In December 1997 I had eye surgery to correct a condition where some blood vessels in my eye had ruptured. The surgery is basically intended to remove any blood remaining in the clear jelly or vitreous humor which fills the eye. Once the blood is removed a laser is used to cauterize any damaged areas to prevent further bleeding.

What was most interesting about the surgery is that for most of it I was awake! The eye to be operated on is anethesized and does not function. The other eye is covered so nothing can be seen. One can, however talk to the surgeon.

They do administer tranquilizers so it is a relatively calm time. There was no pain and actually no significant discomfort. The hospital stay is technically less than 24 hours.

The indescribeable part of the whole process are the images that appear after the surgery in the eye that has been cauterized.

This labeled photo will give an overview of the situation. The eye is held open with retractor clips. A saline line has been stiched to the eyes forcing saline solution into the eyes to maintain the shape and replace any of the vitreous humor that is sucked out with the blood. It also replaces that which simply leaks out of the various incisions in the eye. Two tubes are also inserted through holes in the eye: one is the cauterizing laser which also has a light source for general illumination. The other is the suction tube.

Here one can see clearly the tube penetrating the eye visible though the pupil.

The laser/light tube can be seen here external to the eye in light mode.

After addition of fluid to lubricate the eye, a lens is placed directly on the eyeball to allow better visibiity of the interior.

During actual operations on the interior the room lights are dimmed to allow a better view of the interior. All light comes from the light tube. In this photo the blood is actually being sucked out although it is difficult to see in this still photo.