Howerton Eye Clinic Blog

Patient Testimonial

2010-02-08T07:29:00.000-08:00

Hello, I wanted to comment on my experience I had with your office. I had LASIK done on Jan 7th and cannot tell you in words how awesome the entire experience has been for me. I met Melissa at a healthfair in Oct (we were both vendors there). She was a great help in explaning uncertainties I had. About a month later I came in for my consult and Theresa took me every step as if I had known her forever. We clicked immediately! She was absolutely awesome in explaining everything step by step and answered ALL questions I had. I then met Dr Rhodes and also had a great experience with him. When I came in for my surgery, I was very impressed at the level of professionalism every one had. Diane got me ready, and I remember Amber (?) (or Angela?) said her only job was to hold my hand! It was so comforting. When I went in for the surgery I was so impressed that as Dr Rhodes was performing each step, Theresa was telling me what was happening! I sat up and could see! How life changing it was! I did end up having some complications that night and we didn't get back to see Dr Rhodes until the next day. When we arrived that morning, Rachel took great care of me quickly and earlier than the office even opened I think! She was very gentle and got me comfortable! Exactly what I needed. After I saw Dr Rhodes and he had to "fix me up" he said he wanted to see me on Saturday. When we arrived on Saturday, I was so surprised to realize the office was not normally open seeing patients. He and Theresa came in just for me! I thought I was impressed already, but that took the cake! I am a District Manager for 6 Castle Dental offices and all the specialists that work for us and we train extensively around G3! Greeting, Guiding, and Gratitude. I can say that my G3 experience at your office was beyond par and exceeded all expectations I had. I have told everyone I know and some that I don't know that they needed to go to your office and see Dr Rhodes and his staff! I truly appreciate the experience and hope you realize how you really are changing lives! You've changed mine!

Please share this message with the team and please tell all of them they did a FANTASTIC job!

Regards,
Becky Evans

LASIK: Its Second Decade

2010-02-04T11:32:00.000-08:00

Laser Vision Correction is in its second decade of helping patients reduce or eliminate their dependence on glasses and contact lenses. Today, the goal of laser vision correction is not only to correct nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism, but also to improve the quality or crispness of one's vision to a level that is better than possible with glasses or contact lenses. It is a comfortable, safe and effective outpatient procedure. There's typically little or no post-operative discomfort. Recovery is fast and complications are rare. Your vision returns quickly, usually without the need for glasses or contacts. Most patients will experience significantly improved vision immediately after surgery. Protective glasses are often provided for patients to wear during sleep for a short period of time. If Laser Vision Correction is something you are considering, Free LASIK Evaluations are available at our office to find out whether you are a LASIK candidate. You can also view an informative LASIK Video to learn more about the technology and options available for better vision.

New Office in Kyle Texas

2010-02-04T11:10:00.001-08:00

We are pleased to announce the opening of our new office location in Kyle, Texas. We will be caring for patients at the new Seton Family of Doctors at Hays, located at 5103 Kyle Center Drive. Dr. Richard Berkowitz will begin seeing patients next week 2/9/2010! It is so wonderful to be able to provide a service to so many people who are currently without Ophthalmic care in Kyle and surrounding areas. We look forward to providing quality eye care for our new patients.

Health Fairs

2009-11-18T13:13:00.000-08:00

We visit a lot of companies participating in Health Fairs throughout Austin and surrounding areas. Everyone is always so welcoming and it is an amazing feeling to be able to provide a much needed service to the community. Vision is so important and while performing vision screenings at these Health Fairs you quickly realize that vision is something that we definitely take for granted. Remember everyone...after 30 as a preventative measure have a comprehensive eye exam at least once every 2 years and at least once a year after 40. Thanks everyone for allowing us to participate in your company and community Health Fairs! See you at the next one.

2009-11-18T13:07:00.000-08:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Multifocal Lens for Cataract Patients

2009-10-01T13:49:00.000-07:00

Most people over 60 experience some level of blurry vision due to cataracts, and almost everyone over 50 loses their ability to read comfortably without glasses due to presbyopia. Now the Intraocular Lens makes it possible to regain the performance of youthful eyes.

