A Positive Vision

Ophthalmologist Connects With Community

Last updated Friday, October 3, 2008 7:26 PM CDT in Our Town

By Marla Hinkle
THE MORNING NEWS

And this month, she urged members to "give big" and leave at least $5 in the can for Springdale Meals on Wheels.

Springdale is an unusual place, McElroy said, because it is so community-oriented.

"We take care of each other here. We have always tried to help the schools and come together for the common cause. From the day I moved here I felt welcomed by the hard-working, honest people who don't put on airs and take you for what you are."

Since 1992, McElroy has called Springdale home. She and her husband, Bruce, live in a restored cedar and rock home on Valley View Drive they have remodeled during intense work sessions.

The Little Rock native has immersed herself in her medical practice as an ophthalmologist at The Eye Center in Fayetteville, her church, family and volunteerism.

She has been a member of the Springdale Kiwanis for 15 years and has been active in all the sporting events like Babe Ruth and Cal Ripken baseball.

"It's so important to keep young people busy with sports, and I'm really proud of Terrific Kids in the schools."

Terrific Kids is a program in which Kiwanians visit schools and reward deserving students with certificates, pencils, stickers and various prizes.

April 5 was a day McElroy and other members hustled to boost the community. Kiwanis One Day saw members working at the Elizabeth Richardson Center Preschool in Fayetteville, painting walls. Weeds were pulled at George Elementary School in Springdale, and baseball fields were tidied up and flowers planted at Spring Meadows Apartments in Springdale -- all in one day -- with the help of Circle K members from the University of Arkansas and Key Club members.

The camaraderie between Kiwanians is also experienced at national and international levels. McElroy had the opportunity during her term to travel to Orlando, Fla., for the Kiwanis International Convention.

"I learned about people from Jamaica and what they have been able to accomplish, and the challenges they have with poverty. It makes you so proud to see all the different flags and makes you feel connected with the rest of the world.

"It's not just one little club in a community. As an officer, I've seen how connected our district is to the United States and International, and learning what Kiwanis really means in the larger scope of things."

Joanna Williams, a former president of the club and lieutenant governor for the MO-ARK District and Division 19, served as a mentor to McElroy during her presidency.

"I think Kellye has done an outstanding job. I don't know how she's balanced business, church and her commitment to Kiwanis ... it's a big job," Williams said.

"She is fun, smart and has a bubbly personality. Kellye has sought out programs we needed to be a part of and made a difference in people's lives. We are so very proud of her."

From The Ground Up

McElroy said she worked her way up to becoming a doctor from the ground -- literally.

"I held a lot of interesting jobs to pay for my schooling. I drew blood and helped with autopsies, worked in the basement in the morgue, ran the incinerator, helped in the lab and (performed) procedures with tissue and histology."

Not just one person influenced McElroy's path, but a culmination of experiences led her to pursue a medical career.

"I've always been a science-oriented person, so I decided to go to graduate school of some type and medical school."

She attended Hendrix College in Conway for a year and then the University of Arkansas at Little Rock for another three years, earning bachelor's degrees in chemistry and biology. She completed her medical degree at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences campus, working almost full-time through college.

Drawing blood and doing about 60 inoculations allowed McElroy to form closer relationships with patients, she said.

"I could deal with patients and touch them and be in emergency type situations. When I was around other doctors, seeing them make their rounds, I thought 'that is something I could do.'"

The eye bank was getting started and McElroy became more interested in corneal transplants after seeing the people who were helped by them.

But it was an unusual situation that decided her life's work.

One night, at 2 a.m., she took out the eyes of a woman who had died from breast cancer. She processed the tissue and saved the cornea for future use.

Bernice Jones, the late Springdale philanthropist, had asked for someone to advocate for organ donations at the former Springdale Memorial Hospital (now Northwest Medical Center -- Springdale).

McElroy prepared to board her flight to speak on the subject. When she arrived at the plane, the pilot said he knew who she was. "You are the person who took my wife's eyes out."

The pilot had always been an advocate for organ donation and that's why he had encouraged his wife to donate her organs. He transported eyes anytime he could accommodate the eye bank as he flew around the state.

"I decided that day to become an ophthalmologist," McElroy said.

Eye On Safety

McElroy practiced in downtown Springdale for about four years before moving to The Eye Center with a group of doctors in Fayetteville. Her career is both challenging and rewarding, she said.

