessaloniki!! I know this doesn't sound too impressive, but we haven't had it in 2 years. I bought some at the store and we had huge ears of sweet corn for dinner that night. They were SO yummy! Breanna ate hers down to the cob and even kept on gnawing on it until it got all mushy. Kris called her a "cornivore". Hahaha!

Just thought I would let you in on all the blessings we received on this trip.

There is no other way to end this testimony of God's goodness but to quote:
Psalm 145:3-7
"Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised; and His greatness is unsearchable.
One generation shall praise They works to another, and shall declare Thy mighty acts.
On the glorious splendor of Thy majesty, and on Thy wonderful works, I will meditate.
And men shall speak in the power of Thine awesome acts; and I will tell of Thy greatness.
They shall eagerly utter (literally "bubble over") the memory of Thine abundant goodness, and shall shout joyfully fo They righteousness."

Whitney's second surgical procedure in Greece - lessons in the fog

Precious friends and prayer warriors,

“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22-23

Yesterday morning, as we drove out of Thessaloniki, Greece, we saw a spectacular sight. It was dawn, and the mountains surrounding the valley that Thessaloniki lies in were visible in the distance. The plane in front of us was lush green. In the distance the land was covered with a low-lying fog that ended as the purple mountains jutted out of the ground. The mountains were covered with sparkling white snow and behind these mountains God was painting a gorgeous sunrise with rich oranges and vibrant pinks. It was a breathtaking view! We all commented on how creative and magnificent God’s power is. Not long after that we drove into the mountain pass. Almost immediately we were surrounded by dense fog. We kept going on and on in this thick, cold murkiness. We began to discuss how easy it would be to think that the sun was not shining at all because the fog was so dark and we could hardly see the road in front of us. Every so often, the sun would penetrate the clouds allowing us a quick glimpse of the blue sky. We were thankful to know that the fog would end and that eventually we would come out on the other side of the mountain range to a sunny valley.

While we were in that fog, God reminded us of an important truth. These past months have been like that heavy, dark fog. There have been so many uncertain times and unknown endings. We have been moving forward in the vehicle of God’s protection, energized by the power of the Holy Spirit. We have not questioned that we were on the highway of His perfect will, but it didn’t change the fact that we could not see what was in front of us. It was even difficult at times to remember the majestic displays of God’s power that we have personally seen in our lives. Often we would find ourselves focusing on the dreary “sameness” of this small trial and our spirits would sag and match the grayness around us. But then God, in His lavish love, would break through that fog and pierces us with His Light at just the right time. It may just be for a short time and then we are back in the God ordained fog of a trial, but how merciful is that refreshing reminder that He is with us. His Light is still guiding us and He will bring us out of the darkness and into His glorious Light in His perfect timing. The profoundness of this visible lesson left us worshipping God, in tears.

This trip to Greece, for Whitney’s second surgical procedure on her right eye, has been like one of those breaks in the fog from God. We are overjoyed to be able to share with you what God has done! When we visited the doctor here in Tirana 2 ½ weeks ago the results of the visual acuity tests that he performed were not so encouraging. Although the hemorrhage was gone from her eye, Whitney’s vision was still at 20/200, the same as before the first procedure. We were told that Whitney’s vision might return to 20/50 where it was before the hemorrhaging began in early December. When we arrived at the ophthalmologist’s office in Greece on Monday, they performed this test again. How amazed and speechless we were when Whitney’s vision was confirmed at 20/30!!! This is the best vision she has had since the initial injury in August.

When the doctor performed the OCT scan of the retina, she said that Whitney’s results were very close to a normal, healthy scan. We sat there and looked at the healing power of God with tears in our eyes. Whitney’s retina and macula are still damaged and will always have residual problems (humanly speaking), but at this time she only has a slight myopia, or near-sightedness. And just to let Whitney know that He heard her prayer (she was the only one who prayed it), the doctor said that Whitney did not need that IV dye test this time. We all praised God right there in that office!

Whitney did have the second injection of Lucentis into her right eye on Tuesday morning. Thankfully, she also responded better to the anesthesia this time. We are praying that the combination of the three shots will continue to sustain the healing that God has brought about. We do not know how long these shots will maintain this level of eyesight, but we are thankful for the mighty work of God at this time in our lives.

Thank you for your faithful and fervent prayers for Whitney and for our family during these past months. He has answered your prayers in ways that are beyond all that we asked or imagined. We proclaim with David, “Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; His greatness no one can fathom. One generation will commend Your works to another; they will tell of Your mighty acts,” (Psalm 145:3-4).

We are scheduled to return to Greece at the end of February for the last of this series of procedures. During the intervening weeks we will take Whitney for a follow-up visit to the eye doctor here in Tirana and continue to monitor her vision.

Thank you for continuing to pray for us. It has been a tremendous thing for us to see and experience God’s answers to all of our prayers. We are so grateful to God for each of you.

Bondservants of the King,
The Stire family

19th Update on Whitney - Greece #1

Whitney with her ophthalmologist, Dr. Brazitikos and his partner, Dr. Sophia. They were so kind to Whitney and she really felt comfortable with them.



Here is Whitney in her pre-op garb. They gave her some "yummy" syrup to make her sleepy before the procedure.



Our family had a special time of prayer for Whitney on the morning of her procedure. Whitney loves to spend time with Kris and his prayer for her was so touching and Christ-centered.