Today, for people who have cataracts there is a procedure to remove the clouded natural lens of the eye and replace it with an advanced, artificial TECNIS Multifocal Lens. This unique implantable lens is proven to provide excellent vision at all distances, under all lighting conditions - day and night. Even better, the new TECNIS Multifocal Lens has helped thousands of people gain independence from glasses for the first time.

Contact Howerton Eye Center at 512-444-0701 to see if the new Multifocal Lens can help you!

BOTOX!

2009-05-27T15:10:00.001-07:00

Theresa- Refractive Coordinator:

Here at Howerton Eye Clinic we are offering Botox to our patients. As you know Botox is a temporary treatment of frown lines and brow furrows. Cosmetic (Botulinum Toxin Type A) injections are FDA-approved. A large number of people are having Botox injections to regain a more youthful appearance. In fact, we will be hosting Botox days -- where we hope that women and men (yes, men) will come together (bring a friend or two) and have wrinkle-banishing injections.

Jane Howerton Retires

2009-04-29T10:36:00.000-07:00

JANE'S FINAL BLOG:

I am writing my last blog. Dr. Howerton and I were presented with an marvelous opportunity and the practice was purchased by Dr. Berkowitz. He is an exceptional person and we feel blessed that our lifework is being left in excellent hands.

Dr. Kyle Rhodes has joined the practice. He seems wonderful. He is a glaucoma fellow so he is an excellent addition to the practice.

It has been a joy to be part of such a truly talented team and I will miss all of my friends. My last day will be May 1st and Dr. Howerton will be leaving July 1st.

It has been much harder than I imagined saying good bye to all the patients that I have become close with. Some of these wonderful folks have been patients for over 25 years. It has been a blast to learn about travels, family, personal high and lows. It was an honor to share many personal adventures.

I wish everyone all the best. I will truly miss you all.

2009-04-15T09:32:00.000-07:00

Hello Austin,

And I thank all of you that have welcomed me back to this wonderful city. I am extremely excited about my return to Austin. I completed my college degree here at the University of Texas at Austin in 1999. Houston was my next stop, where I attended medical school at Baylor College of Medicine. I then moved to the West Coast, and completed my internship and residency at California Pacific Medical Center. My time in San Francisco provided me with an excellent education as an ophthalmologist and as a human being. The diversity and differences represented in the Bay Area taught me how to truly respect and accept the impact of cultural beliefs as they relate to eye disease. I then returned to Texas, and finished a glaucoma fellowship at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. Now I have finally returned to Austin after 10 years, and I plan to spend the remainder of my career caring for the vision of Austinites.

My interests in ophthalmology are diverse. As mentioned previously, I am a glaucoma specialist, and I offer numerous glaucoma treatments: selective laser trabeculoplasty (SLT), trabeculectomy with or without antimetabolites, and glaucoma drainage devices (aka tube shunts or Ahmed and Baerveldt Implants). I am also a comprehensive ophthalmologist that performs cataract surgery, and I offer multiple lens implant options. Lastly, I have an interest in refractive eye surgery, and offer both LASIK and PRK (LASEK).

Thank you for visiting our webpage, and I look forward to taking care of all of you!

Kyle Rhodes, MD

Klye Rhodes, MD - Glaucoma Specialist Joins Practice

2009-04-09T15:16:00.000-07:00

Kyle M. Rhodes, M.D. joins the staff of the Howerton Eye Clinic in April 2009. A native of Texas, he graduated from The University of Texas at Austin. Dr Rhodes recently completed a Glaucoma Fellowship at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas.

Dr. Rhodes will be seeing Glaucoma patients in our Austin, Texas office. He will also be performing Cataract Surgery, LASIK and other surgical prodecures.

Please join the entire Howerton Eye Clinic staff in welcoming Dr. Rhodes to our practice. He will bring with him exceptional knowledge and unique experience. Please call our office at 512-443-9715 to schedule an appointment with Dr Rhodes.

