New heart brings new life to young boy
BY GRETCHEN WENNER, Californian staff writer gwenner@bakersfield.com
This simple thrill -- a pony ride at his third birthday party -- seemed out of reach just a year ago, before Caleb Morgan got a new heart.
"He loves animals," said Caleb's 24-year-old mother, Kristin Morgan, as her husband Phillip, 27, coached their son on his pint-sized equine expedition.
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Henry A. Barrios / The Californian Caleb Morgan dances with his mom, Kristin, at his third birthday party Sunday. According to his mother Caleb has always loved music and dancing but really started dancing on his own after he had a heart transplant 9/30/2008 at Stanford University. Friends and family celebrated his 3rd birthday at the Kern County Fairgrounds with a western theme party.
Henry A. Barrios / The Californian Caleb Morgan with his mom, Kristin, celebrated his 3rd birthday at the Kern County Fairgrounds with a western theme party. Caleb had a life saving heart transplant 9/30/2008 at Stanford University.
Caleb's cowboy-themed party Sunday at the Kern County Fairgrounds brought together family, friends and a pavilion of ponies, goats, chickens and other critters to celebrate the first birthday Caleb has been able to enjoy.
The Bakersfield toddler stopped gaining weight at six months. Doctors initially told Kristin she was just a nervous new mom.
In November 2007, a series of hospitalizations for pneumonia started. Six, seven, eight trips.
It wasn't until July 2008 Kristin and Phillip Morgan -- sweethearts since their days at North High -- learned why their son was so sick, after a pediatrician at Children's Hospital Central California in Madera brought results from a heart test.
"From the look on his face, we knew something was wrong," Kristin said.
Their son had a rare condition that hardens the heart, restrictive cardiomyopathy.
Caleb had two or three weeks to live without medication. Even with meds the prognosis was dire: A heart transplant was the only option.
Caleb was flown to Stanford Hospital and eventually got well enough to be put on the transplant list. The Morgans had insurance to cover the cost; ability to pay was one requirement to get on the transplant list, Kristin said.
In late September 2008, the call came. A 13-month-old girl from Texas who shared Caleb's birthday was the donor, said Caleb's grandmother, Deanna Ninomiya, who hosted Sunday's party.
The transplant went smoothly and Caleb has thrived since, his mother said. He started out on nearly two dozen meds a day and is down to five.
Prayers kept the family strong throughout their ordeal.
Caleb now runs, jumps, skins his knees and gets bruises like any normal 3-year-old.
And his parents are on donor lists.
Kristin said she used to be naive about organ donation.
"I didn't know it was possible for children to be donors," she said.
You can learn more about organ and tissue donation at www.organdonor.gov.
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