In Search of a Family: A Story of an International Adoption by Kevin & Ginger Carlisle

Author:Kevin & Ginger Carlisle
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: adoption, Ukraine, international, inside, journey, diary, obstacles, children
Publisher: Atlantic Publishing
Published: 2013-03-06T00:00:00+00:00

Rural Ukraine

Wednesday, April 18, 2007: The Eye Clinic

Kevin was up very early, sitting in the kitchen, working on the computer blogging for our friends and family back home. I heard Lev get up, and then the two of them were sitting in the kitchen, making potatoes and mushrooms for breakfast and talking. I am just lying there, waiting for them to finish talking so I can use the bathroom — which is right next to the kitchen table where Lev in seated — but they go on and on and on talking about diving, squid salad and a myriad of other topics. I am busting. Finally, I cannot take it anymore so I get up and poke my head around the corner trying to catch Kevin’s eye. After what seems like an eternity: success.

Earlier in the week I suddenly developed a “black spot” in the vision of my right eye. Kevin thought it was a floater. A frantic call back to the States to my eye doctor was inconclusive. Lev indicated that the best eye clinic in all of the post-Soviet Union era is right here in Odessa. So, we get a cab and are off on a death-defying ride through the streets of Odessa. We arrive at an impressive looking building with an English sign that says “Institute of Eye Diseases.” Looks promising! We walk in and Lev sees a door that says “chief doctor,” so he knocked and in he goes. A few minutes later, we were ushered in to the doctor’s office. He was a rather young-looking, well-dressed man in a white lab coat, apparently the head ophthalmologist. Lev tells him of our plight and in a rather stern voice, he says he will take care of us for a fee of $150 cash, in advance. If we agree, I could get a complete eye exam, and he will throw in a free eye exam for Lev. We agree, and I am ushered around by a “nurse” who looks like she just stepped out of an X-rated movie. She is wearing a short, poofy mini skirt with knee high black leather boots with four-inch spike heels, fishnet stockings and a white, tight-fitting lab coat. Her red hair is pulled back into a bun, and she is wearing glasses with rhinestones. Now that was a Kodak ® moment!

Now to the machines. They had an automatic refractor, one with the “poof” that tests for glaucoma. Next, we were led to a dark, dark room with several other patients. There, I am tested for peripheral vision. Then, off to read the eye chart, only it is in Cyrillic — what fun! They had the old, antiquated eye gear that you had to hold yourself and the tray of lenses. After “close enough for government work” refraction testing and a few burning eye drops, I went back to wait until my pupils dilate. The doctor looked at my results and seemed surprised but we do not know why. Everyone keeps asking

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