September Blog

2008-09-03T18:58:00.001-07:00

Hard to believe summer is almost over. September will be busy here at the Howerton Eye Center . Cathy has a birthday this month on the 16th. Diane and her husband will be celebrating their 6th wedding anniversary and celebrating at Yellowstone . How lucky are they!!!

Word is the Nidek is waiting for final approval from the FDA for the first USA cornea guided custom LASIK. Dr. Howerton is really excited about the opportunity this new platform will offer his patients. For more information of Nidek Catz FDA data visit: http://www.nidek-intl.com/n-express_3.pdf

We are all looking forward to the fall and some cooler weather.

2008-09-02T07:27:00.000-07:00

Contacts vs. LASIK: Making a Decision

If you wear contact lenses, the chances are you have considered getting LASIK laser vision correction so you can finally put the lenses away forever and just see crystal clear all the time. LASIK does have a number of advantages over contact lenses:

Less risk of infection
Less risk of corneal abrasion and scratches
No lens to break or lose
No prescriptions to renew

Essentially, because you will not be touching your eye on a regular basis or putting a lens in direct contact with your eye, there is less likelihood that your eye will suffer damage. With LASIK you are not depending on a prosthesis, so there's no danger that you will break or lose it--a potentially crippling event. And because you don't have to buy new lenses or new cleaning fluids, you will never find yourself in a situation where you've run out of cleaner or lenses and have to rush out to get more.

On the other hand, there are some risks to the LASIK procedure that might make contact lenses a better choice for some people.

Glare, halos, and poor night vision, although rare, can occur
Dry eyes can be a nuisance for some people who get LASIK, requiring eye drops
In certain situations, the flap created during LASIK can become detached, even years after the procedure

Because of these complications, there are some people who might want to think hard before deciding on LASIK laser vision correction. If you do a lot of driving at night, if you suffer from dry eyes, and if you engage in contact sports or other activities where there is a significant risk of trauma to the eye, LASIK may not be for you. And, of course, although the procedure is being made available to more people than ever, not everyone is a good LASIK candidate.

At the Howerton Eye Clinic, we are committed to finding the right vision solution for every patient. With our partners at LensShopper.com, we help people find their way to clear eyesight that fits their lifestyle and personal needs. To learn more, contact us today to set up a consultation.

2008-08-06T06:04:00.000-07:00

What a good way to start August – August 1st is Shawn’s birthday. The month ends great with Judy’s birthday on the 23rd. Happy Birthday to all our great August patients, also.

Dr. Berkowitz starts August 11th and will be at the office on Tuesday mornings and Wednesday. Information on Dr. Berkowitz should be on the web page soon. Dr. Nicolau is on his way home to Corpus Christi . We wish him the best.

Everyone needs to get geared up for their flex plans. This is a great time to tell your family, friends and co workers to come in for a free consultation to see if they are a refractive candidate. They can then sign up for their flex plan. This is a great way to finance your surgery.

Hope all the summer plans go on without a hitch.

Eye Problems?

2008-07-25T10:13:00.000-07:00

Not seeing as clearly as you used to?
There's one thing you should really do.
Call Howerton Eye Center for any eye need. Satisfaction is all but guaranteed.

Cataracts, Glaucoma, Eye Exams or other, they're committed to help with no bother.
With concern, friendly smiles and lots of TLC they'll help you to be able to clearly see.

So, call them, do it today!

It may be critical, so don't delay.
Their number is 512-443-9715, and you'll be surprised how much better you'll see to drive!

Elizabeth Ann Keyes
4/10/08
A satisfied customer!

July Blog

2008-07-07T06:36:00.000-07:00

Hope everyone’s summer is going well, hard to believe July already. Big #1 birthday for Shawn’s daughter, Malaney. She is so cute and already walking and already 1. Time flies. Also, Judy’s granddaughter, Julyasa, is celebrating her #4. She and Malaney share the same birthday, a very special day in all our hearts.

Protect your eyes during the summer. Be sure to wear sunglasses with protective coating and always wear protective eye wear when working in the yard or doing house projects. Unfortunately, we see way to many preventable eye accidents.

