by Melissa Brunner

Dr. Bobby Marefat, an ophthalmologist with Cotton-O'Neil Clinic, says a professor once challenged his class to find two-square inches that will tell you more about the body than the eye.

Dr. Marefat explained that further in my To Your Health story this week. (You can see it here: http://www.wibw.com/toyourhealth/headlines/70592652.html) It's a message I know is important.

A while back, my dad was having a couple of problems - his vision was getting blurry and his legs were hurting. He went to the eye doctor, who spotted some problems with the vessels and sent him a specialist. That specialist did tests and found blockages in his legs. In fact, the major artery on one side was blocked, while the major artery on the other side had an aneurysm.

Last December, he got the blockage fixed. In and out, no big deal. In January, he went back to have the aneurysm fixed. They kept him overnight. The next morning, they didn't like how low his oxygen levels were. Tests showed the arteries around his heart were blocked and he immediately went in for a quadruple bypass.

Since then, he had another lengthy surgery to clear more of the leg blockages. And just recently they finally went back to the beginning and did a laser procedure to clear up the problem with his eyes.

My dad's always had great blue eyes. It's not a stretch to say those eyes saved his life.