On October 29, 2004, Andy Treviño received millions of tiny gifts from his then-7-month-old sister, Sofia. They were stem cells, pulled from her bone marrow in the hope of repairing Andy's tattered immune system and curing his potentially fatal immune deficiency.
Andy's journey was featured in last summer's Dream magazine, and it's been quite a year since.
At first Andy couldn't be around a lot of other people, but as his new immune system took hold, he began to venture out. First, a special classroom, with just him and his teacher. Then a Red Sox game, a trip to Disneyland and, finally, after more than 650 days in the hospital, Andy went to school in a regular classroom.
Today he loves physical education class, recess and just being around "regular kids" without the specter of doctors, nurses and medical procedures.
He went to birthday parties, had his own at a local gym where he and 20 other children played baseball, and had his first playdate with a girl from his class.
Andy's father, Andrés, summed up best how their lives have changed since October 2004: "Now, instead of having to run to the emergency room, we run to soccer practice and tee ball games. It's incredible to hear how everyone cheers for him. 'He's very good,' one of the other parents told me, and I thought, 'WOW, and he doesn't know what he's been through to be able to swing that bat!'"
Angel Morales was born with complete heart block, a condition in which the upper and lower chambers of the heart fail to communicate, causing a slow heart rate and sometimes death. At birth, his heart beat just 40 times per minute, compared with an average newborn heart rate of 120 to 180. On June 11, 2005, cardiologists at Children's Hospital Boston made Angel, at a mere 2.2 pounds, the smallest baby to ever have a pacemaker implanted.
A year later, Angel is still monitored closely and will need a second pacemaker when he's 3 years old. But he otherwise acts like any 1-year-old, saying "Mama" and "Dada," and eating nearly everything his big brother, Alex, eats, including Captain Crunch cereal and homemade rice and beans.
And that 2.2-pound peanut? He weighs in at a hefty 16.5 pounds, and his heart has no problem keeping pace.
The picture on the above right was featured in the summer 2005 issue of Dream magazine and shows Angel three weeks after the surgery. The photo on the left shows him a year later, shortly after celebrating his first birthday.
To see how a Children's researcher is working to treat complete heart block without a pacemaker, read "Bridge to a beating heart".