Dr. Richard Berkowitz will be starting to see patients in our office one to two days a week beginning late July. Dr. Berkowitz had a very large practice in the valley and moved to Austin to be close to his college children. We are happy to have him on staff.

Dr. Nicolau will be leaving the end of July. We wish him the very best on his new endeavors.

Also, new to the practice is a recall and information system called Smile Reminders. Some of you may have already gotten a reminder. Sorry if anyone was inconvenienced. Once we become more familiar we will share all its great properties.

Have a great and safe summer.

Vacation Time

2008-06-14T10:08:00.001-07:00

Vacation time at the Howerton Eye Center! Judy and her sisters have spent some beach time down in the Corpus area. Shawn and her family are going to be cruising the Caribbean. Her 11 month old is walking!!! No walking the plank little one. Dr. Howerton and Jane will be going to Country Jam up north. Diane and her family are planning a D.C. adventure. Sounds like fun for all.

NEW EQUIPMENT AT THE HOWERTON EYE CENTER

2008-05-11T21:19:00.000-07:00

The IOL Master was delivered and installed last week. This new state of the art piece of equipment allows for a measurement of the length of the eye. This calculation is crucial in determining the power of the implanted intraocular lens. The intraocular lens (IOL) is the "new" lens when performing cataract surgery or refractive lens implants.

The cool thing about this equipment is the eye is not touched. This is great for all the squeezer!!! And people who are fearful of having their eye touched. We have currently being using the immersion A-Scan and this is still the method of choice for extremely dark cataracts or eyes with retinal pathology. The IOL Master and the immersion A-Scan are the 2 premium methods of choice for IOL measurements. Go to the box marked cataracts for more information.

UPCOMING BIRTHDAYS AT THE HOWERTON EYE CENTER .

MAY 23rd - Fred Posas
June 1st - Theresa Bischoff
Both would be blown away with any of you calling to wish them Happy Birthday!!

JANE

ASCRS/ASOA Chicago 2008

2008-04-09T18:49:00.000-07:00

Dr. Howerton, Deborah, Linda, Theresa and Shawn hit the Windy City for "The Eye Convention" 2008 did not disappoint. The city itself was great and warmed to 68! But the sights made up for the cold.

Most important was the knowledge and the enthusiastic attitude that Dr. Howerton and the staff returned to Austin . New equipment bought included the IOL Master, surgical instruments and the updated Nidek status. Everyone was buzzing about the incredible opportunity the upgrade on the Nidek will offer to the Lasik world. The most difficult cases seem doable. The research was the talk of the convention. This machine is topographically guided and is truly an individual treatment. It has received FDA approval just working on the wording.

Also, kudos to Shawn she did 3, that is right 3 presentations at ASOA. There was standing room only in her talks. Also, she was semi stalked with people wanting to pick her brain.

Theresa has great pictures and hopefully we can get her to share. Next year is in San Francisco but they are really going to have to get their act together to upstage the Chicago experience.

Jane

ASCRS/ASOA 2008

2008-04-06T09:19:00.001-07:00

We're here at the ASCRS convention looking at web marketing strategies.

LASIK- from the Patient's Prospective

2008-04-03T06:35:00.001-07:00

I mean what can I say, LASIK has changed the way I live my life.

I was constantly in a debate to between wearing my glasses, wearing contacts or risking it and going with my horrible vision.

The Howerton Eye Center changed all of that. I now do whatever I want, when I want to and the last of my worries is my site. I don’t have to make a decision between sunglasses or glasses, swimming or hanging out on the boat.

I want to be able to tell you that I battled through the recovery, finally found my way to good site but there’s no need to lie.

I was up and at it in a couple of hours. I had a couple of follow-up appointments that flew by with the good folks at Howerton.

As a former athlete who has been under the knife more than a few times, this waqs by far the easiest to prepare for, manage through and recover from.

I wonder why I waited so long now.

