I Can See Clearly Now

Wow. Just wow. I never knew this program existed, and this is so vital, I'm putting the info here instead of linking.

What's it all about? No-cost (that's right, completely FREE) eye checks for infants. For everyone. You, me, any Mom with an infant.

Dr. Scott Jens spoke with all of us Mommy bloggers about the incredible InfantSEE.org program, and every Mom should know about it. A Not-for-Profit organization with more than 7000 doctors enrolled nationwide, with a grant from Congress of $438K last December (and it should have been more), Infantsee saves children's vision, and in some cases, their lives.

Dr. Jens made a compelling case for the need for infant vision checks. Infant's eyes go through a lot during their development, and recommended eye checks should also occur again at age 3 and age 6. Your pre-school may run these checks, but there is no substitute for an InfantSEE doctor early on, because these people are amazing, and have resources just not available to pediatricians.

We saw a video with several tearful stories of infants whose conditions were diagnosed as a direct result of this program, including one boy who had a dangerous tumor on his eye. It was just a small white spot, and his pediatrician ignored it or missed it entirely during his regular check-ups, but his Mom just knew something was wrong. You know that intuition you have when you just know something is up?

Anyway, she took her son to an InfantSEE doctor, who correctly diagnosed the tumor. This boy (I shudder even writing this) had to have his eye removed. If his Mom hadn't taken him to the InfantSEE doctor, though, he would, quite simply, have died. Even after he was diagnosed, the woman's pediatrician was defensive, claiming the tumor, which was large and growing, had basically appeared overnight, and not been there when he examined the boy. But the kid wears glasses now (cute sunglasses!) and he can see, and he's alive, so to hell with that pediatrician, and YAY! InfantSEE.

If you have an infant, get his eyes checked free. You'd be amazed; I spoke with a fellow blogger whose son had an eye problem that wasn't diagnosed until elementary school. The teachers felt her son was mentally handicapped. Turns out he was a very bright boy trying hard to compensate for horrible vision.

I could go on with more stories, but just go to the InfantSEE program's website or contact them by phone at:

(888) 396-EYES

(InfantSEE is a not-for-profit program which is only partially funded by J&J and affiliated with the Johnson & Johnson Vision Care Institute. Grants from Congress also help fund their important, life-changing, and sometimes life-saving work.)