Contact Lenses and Parasites

Local ABC affiliate WSB ran a story this evening about contact lens wearers and the risk of acanthamoeba infection. This is a rare, but very very serious eye infection. Those most at risk are contact lens wearers that swim in rivers or lakes and then sleep in their lenses. The news story does a good job of stressing the importance of good contact lens habits and hygiene. The story overstates the risk. Our practice has seen two patients with this infection in 20 years. Today we texted top corneal specialists at Piedmont and Northside and both groups confirmed they have not seen a recent increase in acanthamoeba cases. That said, we don't want any patient to have to battle this bug. What are best contact lens habits? Remove lenses before sleep. Store your case dry during the day. Use fresh CL solution, never use tap water. If your eyes seem irritated or red, remove your lenses. Consider using single use lenses. If you think you have an eye infection, contact your friendly local eye doctors right away!

Food Drive

The food drive was a big success! You donated over 240 pounds of food to Forever Fed, a local ministry that delivers food and fellowship to families in need right here in Cherokee county. The second part of the drive was a pledge by our practice to donate $10 for every frame sold in November and December. You responded by purchasing more frames last month than any month ever! And we have been in practice 19 years! We are thrilled to donate $3480.00 to this excellent charity.

Be generous, and you will be prosperous. Help others, and you will be helped. (Proverbs 11:25)

Food Drive

Forever Fed is a mobile ministry delivering food and fellowship to families who are under-served in Cherokee County. Forever Fed's Cans4Kids/Food4U program distributes boxes of food containing seven meals and seven snacks to each person in the household twice each month to families unable to access area food pantries for food support. These families lack transportation, are disabled, elderly, homeless, or part of the working class poor. Most are single parent households. 

How we can help

We are collecting non-perishable food donations in our office. Forever Fed gladly accepts all types of canned goods. The most needed foods include:

Kid Friendly Soups  chicken based soups like chicken noodle, chicken rice, and chicken stars are especially popular
Canned Fruit canned peaches and pineapple are favorites
Breakfast Pastries  Pop-Tart style pastries, granola bars
Salty Snacks crackers, cheese crackers, Ritz style crackers, saltine crackers

Additionally, our practice is donating $10 for every new eyeglass frame sold from now until the end of the year.

We hope to see you soon with some food! 

Welcome Dr Patel!

We are so excited to announce that Dr Gemma Patel has joined our practice! Her full bio is listed on our website, however here is the quick version - UGA, grad school in Chicago, residency in ATL, graduated with honors, extremely talented young doctor!

Apple Pay

We have updated our credit card terminals and now accept the latest chip embedded cards. Additionally, we now process Apple Pay transactions. You can use your iPhone or Apple Watch!

Eye Allergies

Pollen counts are rising! Here is our current advice for eye allergies. 1) Don't rub! As tempting as it is, rubbing actually makes it worse. 2) Use a good artificial tear like Refresh or Systane to help flush away the irritants and soothe the eye 3) Use OTC ketotifen twice a day. It is available without a prescription as Alaway and Zaditor 4) If symptoms persist, call our office and we can help with prescription medications.

Tiffany Frames

We've added Tiffany frames to our optical, and they have been very popular. The designs incorporate the classic "Tiffany Blue" and are very high quality. We are always on the lookout for the latest and best frames for you!