Premature baby beats the odds with rare double lung transplant

(8/10/07 - KTRK/HOUSTON) (KTRK) -- A Minnesota baby is getting a chance at a better life, thanks to doctors at Texas Children's Hospital. The infant was in need of a life-saving procedure that only four other babies have received at the hospital.

Thirteen-month-old Kali McKellips rests comfortably in her mother's arms just weeks after undergoing a rare double lung transplant at Texas Children's Hospital. A little over three months ago she became the hospital's youngest lung transplant recipient. Now she's about to go home to Minneapolis for the first time with her parents.

Kali's mother Janice McKellips said, "She's never seen our house or her bedroom that's waiting for her. She's never slept in her crib."

Kali was born premature at 24 weeks and weighed one and a half pounds. Her lungs were damaged and underdeveloped. She spent the first part of her life on a ventilator.

"Her first nine months were spent lying in the hospital bed," Janice recalled. "She was too sick to do any normal baby things on a ventilator."

Her family eventually brought her to Texas Children's for the double lung transplant. Dr. Marc Schecter, who performed the surgery, says her prognosis is good.

"We've been very proud of how she's done," Dr. Schecter told Eyewitness News. "Kali's prognosis is very good. Long-term survival in all lung transplants three years post transplant is about 75 percent."

Kali's parents have created a website to allow family and friends to follow her progress.

"We've had a website we've written in from day one, since her birth, that just everyone checks. We update with pictures. We say how her day went, what labs or what tests were being done," Janice explained.

Kali will return to Texas Children's every three months for checkups. Meantime, her parents say she's grown -- both physically and mentally, during her three month stay in Houston. And they're thankful for the efforts of the Texas Children's transplant team.

"They've just given us a chance at having our baby," Janice said. "Because there was no other chance for her and they gave it to her."

According to officials with Texas Children's Hospital Kali's recovery is going well. Her parents are checking in with the lung transplant coordinator every two to three days, as part of their normal follow up. If you'd like to follow Kali's progress, visit her family's website.
(Copyright © 2007, KTRK-TV)

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