Medical Breakthroughs: Boy receives life-changing intestinal transplant
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A boy getting a life-changing surgery is now recovering from a rare condition called Short Bowel Syndrome.
Jah'seki Cathey, 10, knows it's never too soon to get ready for his big league dreams of playing both football and baseball.
While pro-football and baseball may be a long way off, Jah'seki has already been on a long journey just to get where he is today.
"Jah'seki was born with mal-rotation of the mid vulbulous gut. His small intestines died; he was going to have a very rough life," Jah'seki's mother, Cynthia Cathey, said.
Less than one percent of infants are born with Short Bowel Syndrome, which happens when either the large or small intestine doesn't work; the condition can be fatal.
That's why Jah'seki's family was referred to Stanford Medicine Children's Health Intestinal Rehabilitation program, one of just a handful in the country.
"The hope of every doctor, like me, that we can help them using medications and using sort of other strategies, to try to rehabilitate their intestines," Stanford Medicine Children's Health Medical Director of Pediatric Intestinal Transplant Dr. Ke-you Zhang said.
When Jah'seki was eight years old, that's when an intestinal transplant was first considered. It meant removing what was left of his gut and replacing it with a new organ.
While it was his best shot, it was a massive surgery.
The first attempt was unsuccessful due to clotting, however, two weeks later, he got the miracle he was hoping for.
"By the time he left the hospital, he was off IV nutrition, he was eating, and he just is voracious now," Dr. Zhang said.
While an intestinal transplant is a massive and complex surgery, Jah'seki's doctor said he surpassed the hospital's hopes.
Today, Jah'seki is getting ready to try out for the soccer team.
Stanford Children's Health has performed over 50 intestinal transplants in the last 10 years, with a near perfect success rate.
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