It was such a treat for us to take the girls to Applebees restaurant. We don't have any restaurants with that type of food and it was fun to hang out together.




Faithful prayer partners,


Greetings in the Lord from Tirana, Albania. We are back home from our trip to Thessaloniki, Greece for Whitney's eye procedure. We apologize that we didn't get this out sooner but due to Internet issues and Christmas, we were not able to send an update sooner.


The time that we spent in Thessaloniki for Whitney's medical care reminded us that God is sovereign over history and the intimate details of each of our lives. Watching the sun set over the same ocean that Paul stood by nearly 2,000 years ago inspired us to recall the Lord's tender care for His servants. We even saw some ancient archaeological arches; although the girls were much more interested in the "golden arches" of McDonald's.


On Monday, December 22, Whitney had her first appointment with Dr. Brazitikos, who is a professor of ophthalmology in Greece. He performed numerous tests and even did an IV angiogram of the vessels in her eye (he injected dye into her veins which then traveled to her eyes). We were then able to see very clearly the subretinal neovascular membrane that is affected by the hemorrhage in her eye. The doctor told us that he has high hopes that he will be able to treat her condition with good results because we caught the hemorrhaging in the early stages. We glorify God that He brought it to our attention when He did. The doctor's treatment plan is to inject a medicine for macular degeneration directly into the affected area of the eye for 3 months in a row. We will be driving to Greece again at the end of January and February for this surgical procedure. His hope is to avoid having to perform laser surgery which has the potential to cause more damage because of the close proximity of her injury to the vision center of her eye.


On Tuesday morning Whitney went to the one day surgical center for the first of these injections. The procedure took only a few minutes. However, we spent quite a few hours recovering in the hospital because Whitney did not respond well to the anesthesia she received. She was in quite a bit of pain and was disoriented. Thankfully the anesthesia was out of her system within a couple hours after she was discharged and she was feeling back to normal. Whitney's vision has not improved at this time, but we are praying that the combination of the three shots will reduce the hemorrhage and halt the degeneration of the affected area of her eye in order for her to recover some of the vision that she had two weeks ago. We will follow up with our ophthalmologist here in Tirana next week to monitor her intraocular pressure and to make sure there is not any infection.


Thank you all for your fervent prayers for our family as we travelled to and from Greece. God worked in a mighty way in answering our prayers at the border crossing back into Albania. We had been told that the line is sometimes 1-2 days long during this time of year! We were praying fervently and had a letter from Whitney's doctor that strongly suggested that Whitney be allowed to pass through the border quickly due to her medical issue. When we got to the border there were over 100 cars in line. After Kris spoke with three different Greek border agents, we were able to pass right to the front! We were in Albania in 45 minutes instead of the hours it would have taken. What a powerful God we serve. It was a tremendous opportunity for our girls to witness God's might, and to see first hand that He hears and answers our prayers.

We are so thankful for your continued prayer support. Here are some specific prayer requests regarding this situation.

* Pray that Whitney would not have any latent adverse reaction to the drug injected in her eye (like increased pressure in her eye or an infection).
* Pray that the hemorrhage and build-up of fluid in her eye would decrease, and that the medicine would have its intended results.
* Pray that the subsequent procedures in January and February would stop this degeneration of her macula so that she would not have to have the laser surgery.
* Pray that Whitney would regain some of her vision. Her far vision has not been greatly affected by this hemorrhage, but her near vision is severely reduced which affects her reading.
* Pray that we would have the opportunity to share the gospel with the Greek doctor and his staff since God has orchestrated that Whitney needs this continuation of care for at least the next 2 months.
* Pray that Whitney would not be afraid of or resist the next procedure due to the fact that this last one was rough on her and she remembers the post-op pain quite well.
* Continue to pray for Whitney's spiritual health and salvation.
* Pray that our insurance would cover all the doctor bills and hospital charges related to these procedures.


During our time in Greece, God used the situation to highlight His mercy to us and teach us some important lessons. Waiting rooms are interesting places. They strip away the veneer of our control and reveal our true heart and raw emotions. Hopelessness, fear, impatience, anxiety, relief, and joy are all displayed by those who find themselves in waiting rooms. Even with language barriers it's obvious to see the feelings that are common to human kind. While we were in the surgical waiting room as Whitney had her procedure we heard over the hospital sound system the familiar Christmas song proclaim, "Joy to the world, the Lord is come, let earth receive her King. Let every heart prepare Him room." Looking around at the peoples faces in the waiting room we could see every emotion but joy. At that moment thanksgiving and joy flooded our hearts in light of the reality that Christ had been born for US. He redeemed US through His death and resurrection. The peace that we were experiencing, sitting in the same waiting room with all of these other people, was only possible through Christ. In that waiting room, John 14:27 and 15:11 brought great comfort. "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. I have told you this so that My joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete." Our hearts were broken for all those "sitting in the darkness and the shadow of death" upon whom the Light of the "Sunrise from on high" has not yet brought peace and salvation (Luke 1:78-79). How undeserving we are to have the right to be called children of the King and co-heirs with the Light of the world (John 1:12), but we praise Him for His sustaining grace that brings us such joy and hope.


Thank you for your continued prayers and support of our family as we have the privilege of watching our great God work through this trial in our lives.



Bondslaves of the King,

The Stire family