Sean Adams

Howerton Eye Center Staff to attend International Eye Conference

2008-03-14T14:09:00.000-07:00

The Staff from the Howerton Eye Center will be attending the 2008 ASCRS•ASOA Symposium and Congress being held April 4-9 at the McCormick Place West Building in Chicago, Illinois. This conference is a great opportunity to catch up on the lastest technology available in eye care.

SEAN ADAMS...National Exposure....NO GLASSES

2008-01-01T14:53:00.000-08:00

Our Patient, Sean Adams, gets national exposure preparing for the bowl game. WITH NO GLASSES!

Click here to view the video

Sean Adams- ESPN - has surgery!

2007-12-17T18:52:00.000-08:00

Look, regardless of what anyone says or what we read, you never know what you are going to get after going through a procedure. With technology today and the way that the good folks at the Howerton Eye Center explained everything made me not too nervous before or even during the procedure.

When I first walked into the room, I almost got tickled because there were so many people in the room. I sat down thinking, either this is the most supportive and caring staff in the world or they think I’m a punk and they are going to have to hold me down.

My attitude should lead us all to conclude that the folks at the Howerton Eye Center are the most supportive and caring staff in the world. It is really cliché to say that something is quick and painless but my goodness, it really was. They talked me through every step while I was right there on the table and before I knew it, they were finished.

It has been shock and awe when it comes time to talk about the results. While looking through what seemed like a mist for about 30 minutes, clarity came into focus within a hour or so and only got more clear.

For as cool as I thought it would be, I never got close to thinking about the actual value of the surgery. I was always bothered because I couldn’t wear my glasses and wear sunglasses. I would really have to make a choice on which one I wanted to wear. In my mind I was looking at the advantage of not having to spend money on glasses or contacts but the bigger picture that I just have a small picture of right now is just the convenience and quality of life offered by having lasik surgery.

Now I have the ability to wake up in the morning and have great vision. I don’t have to rush into the bathroom and put my contacts in or go find my glasses.

I can watch television in bed without having to sit up to be able to see through my glasses.

Even the simple things like being able to read the clock on the DVR or the clock next to my bed have become simple.

I laughed because in the few days since the surgery, I have noticed street signs and building fronts that I drive by all the time but now I know what they say.

I guess while I was thinking it would be great in a convenient kind of way, it has really broadened every aspect of my life so far.

When your sight declines slowly over time, I guess you never know what you are missing out on.

Thanks to Howerton Eye Center, now I know.

www.seanadams.net

ESPN RADIO- Sean Adams

2007-12-05T15:59:00.000-08:00

It’s almost funny because one of the things that we usually take for granted is our eye sight. Even when having an eye exam in the past that ended up with glasses or contacts, you never really see the value of it until you drive away from picking up your glasses when you can read street signs and see the inside of restaurants.

The whole idea of lasik surgery has always given me reason to pause because, I mean really, it’s a laser, it’s my eyes and my ability to see.

The one thing that I have always found attractive about having the procedure was being able to lead a less complicated life when it came to activities. I had grown accustomed to making a choice many times when it came to working out and playing sports, especially when it came to being in the sun.

I could either have good vision by wearing contacts or also be able to wear sunglasses or I can wear my regular glasses (that I’m more comfortable with) but deal with them while I’m sweating and working out or playing basketball or something.

Neither one was really a win/win for me.

When the good folks at Howerton Eye Center and I got together on this partnership, I thought it was a God-send.

After doing the consultation yesterday, I am actually more comfortable than I thought I would be. Everyone that I have dealt with from the staff to the nurses to Shawn, my contact all the way up to Dr. Howerton, himself, have been hugely informative and of great comfort.

The one thing that I took from all the testing and preparation that was done yesterday was the fact that the folks at Howerton Eye Center wanted me to know everything going in, the good and the bad.

A lot of companies make the mistake of trying to make you feel comfortable by giving you the good stuff and making you feel good about what’s going on. Being truly comfortable is having a full grasp or everything, even any risk and downside.

I’m really not nervous and can’t imagine what else I could know that would make me feel any better about it.

Maybe things will change as I get closer to next Thursday.