Searched through the old topics and didn't come across anything that covered Raleigh.

Anyone know the good doctors/locations around the area?
Has anyone had/know of someone who has had the surgery performed in Raleigh?
I'm looking to get it done sometime in January. How early do I need to schedule it to make that happen?
Its been a while since i've looked into it, should i still expect it to be ~4k?
For the folks who have had it in general, are you happy with it? Anything I need to know beforehand?

all i can think of now

12/20/2005 9:16:28 AM

My mom keeps trying to get me to do this, and the latest flyer she gave me was for the Laser Eye Center of Carolina.
If I wasn't terrified, I'd probally get it done from them. http://www.visionauthorities.com

[Edited on December 20, 2005 at 9:24 AM. Reason : If link doesn't work, they're in Cary (888-376-eyes)]

[Edited on December 20, 2005 at 9:24 AM. Reason : .]

12/20/2005 9:22:21 AM

I had it done & am very happy I did. I don't know that I would want to get it done around here though. I went to this place, because I think at the time, the doctors were more experienced there.

http://www.carolinaseyecenter.com/

He did my surgery like 3.5 years ago, & did a great job. I had terrible vision & I can see 20/20 now. He fixed my eyes in one procedure too, which was kind of a surprise considering how bad my eyes were. Reasonably priced too. Therefore, I would certainly recommend him. It is worth the drive to go to a very good one.

As per your Q's, you need to pick a doctor & get the screening done, before you can schedule the surgery. When I had it done, it was 1k an eye. Your vision is kind of blurry/adjusting for the first month or two. My vision would be better some days, worse some days & took 2-3 months before it stop adjusting.

[Edited on December 20, 2005 at 9:43 AM. Reason : Q's]

12/20/2005 9:39:19 AM

i had mine done in oct 04 at carolina eye associates in southern pines, highly recommend them, i did my research, and spent more than most places in raleigh cost, but hey you only have one set of eyes. i am corrected to 20/20 after having a horrible astigmatism all my life. mine was somewhere in the range of 4K total. It's nowhere as bad as I thought it would be as far as the actual procedure went, it took like 4.5 minutes TOTAL. the recovery is what sucked for me as it took about a month to 2 months to fully recover. the drop regiment each day was pretty brutal as I don't like drops. all in all though, after i did it the only thing i wish i had done different is that I wish i would have had it done sooner!

http://www.carolinaeye.com/

[Edited on December 20, 2005 at 9:41 AM. Reason : ]

12/20/2005 9:40:45 AM

This thread may be useful:
http://www.brentroad.com/message_topic.aspx?topic=142797

I got PRK about 2 yrs ago and my eyes are still seeing 20/15. PRK is an option you can get if your retinas are too thin for LASIK. If you don't know the basic procedure for LASIK, they peel part of your retina back, due the procedure, then place the flap back over your eye. If your retinas are too thin for this, they can do PRK in which they just cut the flap off and let it heal naturally. LASIK is a more recent type of surgery so it's long term effects are currently not known. It heals a lot faster and you can usually see 20/20 within a few days. PRK is a little more painful and takes about 1-2 weeks until you can see 20/20, but the success rate of getting at least 20/30 is a little higher. There is a LASIK plus center on Blue Ridge near where Blue Ridge splits into Duraleigh. I had my initial surgery in a Charlotte LASIK plus center, but I had all of my follow up exams at the on in Raleigh. Back when I had it, the surgeon would commute between to the two centers to perform the surgery. If it is the same surgeon, I would assume that he does the same thing. I can't remember his name, but he was a real nice guy and was one of the people that started out doing the surgery, so he is one of the most experienced when it comes to doing it. If you want any more info about it, send me a PM and I'll tell you what I know.

oh yeah and you should go ahead and call them now if you want to have it done in January. You have to schedule a preliminary exam so they can check to make sure that your vision has stabilized and that you are a good candidate for the procedure. If you end up getting LASIK, you will most likely be able to go to school/work the next day. You may need to take a few days off if you get PRK.

[Edited on December 20, 2005 at 9:53 AM. Reason : ]

12/20/2005 9:52:29 AM

I don't know about you people, but if they're gonna be directing friggin laser beams in my eyes I would want to find the best place in the Southeast, not just the best place in Raleigh.

12/20/2005 9:54:58 AM

^That's why I went to Charlotte & not Raleigh

12/20/2005 9:57:56 AM

I do want to goto the best place I can find, thats why I'm expecting to pay around 4k instead of 2k. I don't mind heading out of Raleigh to get it done. Everyone I know who has had the surgery has had it done either in Hickory, Winston, Greensboro or Wilmington. So I am trying to see if there is a great local place I hadn't learned about.

Will the fact that I stare at a computer all day (due to the nature of my job) and will be reading a lot initailly (grad student) impact the amount of time it will take for my eyes to recover?