Trauma incidents involve late-night calls and trips to the emergency room. If there's one rule McElroy would like to establish, it would be to outlaw bottle rockets. She said 90 percent of firework injuries to the eye come from this model.

Two years ago on Independence Day, McElroy was called to treat a serious eye injury with significant bleeding. She's seen patients lose some vision because of bottle rockets and suffer macular scarring.

Another incident involved a patient who had his face chewed by a dog. The injury required hundreds of stitches on the eyelid and face.

A typical day is 11 hours; she is on call one week and off the next.

"It can be difficult for my family. So many holidays I'm called away."

But the rewards outweigh the challenges. McElroy has witnessed marked improvements in her field over the years, such as lasers that are used to treat diabetic leakage in the back of the eye, to make smaller incisions for cataract surgery -- about 2 1/2 to 3 millimeters -- or to perform refractive surgery that eliminates the need for glasses.

Johnelle Hunt is a patient of McElroy's and praises her technique.

"Dr. Kellye McElroy is a trusted and respected friend. We have had many great times together. I have especially enjoyed the trips we shared together with our spouses.

"Not only do I value our special friendship, but trust her with my vision. Kellye is an excellent ophthalmologist. After she performed my cataract surgery, I no longer needed glasses! Our eyesight is so precious, and so are friends like Kellye."

Extreme Makeover

McElroy's home and large backyard are a welcome respite from her hectic work schedule. However, she remains focused on improving and embellishing her surroundings.

"Lately I love to garden and watch HGTV all the time. We do a lot of our own work and tend to be very creative."

Several rooms in her 25-year-old ranch style home have been redone.

"If I have a three-day weekend, I take a wall down or something," she said, her green eyes shining.

Bruce is her co-leader in anything she does. McElroy said her husband is always behind the scenes taking care of her and the family.

"I would not be able to accomplish what I do without him. We've been married 26 years, and he's always supported my work and causes."

She relishes being at home and enjoys the quiet. She noted that she is around so many people during the day, and home gives her a chance to remodel or read technical writing, ("I'm such a nerd") or the latest John Grisham.

She and Bruce have taken the stairs down and rebuilt them and gutted the kitchen and den. The kitchen remodeling took four months. McElroy is proud of the result, running her hands over the faucets and gold-flecked counter top. A computer station allows her to have a personal workspace in the kitchen.

Several flatscreen televisions throughout the home lend a modern feel.

"It has really been a challenge to overhaul half the house." She used to oil paint and would like to revisit that hobby. Pumpkins and autumnal decor spruces up her backyard, but it's Christmas that really gets McElroy excited.

"I decorate for two weeks and get two trees up. I really do need therapy for Christmas."

The couple holds Naturals tickets and enjoys Razorback baseball. They have coached their sons for years in baseball, soccer and Kiwanis' Kids Day Football. Bruce coached for six years, and Kellye taught Sunday school at First United Methodist Church for 13 years.

They have two sons. Drew is pursuing a business degree at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. He is a bank teller at First Security Bank.

Keith is attending NorthWest Arkansas Community College in Bentonville for his associate's degree in audio productions with the goal of doing sound productions for bands.

Friend Dorothy Hanby said people tell her she has a lot of energy, but Kellye leaves her standing still.

"She can work hard half the night and still be friendly, sweet and a good physician the next day."

When Hanby's mother was in her 70s, she was sent to Jones Eye Institute at UAMS, where McElroy was in her early 30s and a resident. The two really bonded when McElroy visited her mother in the hospital.

Her patients range in age from infant to 102.

"She's not only a good doctor, but she becomes a good friend. She is a beautiful lady," Hanby said.

"I enjoy seeing her out at social events. She has a great balance between her church, community and her medicine. She is so smart and so unassuming and down-to-earth. Kellye is a great communicator and is very active in the school system. Whenever her name comes up, there's nothing but glowing words."

McElroy said she's had an amazing year as president of Kiwanis and is proud of her club and all it's been able to accomplish.

On the banquet evening she was presented with a plaque depicting a raised gavel, similar to one she used to call meetings to order.

Incoming president Scott Blackwell told her she could use it to hit Bruce over the head if he's not bidding high enough at auctions.

In closing, members told her, using her own positive message she ended each meeting with, to go out and make it count.

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