My Personal Journey as Preston's Mom

Raising a child with low vision.

Hello my name is Carmen Swick, Preston’s mother and book author of Patch Land Adventures hopefully to be published here in the near future. I wanted to share with you my personal journey that has brought me to this point and has inspired me to write these children’s books.
let me start by saying I never thought of my son Preston as having a handicap, but a challenge instead. Preston goes out there and always puts in 100%, and has never complained that he could not do something because of his eye sight. As a matter of fact he does great at whatever he tries to do. Here are a few examples of what Preston does - he play’s football, soccer, skate boards, skies, and loves to go dirt biking.
This is why I say we look at low vision, amblyopia, as a challenge.

I want to take you back a few years when Preston was just a little guy I used to wonder about his left eye. It would turn in a bit. I asked his pediatrician on a different couple of appointments what his thoughts were he said not to worry about it he was young.
I would like to take you back a few years when Preston was just a little guy I used to wonder about his left eye. It would turn in a bit. I had asked his pediatrician about my concern on couple of his appointments what his thoughts were about it, he said not to worry about it that he was young.

Well, my father-in-law asked me about his eye, he is a veterinarian by trade, and I explained to him what the doctor had told me. He oh really, ok and that he would not bring it up again, but to please to keep an eye on it.

On another occasion, my sister-in-law said that she was concerned about his eye as well. I told her the same thing that the doctor said he was not concerned about it. Michele at that time was going to school to learn how to assist an eye surgeon. Michele asked me if I would mind if she could just do her own testing on him, I said, “Of course, please do.” Preston was three years old at that time, will she came back to me and said I really would like you to take him into a pedetrian eye doctor; she said that he did not respond like he should have, I said ok that I would.
I went home that day and looked at the list of doctors on our insurance plan.



My husband Yorkk and I took him in to a doctor up the street. She said he had allot of eye issues and of course we were very upset. And that he needs to be wearing glasses now so we need to buy a pair of glasses for him. we were a little over whelmed so we tried asking her questions and she responded as if we were questioning her about the diagnoses and her intelligence,that was not our intension at all! but the fact is we were just trying to educate our self’s to help Preston better to coupe with his low vision and other eye issues she had mentioned. We went ahead and did what the doctor told us to do and ordered Preston his first pair of eye glasses.

We went home and after a couple of weeks I went to pick up his glasses and when he put them on he complained that they were foggy,I called and the doctor said not to worry he needs to get use to them they were a very strong prescription.

I took Preston to Pre-school a couple times a week, one of his little friends there, his mother is an eye doctor and I explained to her about my visit and concerns with Preston’s visit to the Eye Doctor and she asked me to bring Preston’s eye prescription to her so she could take a look at it. When she did take a look at it, she said to me that it did not make sense.
I also spoke with my sister in-law over the phone, I read the prescription to her and she said the same thing, that it does not make any sense.

This was just the beginning of our journey....