Dallas firefighter's 4-month-old baby returns home after extended health scare
DALLAS - The four-month-old son of a Dallas firefighter left the hospital on Thursday after more than 75 hospital staff members helped him recover from an unexpected, life-threatening diagnosis.
Kenji Kammerer returns home
Kenji Kammerer
What we know:
Ian Kammerer, a Dallas firefighter, and his wife Lindsey have spent the last several months at Medical City Children's Hospital as the hospital's staff cared for their infant son Kenji.
When Kenji was five-weeks-old, doctors discovered he had intestinal malrotation despite not showing any previous symptoms.
The diagnosis left Kenji seriously ill and caused complications to multiple organ systems. He underwent four surgeries and was helped by more than 75 hospital staff members during his recovery.
On Thursday morning, Kenji was cleared to go home. Dallas firefighters gathered at Medical City Children's Hospital to celebrate Kenji's coming home.
What they're saying:
The Kammerers are thankful to the hospital staff who saved Kenji's life.
"It takes a village and our village just expanded tremendously by everyone here at Medical City that has taken care of us," Lindsey Kammerer said.
Ian Kammerer noted Kenji has spent more time in the hospital in his life than out of it.
Ian and Lindsey Kammerer
Dr. Kris Bysani, one of the doctors who worked to save Kenji's life, discussed how sick the baby was when he arrived at the hospital.
"He was so sick at that time, and she [Lindsey] came right to my face and said, 'Do you think he's going to make it?' And I said, we can take care of this. We'll do this. We'll work together."
Bysani said he'll never forget helping save the little boy's life.
"The first night, if everybody saw that, it's an unimaginable thing what happened, but it is the most satisfaction we can get from doing this. I'm just going to remember him forever."
Dr. Kris Bysani
What is intestinal malrotation?
Dig deeper:
Intestinal malrotation occurs when parts of the intestine settle in the wrong part of the abdomen at birth, which causes them to become blocked or twisted.
"The bowel twists on itself. And kids, when they're very little, and the first sign is just they start throwing up. Not every baby who throws up has this kind of bad situation, but the extremely rare condition where when it malrotates and when the bowel kind of twists on itself. And they can throw up, and the bowel essentially loses all the blood flow going into the bowel," Dr. Shweta Murthi, another doctor who helped save Kenji, said.
The Source: Information in this story comes from Medical City Children's Hospital, interviews with Kenji's parents, and John Hopkin's Medicine.