Kelsie Stevens, O.D
Kelsie Stevens, O.D
Dr. Kelsie Stevens is originally from the small town of Newington, Connecticut, where she spent her childhood exploring her love of sports and nature. Her interest in optometry sparked after shadowing her lifetime optometrist over winter break one year. She fell in love with the field and began her journey to become a Doctor of Optometry. She moved to Washington, DC to acquire her Bachelor of Science at The Catholic University of America. Her Next move was to Chicago, IL where she graduated with honors from Illinois College of Optometry. While there, she served as the president of the community service club and still volunteers with various groups around the valley.
During externship, she trained at highly medical-based sites all over the country, and is now ready to call Prescott, AZ her home. She prides herself in a welcoming bedside manner while providing thorough eye care.
Dr. Stevens enjoys treating and managing various eye conditions including macular degeneration, glaucoma, dry eye, cataracts and diabetic retinopathy.
When she’s not seeing patients, she loves to go on hikes with her two rescue dogs whom she spends lots of time training. She enjoys running, playing tennis, and enjoying the gorgeous weather here in AZ. She’s played a variety of recreation sports and also finds time to read for book club.
Real World Treatment Example
Scleral lenses bring an entirely new dynamic to how we can correct vision. There are many reasons why we would choose a scleral lens – corneal diseases like keratoconus, post-surgical or transplant eyes, scarring, extreme dry eye, high astigmatism or just their overall comfort compared to many soft lenses. Unlike a soft contact lens or a traditional RGP, a scleral lens are filled with fluid, and vault over the cornea to land softly on the white part of the eye, called the sclera. Because of this, they can mask vision issues caused by corneal disease, and give the eye a smooth refracting surface for more comfortable vision. Over the years, I have helped patients who do not have clear vision out of regular glasses or contacts see better and gain more confidence. One of my most memorable cases was a patient who had extreme dry eye, as he had a traumatic injury that eliminated his ability to blink fully, leaving the eye exposed to the air 24/7, which became very painful. He had been to several specialists, who did things like eyelid surgeries and treatments to try and aid the issue but nothing really helped. I told him about scleral lenses, which he had not heard of before. He was successfully fit and we were able to not only save his eye from being removed due to pain, but able to improve his quality of life significantly. He is one of my favorite patients to see!
