Surgery Center Information.
Your new day to see better.
Where to go.
Surgery is performed at The Outpatient Surgery Center of Asheville, located at 29 Nettlewood Drive in Asheville. This location is just behind the South Asheville WalMart Location off Hendersonville Rd. Below is a map to help guide you to the location.
Why do we use it? Several reasons: 1. Facility is geared towards several subspecialties rather than “everything.” They are experts in these services. 2. Service. Top people with great, personalized care. 3. Cost. This is an outpatient ambulatory surgery center, not a Hospital Outpatient Department that charges more as those facilities are “part of the hospital” even if they are not on the physical hospital campus. We should ALL care about cost of care.
What to do.
Successful surgery depends on you doing a few, important things BEFORE you come to the center:
Please thoroughly read all instructions in your surgical packet — follow them. We didn’t take all that time and effort to give you something useless to read. If you make a mistake, don’t worry. It happens.
Do not eat or drink anything other than a small sip of water with your usual medications after midnight prior to your surgery.
Take your regular medicines except those for Diabetes. For our Diabetic patients, the surgery center will tell you how much/what to take and not to take when they call you prior to surgery. .
Bring your sunglasses and all drops with you.
Bring your ID and Insurance cards. Insurance regulations require proper identification with a photo ID.
Time to come in.
You time of arrival is in your pre-op packet/instruction guide. The Outpatient Surgery Center of Asheville typically will contact you in advance of your surgery date to go over your history, so please answer your phone prior to surgery. Please provide us with a reliable contact number — with voice mail — to reach you or a trusted family member. Times may change do to cancellations or other reasons. We ask for your patience and flexibility.
Please, also be aware that surgery is unpredictable. Most surgery, by far, is uneventful and uncomplicated. We work efficiently and without delay. It’s like a well run machine. However, complications can and do happen requiring more time and delays in surgery. The surgery center will communicate with you on arrival or in pre-op if there are delays in our day.
Expect to be at the center from 1.5-3 hours. Someone needs to go with you and bring you home. You can eat a regular diet following surgery. Please, do NOT drive to your follow-up appointment the next day even if you feel you see better than before surgery.
Location.
Outpatient Surgery Center of Asheville is located at:
9 Nettlewood Dr., Asheville, NC 28803
This is located just south of the Blue Ridge Parkway, essentially behind the Walmart off Hendersonville Rd..
Hours
Monday–Friday
8am–4pm
Phone
(828)-225-0861
A Typical Surgery Day.
It all begins with checking in at the Surgery Center reception. Please come in comfortable clothing with your insurance information and photo ID. We can’t do surgery if we don’t have ID. This is a State Law. Once the registration is complete, you’ll be escorted to the pre-op surgical area. The pre-operative nurses will take some vital signs, review your medical history and begin dilating your surgical eye for surgery. Many drops may be required, and, we give them time to maximally dilate you to make your surgery easier. The majority of your time in the center will be reviewing your history and preparing your eye for surgery. Also note: a small IV is started for medication access.
Once we’re ready for you in the Operating Room, we’ll bring you in. There will be a great deal of activity around you. Your forehead will be taped for safety. A light sedative is given through your IV after the nurses have confirmed who you are, your date of birth and you have verbally confirmed what eye we’re operating on. This is why we can’t just give you sedation before you come into the room in pre-op. We need your help in preventing preventable errors. Once everything is confirmed, we’ll prep and drape your eye. All you have to do is look at a light above you. About 5-10 minutes later, you’ll be done!
We’ll take you to recovery for a small snack, remove your IV and review all of your post-operative instructions. You’re in recovery for about 15 minutes. Please bring sunglasses with you as everything will be VERY bright. While the vision may be blurry, it will improve everyday. We don’t patch you, but we will put an eye shield on. We want you to use the eye after surgery, even if blurry. Once home, we ask you to put in your eye drops based on your instruction sheet, and take a short nap. After that, just relax, and get your drops in for the rest of the day. You can eat anything you’d like. If you have pain, we’re going to recommend you take Tylenol. Usually, the eye feels scratchy, but the vision WILL BE HAZY. At bedtime, make sure you’re wearing your eye shield and rest well. We’ll see you in morning.
Things to know.
Surgery works best when you take it easy and allow your eye to recover. Remember, you only have one set of eyes and each surgery, though it seems minor, can become complicated if you do some things you’re not supposed to. So, relax, take your drops and let others support you in your recovery — even if you feel “better than normal.” DO NOT DRIVE.
The next day.
We’ll see you back at our office on Hendersonville Rd. the next day. Bring your surgical kit, sunglasses and eye drops. If you’re having a problem overnight, call Dr. Karo at the number on your post-op sheet. The next day appointment is rather quick and we’ll review all your drops and how to use them. Any further appointments will be discussed and arranged. And that’s it!
Things NOT to do.
No heavy lifting, dusty/dirty chores or strenuous physical activity for 1 week; no swimming for 2 weeks
No driving until seen by Dr. Karo
Do not flush your eye out with water from the tap when washing your face or in the shower.
.Do not rub your eye; pat dry gently.
If you have PAIN that is INCREASING with a RED EYE and WORSENING VISION following your first post-op day CALL US IMMEDIATELY!
