Matthew Ouimet faces bumps on road to recovery

Pasadena Star | Gary Peterson, Contra Costa Times

SAN FRANCISCO -- His high-pitched cries of "Owie!" leave no doubt that Matthew Ouimet is in pain. But where? The angry purple incision from his double transplant surgery two weeks ago? His tongue, which he bit so hard during a recent procedure that it had to be surgically stitched? His hands and feet, bruised from IV needles? It's difficult to tell.

Matthew, the 2-year-old son of Kelly and Kristi Ouimet, of Antioch, has come a long way the past few weeks. He was born with primary hyperoxaluria Type 1, a rare genetic condition that left him in need of a kidney and liver transplant. After a 15-month wait on the transplant list, he received his organs during a 13-hour operation that ended the morning of June 5. He survived a rocky first week in the ICU, during which his transplanted organs did not fully function and he had internal bleeding that caused him to vomit blood. However, a planned follow-up surgery a week later went well. Less than two days after that, he was moved out of ICU.

Since that milestone, it has become clear he still has a long way to go. Children make up a small fraction of transplant recipients. According to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, only 7.4 percent of all transplants performed in the U.S. since Jan. 1, 1988, involved patients 18 years old or younger. In Matthew's case, both organs had to come from the same donor to reduce the risk of rejection.
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