The Catalyst Issue 16 | April 2013 | Page 16

Paige Kummerfeld is one of a kind and now doing great! Temple, Texas, pediatrician Bethany Black, MD, examined Paige and referred her to McLane Children’s Hospital Scott & White pediatric ophthalmologist Monica Verma, MD. Paige was diagnosed with infantile esotropia, a rare form of strabismus (eye misalignment) in which one or both eyes turn inward. It can result in permanent vision loss if not corrected by the time a child reaches the early years of grammar school. Infantile 14 The Catalyst April 13 | sw.org estropia can appear during the first six to eight months of life. One in every 2,500 babies is diagnosed with this inherited condition, and it had affected children on both sides of the Kummerfeld family in the past. Paige also had weaker vision in her right eye—a fairly common condition known as amblyopia or “lazy eye”—and no depth perception, making those early feats of hers that much more amazing. Because of the family history of the condition, Mrs. Kummerfeld asked Everett Moody, MD, of Irving, Texas, the pediatric ophthalmologist who had previously treated her, for a second opinion. Mrs. Kummerfeld appreciated Dr. Verma’s willingness to collaborate with Dr. Moody. “It gave her and me peace of mind to have two physicians on the same page,” says Dr. Verma. Dr. Verma recommended glasses and patching Paige’s left eye for four hours a day to strengthen and retrain her eye muscles. At first, it was difficult to keep glasses on the four-monthold child, even with an assortment of straps. But as Paige grew, she stopped fighting the glasses when she realized she could see better with them. Mrs. Kummerfeld began matching Paige’s patches to her outfits and tried to make her feel special. “If she was going to have to wear glasses and a patch, we were going to treat them as accessories. If her outfit had animal prints on it, so did her patch,” she says. Three-year-old Lilly was a big help too, reminding her sister and her mother when it was time to patch. “Lilly is the best big sister, and calls Paige her best friend,” says Mrs. Kummerfeld. When Paige was seven months old, Dr. Verma recommended surgery to achieve eye alignment. She would move the inner ocular muscles in both eyes to maximize binocular vision and the chance of gaining some depth perception, relieve any double vision, and improve the right eye’s vision. Five hours after the procedure, Paige dropped