. . a small crack in the retina of the other eye. It went like this:

Dr. Chew: "OK, we can do surgery which is guaranteed to work at about US $5000 but the eye will never be quite the same, or we can try a bubble which is $2000 and has a probability of 70%, and if doesn't work we can still do surgery. The bubble I can do right now, surgery next week".

Me: "OK, let's try the bubble".

Dr. Chew: "OK, look down to the left, I'm going to inject a little anesthetic and do a freeze to create a scar that'll anchor this thing".

Dr. Chew: "OK, now look straight ahead and do not move your eye. I'm going to stick a needle in your eye and drain some fluid. It'll take a minute or so".

Me: "Ummm . . . OK".

Dr. Chew: "Good. Now look straight ahead and do not move your eye. I'm going to stick another needle in your eye and inject some gas".

Me: "Ummmm . . . OK".

Dr. Chew: "OK, lets have a look. Oh! that's a really nice bubble! This is going to work!"

Dr. Chew: "Do you have some dark glasses? Good. Pay at the door. Come back and see me in 10 days".

The bubble worked spectacularly, sight started coming back within minutes.

A few weeks later he hit the crack in the other eye with a laser. Man! What a light show - and noisy! I was totally blind in that eye for several minutes, then sight started to slowly return.

No retina problems in either eye since. Hope it works out well for you too.

When I realized I had a serious problem I went to an optometrist I'd met at a Burbank Chamber of Commerce mixer. He turned out not to be just an expert optometrist but a world famous specialist in low vision devices. A very good friend of mine*** can drive only because of devices he invented.

He lined me up with Retina-Vitreous over in North Hollywood, reputed to be the best there is. Their attitude is "Get it done, get it done right, get it done now, looks real fine, do check back in a year, thank you. Next".

I had to have a very dense cataract removed from that eye a few years later - same cause as the retina problem, panicked pigeon elbowed me in the eye at high velocity. Again, sent to the best there is.

Incidentally, the cataract guys want you fully conscious during the operation. They use an almost momentary anesthesia, just long enough to inject some stuff that partially blinds the eye so you don't get an unnecessarily vivid view of them digging around in it.

*** Dated her a couple times in the distant past, but her son made it clear he was fully prepared to make my life miserable if I hung around. He eventually went into the military and she's happily married now. I'll be seeing her this evening because she and her husband are hosting the Music Group this month.