Ashlynn was diagnosed with amblyopia in April of 2013. Amblyopia is a condition where the optic nerve poorly sends or fails to send any vision to the brain. After a length of time the brain can stop sending signals to the eye completely. So it was very crucial that we caught the condition when we did, and started treatment as soon as possible.
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In her case her “lazy eye” was not noticeable until December of 2012. When we first noticed it, the right eye only slightly held to the far side. While waiting for a optician to get us in the right eye continually slipped to the far side more and more. The optician we visited at first had no experience with children and the whole visit was just torture for us all. They immediately diagnosed Ashlynn with hyperopia and prescribed a very strong prescription. While going into the lobby to pick out frames I noticed that they had no small children frames, let alone any that would last even a day or two with a toddler.
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The same day I called her Early Intervention teacher for advice. She named a specialist in the area and I called to make a second opinion visit with her. At this ophthalmologists I found out that she specialized with children. She diagnosed Ashlynn with amblyopia after a few tests. She had no farsightedness in her left eye as diagnosed with the previous doctor.
At this point in time we are currently patching 2 hours a day for 3 months. Patching covers the strong eye forcing the brain to work the weaker eye.  At first patching was a pretty scary experience for the whole family. Ashlynn was completely blind with the patch on. After patching she was very tired and mentally worn down. As a parent it is very hard to watch your child struggle and help them conquer their fear. As of today Ashlynn can see very large objects, and has learned how to play with the patch on. We are confident that we will be able to avoid surgery, and look at glasses as a possibility for the left eye.
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To learn more about Ashlynn’s story and how she is doing now visit her blog at http://www.ashlynnslifelongjourney.blogspot.com