HUNTINGTON BEACH : Mayor Recuperating From Eye Surgery

Mayor Peter M. Green is recuperating at his home after emergency surgery Wednesday at Long Beach Memorial Hospital for a detached retina in his right eye. The mayor said that the operation to save his vision was successful and that he expects to be back at work by Monday.

In an interview Thursday, Green said he first noticed the eye problem over the weekend but did not think it serious. But by Tuesday, he said, the vision in his right eye had clouded over so that he could no longer see.

“At Tuesday night’s City Council meeting, I couldn’t see at all from my right eye,” Green said. He said he did not call attention to his problem and managed to get through the night’s council agenda without having to leave.

On Wednesday, an eye specialist told Green that he needed immediate surgery because of a detached retina.

Back at his home Thursday, Green said the most annoying part of his recuperation is that he has been advised not to read. Green is a biology professor at Golden West College and an avid reader of scholarly books and publications, as well as the thousands of pages of City Hall background papers he must plow through.

But at least until Monday, Green said, he is heeding his doctor’s advice and doing no reading. “At least I can watch TV,” he said. “They said watching TV won’t hurt my eye.”