Two life-threatening conditions.One remarkable wish.

When Lucas St. Onge blew out the five candles on his birthday cake, he made just one wish. He didn’t ask for ninja turtles, a T-ball set or an Xbox — the only thing he wished was to be just like any other kid. “It was a gift I couldn’t give,” says his mom, Heather. On that same day, last May, he got his wish. “He got a liver, stomach, pancreas, intestine and spleen — the five organs he needed to help him become healthy and happy,” Heather says. Heather was 18 weeks pregnant when she and her husband, Anthony, learned they were about to face a myriad of medical challenges with their unborn child. To what extent remained unclear, until the day Lucas was born. An emergency surgery to repair multiple intestinal blockages left him with short bowel syndrome, or simply “short gut,” a rare condition caused by the loss of a functioning small intestine. It meant Lucas would never be able to eat or digest food. “I was told to take him home and to let him live out his days,” Heather says. “But I wasn’t willing to accept that.” Lucas was transferred to Boston Children’s Hospital for a second opinion. SCID and a bone marrow transplant Five days after arriving at Boston Children’s, the Immunology Program team diagnosed Lucas with severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID), a rare genetic condition in which a child’s immune system is so compromised that a common cold can kill them. “I had never even heard of SCID before,” Heather says. “It was ter...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - Category: Pediatrics Authors: Tags: Our Patients’ Stories bone marrow transplant Dana-Farber/Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center Dr. Heung-Bae Kim Dr. Khashavar Vakili Dr. Rima Fawaz Intestine and Multivisceral Transplant Program Pediatric Transplant Center ( Source Type: news