her pacifier and picked it up, something
she had not been able to do before the
surgery. Her recovery took about one
week, but it took six months to assess
the surgery’s full results and determine
whether Paige needed more surgery. In
the meantime, Dr. Verma increased the
patching to six hours a day.
In August, Dr. Verma performed a
second operation to strengthen Paige’s
eyes, this time moving the outer ocular
muscles. One week later, it was clear
that Paige had taken a big step forward.
Dr. Verma says, “Paige’s eyes looked
perfect.” The child’s vocabulary had
increased to 15 words, and she was
finally able to see the world around her,
including her parents mouthing words
when they spoke.
“Before her second surgery, Paige
only knew two words, ‘Momma’ and
‘Dada.’ She was only 14 months old, but
I was beginning to worry about her lack
of vocabulary,” says Mrs. Kummerfeld.
Also, Paige had never shown any
interest in books. As a former firstgrade teacher, Mrs. Kummerfeld knows
the importance of reading at least 30
minutes a day to children. “I would get
so frustrated that Paige wouldn’t even
let me get through the title before she
was climbing out of my lap,” she says.
“Well, the day we came home from her
second surgery, Paige went straight to
the book basket. She brought me book
after book after book to read to her. She
kissed every page as if she were seeing
friends for the first time, almost like,
‘Oh, so you’re the Cat in the Hat that
my mom was talking about!’”
Dr. Verma predicts that Paige won’t
need further surgeries. “With the early
intervention,” she says, “the likelihood
of Paige having good vision is high. We
won’t really know until she’s three and
can read letters for us, but I expect a
good outcome.”
“We have a team of pediatric experts
that are adeptly suited to caring for
children,” says Dr. Kummerfeld. “I’m
very happy we could get Paige’s eyes
taken care of as soon as we did, because
it was important to treat her condition
early on. It’s great that Scott & White is
able to deliver this level of service within
our own community.”
Mrs. Kummerfeld says, “Paige is
incredibly bright and is one of the
best problem solvers I have ever seen. I
almost think that her lack of sight has
pushed her to figure things out. If I see
her struggling with a toy, or opening a
box, I will say, ‘Paige, may I please help
you?’ Paige will put her hand up and
say, ‘Stay. Mines.’ God bless her, she
always accomplishes her goal!”
The Kummerfelds believe that