Growing up with a lazy eye was difficult. It still makes me self-conscious sometimes, even as an adult.

"Are you looking at me?" It was a question I was asked often as a kid. One eye would inevitably drift off and out. That was until I learned how to cover, a condition known as amblyopia, with bangs. However, I had a monstrous cowlick at the front of my head that stuck up. Bangs only drew more attention to it, and every hairdresser advised against such a hairstyle. "You will have to train the bangs," they warned, "or you will have a bump in your hair that will be quite noticeable."

Unfortunately, I have never forgotten my final eye surgery at 8. I threw up from the anesthesia as I held onto a doll I brought. The doll was wearing a bandaid in the same spot on her arm that I had one from the IV. It was an act of kindness from a nurse who felt sorry for me. The pain seared through not only my eye but the entire side of my face. I remember it still, 41 years later.

For me and those affected by this eye condition, amblyopia can cause significant insecurity. It was another way for me to feel different from all the other kids I grew up with. I tried to focus on the positive as I grew older, but it's still difficult sometimes.

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