12/20/2005 10:03:03 AM

Your eyes will be extremely sensitive to light after you get the surgery. With LASIK, you probably won't be able to look at a computer screen without discomfort for a few days after the surgery. With PRK, it would probably be around a week. You will need to wear sunglasses for a while after the surgery too.

12/20/2005 10:09:54 AM

yeah recovery was the worst part for me, i couldn't drive at night for about a week due to the haloes, but now everything is just like normal, with the exception of being sensitive to sunlight (which i have always been). please please do your research, cheaper is not better. a buddy of mine tried to go the cheap route like 750/eye. I told him about what should take place, etc.. and that if he had the slightest bit of doubt about the place to walk out. bottom line he did and was thankful and is saving to get it done at Carolina Eye. look them up, it's worth the drive, and they are one of the best centers in NC

12/20/2005 10:14:57 AM

to repeat, definately do your research. I had my done in Florence, SC (I know, I know, but it was a reputable eye center) about four years ago and it has made all the difference.

The drops do suck ass, but my biggest problem was having to wear sunglasses everytime I went out. First of all, I'm not a big cranial accessory dude to begin with, so wearing sunglasses to walk to class was the high on my list of annoyances. Second I had to go buy sunglasses. And those gloggles for the first few days when you're sleeping are pretty uncomfortable, but worth not scratching your eyes out. Overall, though, I highly recommend it.

Don't go deep sea diving, though, or your eyes will explode.

[Edited on December 20, 2005 at 11:29 AM. Reason : past tense]

12/20/2005 11:27:56 AM

Quote :

"Don't go deep sea diving, though, or your eyes will explode."

huh?

i've never heard that. maybe if you went really soon after the surgery, but even then, you should be equalizing the pressure in your mask.

For what it's worth, I had PRK (which isn't the same as PRK in that they don't cut the "flap", but the flap incision heals), and I'm a SCUBA diver, and I've also been depressurized to a simulated 35k feet in a hypobaric chamber ("altitude" chamber).

12/20/2005 11:47:03 AM

yeah, that was a rumor going around I heard from randomness (along with something about mountain climbing), but I didn't give it much thought or credence since the doctor's said nothing about it, and considering I probably would go mountian climbing in the future and didn't want to think about my eyes busting.

12/20/2005 11:50:03 AM

nah, you should be fine. I'm a pretty avid skiier, too...not that 10,000' altitudes out in the Rockies are anything compared to that hypobaric chamber. Once you're totally healed, you can do pretty much whatever you want.

I'm probably pretty much a poster child for that--if I haven't found a way to blow up my eyeballs, my guess is that it's really tough to do. plus, I've never heard any docs say anything about it.

If anyone has questions about PRK, I can tell you what it's like. In short, it hurts like hell and the recovery is relatively long, but the end results were great. I see 20/15 with no haze, halos, or any other negative effects (although my eyes were good before the surgery...I didn't even wear glasses. I just had it done so I could be a military pilot, and then the military went back on what they originally told me and made me a navigator instead of a pilot, so it was pretty much a waste.)

[Edited on December 20, 2005 at 12:00 PM. Reason : asdfasdf]

12/20/2005 11:56:20 AM

Nor have I heard anything about pressure differences affecting eyes after surgery. I had almost forgot about those goggles. For those of you that haven't had the surgery, pretty much the worst thing you can do is rub your eyes after the surgery. The thing that sucks the most though is that you really REALLY want to rub your eyes for about two weeks, but you will completely mess up your vision if you touch them. When you sleep you have to wear these goggles so that you don't inadvertently do it while sleeping. After a few weeks the eye doctor said I could rub them (but not hard) and it felt so nice.

[Edited on December 20, 2005 at 12:02 PM. Reason : ]

12/20/2005 12:02:14 PM

i didn't really read the whole thread so someone may have already said this but...

you may want to wait just a couple more years if you are considering lasik surgery. there is a revolutionary new technique that is in the process of being approved by the FDA which is far better than lasiks. this is what one of our family friends relayed to me who is a successful optometrist, so hopefully i won't screw up what he told me...

it involves the same incision procedure used for cateract surgery except they implant permanent lenses over the eye (behind the retina) instead of reshaping the cornea as they do with lasik surgery. it involves far less risk and the results are pretty much guaranteed 20/20 or better. if your eyes happen to get any worse over time, they are able to remove the lenses (with the same procedure) and replace them with a newer prescription. the main difference between the 2 surgeries is the degree of accuracy that can be attained and at a higher rate with less risk.

12/20/2005 12:32:59 PM

Quote :

"Don't go deep sea diving, though, or your eyes will explode."

I know its been covered in this thread and pretty much the myth is not true, but you don't have to worry about me ever doing that. I have an asinine fear of the ocean, so me getting in past my knees doesn't happen very often.

