What gas is in my eye ball?

November 7th, 2006 at 23:34 · Filed Under Days in My Life, Medical 

When I had my eye check up this morning, I asked my doctor curiously, “What gas do you put in my eye ball?”. My doctor replied, “C3F8″.

Yes, C3F8, or penta-fluoro carbon. It is in the CFC family and will cause irritation when contacts with our eye. This gas will make the lens cloudy and form cataract. That’s the reason I need another surgery to remove my cataract around March or April next year.

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13 Responses to “What gas is in my eye ball?”

  • JO on November 12th, 2006 17:07 1

    What is your vision like now? Has the redness gone yet?
    I have to decide on a similar operation soon was it worthwhile?

  • Adrian Hoe on November 12th, 2006 19:27 2

    Hi JO,

    My vision is still blur but is improving. The gas will eventually cloud the lens and develop cataract. Another surgery will be needed to remove it.

    The only suffering is the first 10 days which I have to sleep on my left (because of my tear was on upper right corner) for at least 21 hours daily.

    The redness is still not all gone yet. Partly due to the scleral buckling where a silicon plastic was sewn on the outside of my eye ball.

    The sooner you have your procedures, the better chances for your vision to recover.

    Good luck, JO.

  • Chris on November 13th, 2007 3:55 3

    Hi Jo,

    I had my surgery 5 weeks ago, the size of the bubble is getting smaller but I am seeing double images.
    Did you see doubles while the gas bubble was in your eye?

    Chris

  • Adrian Hoe on November 13th, 2007 10:26 4

    Chris,

    Yes. I saw doubles in my eye. It was cause by the diffraction of the gas in the eye. It was like reflection on a mirror or water surface. As the bubble becomes smaller, the doubles will reduce.

    Your gas bubble should have been dissolved by now. Mine disappeared completely in 4 weeks.

    Get well soon!

  • Barbara on December 21st, 2007 8:38 5

    Hi Adrian: I still have the bubble it is breaking up into smaller bubbles all the time; it wobbles and then breaks up is that correct? Thanks for your help; i am so frustrated and want it gone; it has been about a month and a half; is that normal? Thanks for your help!

  • Adrian Hoe on December 21st, 2007 9:49 6

    Hi Barbara,

    It is good to hear you are in good health.

    Yes. The bubble would break up into many smaller bubbles. It is normal. You will get used to it and when they are gone, you will miss them.

    I am not a medical doctor and am not sure about Avastin. Please consult your doctor and [s]he will be able to tell you how soon the bubble will be dissolved.

    In my case, the penta-fluoro carbon gas took about a month to be dissolved as my doctor told me.

    The bubble was quite annoying when it split the image into two and sometimes made me feel giddy when I moved and turn around too much, too quickly and too often, like I was in the mall trying to avoid running the shopping cart into people.

    When the bubble was finally gone, I kind of missed them!

  • Barbara on January 6th, 2008 2:02 7

    HI Adrian! I am checking all the forums off and on; this is barbara from the other forum! Thanks for explaining the bubbles right now it is a swimming vapor of pool of water; I do see very small tiny bubbles but the rest is a vapor pool; does that sound like it is vaporizing? Thanks Adrian! Barb

  • Laser Surgery on March 25th, 2008 10:55 8

    [...] here. The surgery removed my natural lens which had been clouded by the penta-fluoro carbon (C3F8) gas in the retina repair surgery. A new artificial lens was inserted to replace my natural lens. The [...]

  • Chris on April 23rd, 2008 4:58 9

    Hi Adrian,
    I had my retinal repair and cataract surgeries already. Soon after the cataract surgery, the Dr told me that there are still some cataract left in the capsule and need to be removed by YAG laser, which will be some time in the next few months. Right now, I am still experiencing some of those cataract symptoms.
    When did your Dr tell you that you need the laser treatment? How is your vision now, any image distortion?
    Thanks and Good Luck.
    Chris

  • Adrian Hoe on April 23rd, 2008 10:21 10

    Hi Chris,

    Don’t worry and relax. Everything will be fine.

    I had my cataract removed in June 2007. My vision was restored with quite a lot of image distortion. straight lines are not straight anymore. My vision gradually became blurred. At 6 months after my cataract surgery, my doc told me I needed YAG laser capsulotomy. Then he scheduled it 3 months later. That was in March this year.

    After the laser capsulotomy, my vision instantly became clear again. Much clearer than before and less distortion. I guessed the distortion was caused by the lens or the lens capsule or somewhere between the two. I have yet to confirm with my doc. The last visit to my doc last week, I forgot to ask him. But he told me I have recovered and starting from now, I need annual examination. So, I am going to see him a year later.

    Oh yeah, he told me there was still chances of retina detachment but the risk could be less than 1%. I hope so. I don’t wish to have another one. Enough suffering for that.

    Good luck and relax.

    Oh.. please read my article about laser capsulotomy. Have you?

    http://adrianhoe.com/adrianhoe/2008/03/21/laser-surgery/

  • Chris on June 20th, 2008 1:32 11

    Hi Adrian,

    Thankyou for responding to my previous questions.
    I had my YAG laser this week and I was able to see the result minutes later. I hope my months of ordeal is finally over. Currently my eye is still experiencing mild image distortions and the Dr said it is because of the scleral buckle.
    Wish you good luck and good health.

    Chris

  • Adrian Hoe on June 20th, 2008 8:49 12

    Hello Chris,

    Good to hear from you again. I am glad you finally get through the ordeal.

    I am still having image distortions but not as bad as months before.

    Wish you good luck and good health too.

  • Khagendra Dahal on July 13th, 2010 13:19 13

    When I had my eye check up yesterday evening, I asked doctor Miss Raba Thapa curiously, “What gas has put in my eye ball?”. She replied, “C3F8″or penta-fluoro carbon.

    I had my surgery 6 weeks ago in Tilganga Hospital,Kathmandu, Nepal by Dr. Govinda Poudel. 26 days, I was completely blind. Headdown position is another tension matter. I was only able to distinguish light and color. After then 5 Percent images shown like strip. After 5 weeks I had seen the bubble break up into many smaller bubbles in my eye with a big size bubble.

    In my case, the penta-fluoro carbon gas remain about one and 1/2 month to be dissolved as Dr. Thapa told me. I hope 3 month later it will be normal.

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