Today we’d like to introduce you to Dr. Melissa Bohonos.
Hi Dr. Melissa, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I was raised by my grandparents in a small town in Nigeria, West Africa. At a very early age, I knew I wanted to become a doctor because I was inspired by my grandfather who was a military-trained nurse. He encouraged all his children and grandchildren regardless of gender to dream big and pursue all their goals relentlessly.
He worked for a local hospital but also took care of all the people in our neighborhood who could not afford to pay for medical care. I kept my dream of becoming a doctor alive even after I moved to the US as a teenager. I started college as a young girl at age 16 and finished medical school, internship, residency, and fellowship in ophthalmology in my 30s; a mature woman ready to embark upon her career.
After working in various practice settings including a level 1 trauma hospital as well as private practice and academic institutions I am thrilled to be able to distill all the experience and skills that I have gained over the years into my very own unique practice. In my previous clinical and surgical work, I saw a multitude of patients with end-stage eye disease brought on by chronic health conditions such as diabetes, obesity, and high blood pressure.
The interventions that I could offer patients may have preserved a little bit of vision they had left but did not do much to improve their overall quality of life nor address the root cause of the vision loss. With my practice at Holistic Eye Center, my focus is on the entire patient as a whole with a strong emphasis on optimizing overall health and prioritizing preventative eye care.
By taking this approach I hope to help my patients avoid health conditions such as high blood pressure and diabetes that can lead to irreversible vision loss that will severely impact their quality of life.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has not always been a smooth road. I have struggled with trying to balance the demands of my career with the demands of family and motherhood. When my oldest son was diagnosed with autism I had to take a little bit of time away from my career to focus more on my family and make sure he gets all the support and attention that he needed at that time.
He is doing amazingly well now and thriving. It is still a balancing act trying to juggle everything but having a supportive partner in my husband helps tremendously.
We’ve been impressed with Holistic Eye Center, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Holistic Eye center is an eye clinic that provides comprehensive eye care services to people of all ages.
We treat a wide variety of eye conditions including refractive errors such as myopia and astigmatism, glaucoma. macular degeneration and diabetic eye disease. What sets us apart from other clinics is that we focus primarily on finding the root cause of an eye condition and looking to see if lifestyle modifications such as improved nutrition (this is a big one) are enough to treat, prevent or stabilize the condition.
More traditional treatments with medications, prescription lenses, eye drops, laser treatments are also offered if a condition cannot be managed with more natural and less invasive modalities. The sad truth is that due to the way medical care is managed in the US, doctors do tend to profit more from “sick care”.
There tends to be more value placed on doing more procedures on patients to treat advanced disease rather than on preventative therapies. Our clinic is more focused on providing preventative eye, early diagnosis, and treatment of eye disease to preserve vision and improve the overall quality of life for patients.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs, or other resources you think our readers should check out?
The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on wisdom, perseverance, and the Art of Living This book offers daily devotional paragraphs based on the teachings of ancient stoics. I found the teachings helpful in grounding me and a way to navigate the inevitable unpredictability that is life. I find that a consistent exercise routine keeps me sharp and focused which helps with decision making.
I recently got the Peloton bike and app which helps me keep track of my rides and my progress fitness-wise.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: www.holisiticeyecenter.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/holisticeyecenter/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/holisticeyecenter
