r. Gleb Sukhovolskiy (pronounced “Sook-uh-vohl-skee”) is no stranger to the world of vision care. After all, he’s an optometric physician here at PCLI. But it’s one thing to take care of someone else’s eyes and another to be on the receiving end.

6000 MILES AWAY

Dr. Sukhovolskiy’s story begins years ago and nearly 6,000 miles away in the summer resort town of Anapa in Russia. Located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, 200 miles north of the Winter Olympics city of Sochi, Anapa was Gleb’s childhood home. It’s a town with a history. Archaeological ruins in the area date back to the Ottoman Empire. Anapa is also surrounded by vineyards but is best-known for its beach location.

“The area was very busy in the summer because many Russians would come here for vacation,” Dr. Sukhovolskiy recalls. “We lived about 10 minutes away from the beach, so we’d go there all the time to swim in the sea and have ice cream!”

An only child, Gleb was mainly raised by his mother and grandmother. His mother worked as a hydrologist—monitoring streams, rivers and other water sources, and helping to determine whether new construction was appropriate in certain areas.

She believed that idle children would get into trouble, so she kept Gleb signed up for numerous activities. “After school, I did sports, arts and crafts like woodworking and painting, and tinkering with electronic things too, such as putting transistors and resistors together to build handheld radios,” he says.

Up through the fourth grade, Gleb had one primary teacher. After that, he had different instructors for various subjects. Russian teachers were typically strict and not very forgiving. But underneath the tough exterior, they had huge hearts. “They wanted to teach me. They wanted me to succeed,” he recalls. Gleb loved history and geography. They created curiosity and a desire in his young mind to go and see new places and different cultures. To this day, one of his favorite things is looking at maps and making travel plans.

MOVING TO THE USA

During the 1990s, many Russian families found themselves financially challenged. The economy was bad, and there were shortages of everything.

“I was 13 when my mom decided we needed to move to the United States,” says Dr. Sukhovolskiy. “We had a number of relatives already living here, and they were encouraging us to move. My mom was also thinking about what opportunities there would be for me as I grew up.”

When the time came, Gleb, his mother, and his grandmother packed a few big bags with belongings and took a train to Moscow. From there, they flew to New York, went through a processing facility, and then headed to Vancouver, Washington by way of Dallas.

A NEW HOME

“I was excited about the move and made new friends quickly,” Dr. Sukhovolskiy recalls. “The biggest challenge was English. They teach you English in Russia, but it’s not what I’d call conversational English.”

In the United States, Gleb enrolled in eighth grade. But every day that first year was quite literally a headache. “I remember my head hurting every night when I got home from school,” he says. “Those terrible headaches went on for several months. It was overwhelming. The academic part of school wasn’t so hard. But I had to acquire fluency in English to understand what was happening in the classroom.”

By the end of the first year, though, Gleb had progressed enough to feel much more comfortable and confident as he headed into high school. “I guess there are just times in life when you feel barely able to tread water, but you apply yourself, and you learn new things. Those times take you to new places and bring you new skills. Growth often requires some discomfort,” he says.

EARLY INTEREST IN VISION

Just before leaving Russia, Gleb had begun squinting to bring distant objects into better focus. A local eye doctor said the problem was nearsightedness but that the condition was mild and probably not worth correcting right away. Gleb’s vision seemed to worsen after the move. He found himself struggling to see things across the room or on the board at school, so he went to see an optometrist near his new home in Vancouver, Washington.

“I remember putting on glasses for the first time,” he says. “It was amazing! My vision had slowly gotten worse over several years, so I hadn’t noticed the change. But wearing glasses was like night and day. I could see so much better! It was life-changing and made a big impression on me.”

Halfway through high school, Gleb decided to go into a medical field for a career. He took advantage of the Running Start program in Washington, which allows grade 11 and 12 students to take college courses.  Students earn both high school and college credit. “I liked the science classes—biology, physics, chemistry. And I really liked getting to do experiments in chemistry,” Dr. Sukhovolskiy recalls.

As he continued with classes, Gleb decided to pursue optometry and worked on completing the prerequisites. At age 19, he was accepted at Pacific University College of Optometry in Oregon—the youngest student in his class.

BECOMING An Eye Doctor

In 2014, after completing optometry school, Dr. Sukhovolskiy married his sweetheart, Darya, who’d also just graduated and was ready to begin her career as a kindergarten teacher.

After their wedding, the couple moved to Walla Walla, Washington, where Dr. Sukhovolskiy completed a year-long residency program at the Veterans Medical Center. Here he received advanced clinical training under experienced mentors. Dr. Sukhovolskiy then worked for four years as a staff optometrist with Veterans Medical Center before joining the Pacific Cataract and Laser Institute team in 2019.

“Diagnosing problems is one of the greatest joys for me,” says Dr. Sukhovolskiy. “You have this base of knowledge, but there’s a problem-solving skill in using it. Sometimes I encounter things I’ve never seen before, and that’s exciting. I enjoy the challenge of figuring out what’s going on.”

BECOMING A PATIENT

Recently, Dr. Sukhovolskiy had a chance to take a short break from using those diagnostic skills when he became the patient.

“I have two boys now. Lev is five, and Hugo is one. They like to rock out and play,” he says. “Sometimes, one of them would ram into my head and bend the glasses on my face! That happened a few times last year. I don’t mind glasses, but I didn’t want to keep dealing with that. Also, contacts caused discomfort after a few hours, so they weren’t a good solution for me.”

Dr. Sukhovolskiy started thinking about LASIK surgery—a laser treatment that corrects poor vision. He knew the procedure had a good track record and that he was a good candidate. After mulling it over for a few months, he decided to go for it.

EXPERIENCING LASIK

“It was interesting to be a patient!” says Dr. Sukhovolskiy. “Our offices at Pacific Cataract and Laser Institute are built in such a way that it feels like you’re in a living room. You can relax and be comfortable. It doesn’t feel like a medical environment.”

When the time came, the surgery took place quickly. “Anesthetic eye drops made it so I didn’t feel anything. I could kind of see things happening, but it didn’t hurt at all. I had both eyes done at the same time,” he says.

Then, for a day, Dr. Sukhovolskiy wore contact lenses to protect his eyes while they healed. He remembers being careful not to rub his eyes during that time. He also had to apply eye drops four times daily for a couple of weeks.

“I noticed my vision was better soon after surgery—but there was also a bit of cloudiness for a few hours. I also noticed halos around bright lights for several days, but everything cleared up over about two or three weeks,” he says. “My surgery was on a Thursday, and I was back at work on Monday. I was impressed! My vision is now 20/15 without any correction. I no longer have to worry about my kids bending my glasses. And LASIK allows me to swim and go on long runs without worrying how well I’ll see. I love my new visual freedom!”

With his experience of being a patient fresh in mind, Dr. Sukhovolskiy says he now has a better idea of the questions and concerns other patients may have when considering laser vision correction. He also wants his patients to know they’re his priority. “It’s not just what I do for them during the visit that counts, but also how I make them feel while I take care of them,” he says.

Dr. Sukhovolskiy lives in Gig Harbor, Washington, with Darya and their two boys.