Last time I saw an eye doctor, I was told that I am a perfect canidate for the surgery. My vision has been stable for about the last 4-5 years. Plus I have a difficult time with contacts. Its so bad that I just have glasses.

12/20/2005 1:19:24 PM

^^You could always tell people that you have bionic optical implants

12/20/2005 1:51:53 PM

anyone else know anything?

12/20/2005 6:52:17 PM

Quote :

"it involves the same incision procedure used for cateract surgery except they implant permanent lenses over the eye (behind the retina) instead of reshaping the cornea as they do with lasik surgery. it involves far less risk and the results are pretty much guaranteed 20/20 or better. if your eyes happen to get any worse over time, they are able to remove the lenses (with the same procedure) and replace them with a newer prescription. the main difference between the 2 surgeries is the degree of accuracy that can be attained and at a higher rate with less risk."

that sounds just like the intra-corneal rings that doctors have been implanting for a while now. touted as a "reversible" treatment, but in reality, it's not totally there yet.

12/21/2005 1:10:16 AM

^from what the doctor told me, this surgery is not yet offered to the general public since it has not yet attained FDA approval.

12/21/2005 1:45:43 AM

What more do you specifically want to know, weeeees?

12/21/2005 7:51:49 AM

Says here they're FDA approved:

http://www.medcompare.com/matrix/1832/Intracorneal-Rings-(ICRs).html

12/21/2005 12:36:24 PM

i had LASIK done in raleigh at TLC (off of blue ridge) in the spring of '02

http://www.tlcvision.com/centers_tlcvision/carolina/

i highly recommend the surgery, if you're a good candidate for it -- it's been almost 3.5yrs for me and i barely remember even wearing contacts, my eyes are still 20/15 and i have had no problems

there's some pain (more than they led me to believe) following the surgery (feels like a scratch on your eye), but i simply took some pain medication and passed out for a few hours when i got home -- i was watching tv perfectly that night

and i went scuba diving like 2 months later with no problems (120ft)

12/21/2005 3:17:23 PM

Dr. Dornic is great, he did my mother and I am getting it done soon too. He works at the Laser Eye Center of Carolina, the phone number is 919-467-9955. First you would call and do a consultation, then see where you want to go from there.

Also, Dr. Dornic does information sessions on laser eye surgery at the Eye Care Center in Crossroads, by Toys'R'Us. He explains the different types and you can talk to him about what type would be right for you. The Laser Eye Center of Carolina that he works at is the only place around here that can do every single type of laser eye surgery (b/c there are lots of different types) and has the most new and improved machines.

[Edited on December 21, 2005 at 4:18 PM. Reason : ..................]

12/21/2005 4:15:34 PM

here's the procedure. looks like it takes around a minute

http://www.visionauthorities.com/html/lasik_video.html

12/21/2005 4:21:54 PM

I had it done a little over a month ago and I love it. My vision is at 20/15 right now and most of the after surgery side effects such as halos and starbursts around lights have vanished. The actual lasar was working for less than a minute for me and my vision was off the chart (over 20/400 [couldn't see the big E]). I didn't have any pain at all afterwards either.

I have Blue Cross/Blue Shield and they offer a discount for LASIK so mine was only $1749 per eye and I took advantage of my doctor's payment plan (one eye paid for up front and the other in 6 monthly payments). I used the wavefront guided version, which is something new (and more expensive) my doctor just got that uses a computer scan to make a mini 'topo map' of the eye that the laser uses to do the correction.

Website: http://www.lowryeye.com

[Edited on December 21, 2005 at 10:48 PM. Reason : []

12/21/2005 10:47:31 PM

Off-topic question: Does anybody's health insurance cover this at the moment? Mine doesn't and I don't think most will ... but curios if anybody has one that does.

12/21/2005 11:29:50 PM

mine does...haha

12/21/2005 11:57:46 PM

This comes up once in a while at work. 90% of people swear to get it done at DUKE hands down.

Other places might be a bit cheaper, but these are lasers and your eyes. Skimp elsewhere.

I remember a lot of horror stories from years ago, but none recently.

[Edited on December 22, 2005 at 12:04 AM. Reason : .]

12/21/2005 11:59:02 PM

the "horror" stories i hear now are just that the people who recieved eye lasering are having to wear corrective lenses again, but lighter in strength. so they are able to see the clock beside their bed, but not from across the room.

i want super duper artifical eyes.

12/22/2005 12:39:47 AM

No, REAL horror stories. People with halos and sunbursts that lasted for months on end. People losing all their vision in an eye.

12/22/2005 12:52:35 AM

You won't find better surgeons in this region than at the Duke Eye Center. Definitely check them out, its Duke.

12/23/2005 9:39:53 AM

^^halos and sunbursts lasting for months isn't a horror story. my eyes were semi-fucked up for a few months after my surgery, and i see 20/15 in both eyes now, with no negative side effects.

12/23/2005 11:37:35 AM